were too close to the dragonflier, and too slow. The green liquid splashed them. They dropped their weapons into the ocean and screamed.
Hoku tore his gaze from the Trade Rock and took three quick breaths. He heard the Humans fall into the water, the sounds of their pain muffled by the ocean’s embrace. He tried to move, but his body wouldn’t listen. Terror smothered him, trapping his arms and legs and squeezing at his lungs. He bobbed up and down on the waves like a lifeless buoy.
Swim! he screamed at himself. Swim!
And then the remaining dragonflier saw him. He could tell, even from a distance, by the way she adjusted the insect’s angle, by the whirring of its wings as it prepared to attack.
Finally, he remembered his legs and dove.
ALUNA RODE a series of waves toward the shore, breathing heavily. Trees lined the white sand beach in the distance. How straight they stood, their trunks tall and inflexible, only their leaves swishing in the wind. She’d made good time. Even if someone in the city noticed she was missing, she’d have a few hours’ lead.
The ocean tumbled her to the beach and she struggled to her hands and knees. Her muscles felt weak, and not just from the marathon swim. Underwater, the ocean spirits did not pull her down toward the sand, but kept her buoyant. In the Above World, her body felt heavy and slow, as if it were stuck to the earth and being crushed by the sky.
She wobbled to her feet and gave herself another minute to adjust. Her body shivered — not from the cold but from the prickly sensation of air blowing against her wet skin.
In the ocean, the current was an old friend. You knew where it flowed and how fast. You learned how to ride it, how to hear it in your head like a melody everywhere you went. Wind was the Above World’s current, but it felt wild and unpredictable. In one moment the wind pushed gently against Aluna’s back, and a moment later, it knocked her to her knees.
She stood again and took a few steps. Her legs steadied. Shells and sharp sticks jutted out of the sand, but she barely felt them under her feet. The ancients had given the Kampii thick skin for warmth, and so they wouldn’t bleed every time they brushed up against a piece of sharp coral or got snipped by a crab claw. She was especially grateful for that gift now.
Her breathing necklace pulsed slowly at her throat. It didn’t have to work as hard up here, where it was easier to pull oxygen from her surroundings. Was she getting oxygen through her mouth and nose now, too, like an Above World Human? She huffed and snorted a few times but couldn’t tell.
Hoku would know.
Her stomach twisted at the thought of him, so she walked faster. Inky night would seep into the world within a few hours. She needed someplace to rest and eat in safety. A hidey-hole or a cave, maybe.
Her right knee buckled. She dropped to the sand. Maybe the swim had been a little more exhausting than she’d thought. She squinted farther up the shore and saw a pile of driftwood sticking out of the sand. One of the pieces stuck out at an angle, creating a tiny triangle of shade. She crawled over, wedged herself under the wood, and fell asleep.
The waves nudged her awake. The tide crept up the shore and tickled her face more and more with each surge. She lifted her head and wiped the wet sand from her cheek. She could feel dozens of tiny sand crabs burrowing beneath her, could hear nameless nighttime creatures scurrying around the driftwood in the darkness. She crawled out from under her shelter and sat in the surf, arms wrapped around her knees.
The moon hovered in the darkness, as if it were pinned in place. The ocean glittered beneath it, surging and withdrawing in its happy rhythm.
She opened her food net, pulled out a hunk of fish, and whispered her thanks to the ocean spirits — and her brothers — for providing it. She chewed it slowly, denying her desire to gobble her whole supply in two or three crazy bites. Were tree leaves edible? Or tree trunks? She should have brought a bigger supply of kelp. If land animals were anything like sea creatures, she’d have to be very careful about which ones she hunted and ate. The most harmless-looking