Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Kiss the Sky: Chapter 5

I gaped at the giant wave speeding across the ocean, which would engulf our ship in only minutes. “What do we do?”

Jasin hefted himself up to a sitting position with a groan. “I’ll have to face them again.”

“You can’t.” I grabbed his arm to hold him back. If he couldn’t even stand, how was he supposed to deal with the elementals?

He shrugged me off. “What other option is there?”

“We run,” Reven said.

Auric began filling the sails with air to speed us away, while Reven controlled the water currents around the ship. Slade assisted by tying ropes or adjusting the sails, while I tried to give Jasin some of my strength with the touch of my hands. It didn’t seem to do much, maybe because I’d worn myself out already too.

And the giant wave kept coming closer.

“We can’t outrun it,” Auric called out after a few minutes, the wind whipping at his golden hair. “We have to brace for impact!”

“Get below deck,” Slade told me and Jasin in a firm tone.

“Not a chance.” Jasin forced himself to his feet, leaning heavily against the mast.

“Then protect Kira. She’s the most important thing on this ship.”

Slade’s overprotectiveness sometimes got on my nerves, but I didn’t have time to argue that I could take care of myself. Not when the massive wave would hit us in mere moments. “We need to work together,” I said. “That’s the only way through this.”

Reven faced the approaching water with his head high. “I’ll hold back the water as best I can.”

“I can try to put a bubble of air around us,” Auric said.

Slade rubbed his beard as he considered. “I’ll reinforce the ship. Make it stronger so it won’t break apart under the wave.”

“Kira and I will blast those elementals,” Jasin said.

It wasn’t a perfect plan and we’d likely all be sent to the bottom of the ocean, but it was something. It gave me strength knowing that even if my mates squabbled in their free time, they came together when it counted.

“Here it comes!” Reven yelled, as he braced himself against the railing. He cast a determined look at the wave and held it back as it came toward us, but all he could do was slow it down. If he’d had his dragon form maybe he could stop it, but there were too many elementals controlling this water.

The enormous wave crested over the ship, raining saltwater down on us and blocking out the sky. Fear gripped my throat as Auric raised his arms, causing the water to slam against an invisible wall around us. Slade bent down and rested his palms on the wood and metal of the deck, while the ship begin to creak and groan.

The wave drenched the entire ship with a great crash and sent it careening to the side, but Auric and Reven’s magic kept us dry. Water buffeted their defenses relentlessly, and the two men were forced back while our small bubble of safety shrank.

From the view around us, we might as well have been completely underwater. Maybe we were, with the way the ship was lurching, making it hard for us to stand. I lost my footing and crashed into Slade, but he caught me and held me against him, as if he could protect me with his sheer size and willpower.

The wave didn’t seem to end and I could tell my mates were losing the battle, as was the ship, which splintered apart under the pressure from the water. But then the elementals appeared through the wave, their glowing eyes giving them away.

I gripped Jasin’s arm. “We have to stop them!”

He nodded, his face weary but his will unwavering. Together we stepped in front of the other men and sought out the elementals, but there were too many of them and my magic was still untrained. We couldn’t afford for me to miss. No, we needed Jasin’s magic.

I took Jasin’s hand and felt the bond between us flare bright. I closed my eyes and willed my energy and healing magic from the Spirit Goddess to flow into him. As it did, a wave of exhaustion swept through me, even as Jasin’s body began to glow faintly. I had no idea if this would work or how long I could do this, but we needed Jasin more than we needed me right now. He was the only one who could save us.

Jasin conjured fire in his other hand and it burned so hot it was almost blue. He cast it at the elemental nearest us and it went up in a wisp of steam immediately. He lobbed another ball of flame at the next one, and the next, clutching my other hand tight the entire time. The never-ending downpour buffeting the ship began to ease slightly. And as he worked I felt his resolve, his fear, his courage, and his exhilaration through the bond as if they were my own emotions.

The last elemental went up in a spray of mist, and the wave suddenly ceased its attack, dropping back into the ocean. The ship rolled violently and the deck was splintered and cracked in numerous places, but was otherwise intact. All four of my mates were alive, although exhausted and drenched with saltwater.

We did it.

That was my last thought before fatigue swept through me and I collapsed onto the deck, still clutching Jasin’s hand.