Chapter 1
"Not much farther," Ariane said aloud above the sounds of the sea and the stroke of Rin's powerful tail as they sped through the water. "We're almost there, sweetie."
Rin didn't reply in words. He didn't have a huge vocabulary. But he sensed that she was upset, and he had been trying to soothe her. I catch fish? he asked. You like fish.
Ariane stroked his gnarly hide. She was seated on his shoulders, held in place by her knees gripping his sides and by two of his smaller tentacles. They were traveling on the surface. This was not the most comfortable way for Rin to swim. He could move much faster underwater, with her held tight against his chest and belly breathing through the air valve on his breast. But the slower pace meant she could spend more time with him. And she loved watching the blue swells of the sea, stretching in all directions.
She should go down under the water, though. Even though the sky was cloudy, she could feel the heat of the sun. Her bronze skin could withstand a lot of sunshine, but it would not do to get painfully burned.
It was her last voyage with Rin.
And she was breaking the Mother only knew how many rules.
When she got home, she would be reprimanded. Punished. She might be forbidden to leave the island for months. Or even kicked out of the Travelers Guild altogether.
But this was right for Rin. Usually when a sea dragon was retired from Traveler service, he or she would simply be released into the wild. But Ariane was taking Rin to the island where Liril, her former teacher, lived with a colony of sea dragons. Several of them were Rin's siblings and cousins, and he wanted to be with them once again.
The only trouble was, Liril had been expelled from the Travelers Guild, and Ariane wasn't supposed to have any further contact with her.
Still, she didn't think they would dismiss her for this infraction. She was a strong Traveler. There weren't many in the Guild who could tame and master both a sea dragon and a mammoth eagle, two of her world's most vicious and powerful predators.
Anyway, Liril's expulsion from the Guild was ridiculous. Her teacher had done nothing wrong. She had dearly loved the sea dragons entrusted to her care. Ariane couldn't think of any place where Rin would be happier than back with her old instructor, who had helped train him.
She and Rin were traveling northwest, which was somewhat dangerous. No one really knew how far the western sea stretched. There had been a few intrepid voyagers who had supposedly reached the Farthest Lands. It had been her dream ever since childhood to be one of the explorers who got that far. But right now, they were headed toward a much closer spot.
"Do you see any sign of land yet, Rin?"
No land, Rin confirmed after lifting his head to take a look around them. Me not want find land, Ari.
"Oh, baby, I know." Finding the island meant they would soon be separated. She didn't want that any more than Rin did. They had been paired for two years, and their bond was a close one.
Ariane felt the pull of Rin's consciousness. She allowed herself to sink into full awareness of the bond. Seeing through his eyes was like rushing headlong through a tunnel and popping out in a place where the world looked entirely different. Colors were more vibrant, and when they were underwater, she could see fine shadings of blues, purples, pale greens and even a touch of maroon.
All her senses were dramatically improved when she sank deeply into her companion's mind. She noticed an odd smell. Rin’s olfactory sense was more powerful than her human nose. He recognized many scents that were unknown to her, but this one puzzled him. It smelled dark, smoky and unpleasant. He came alert and his hunger for prey surged.
She dragged her consciousness back a bit from the bond. Controlling the Traveler's bond could be tricky, even for a Master Traveler with many years of experience. A sea dragon was one of the most difficult animals to master. Because they were huge, fierce, and dominant over other creatures, they resisted training. No creature, human or beast, likes to be taken by the mind of another.
Sea dragons were notorious for their ability to wrest control from their human partners. Even when the bond between the person and the beast was of long duration, the partnership required careful monitoring. Ariane loved Rin the way she loved the ocean. Caution and respect were a necessary part of that love.
She heard a strange sound—a wavering high-pitched shriek that was unlike anything she had ever heard before. It frightened and angered Rin so much that his emotions spilled over to Ariane. She could feel the rage clenching inside him.
Something alien was coming up behind them. It was full of blood, flesh and nastiness. She flung a glance over her shoulder. A huge, black flying creature was diving through the air toward them. Rin swerved so sharply that, were it not for the tentacles that held her, she might have been flung into the sea.
With cold horror, she realized what it was. What it had to be. She had never seen one before, but she had heard of them. This screeching, flying thing was a darkling. They were Death to most creatures.
Darklings preyed on the blood of the living. They drove into you with their claws and their fangs and sucked away your life force until you weakened and died. No one knew where they came from or how they perpetuated their race. Some said they mated like other creatures, but others claimed they were too icy and wraithlike to have such physicality. But they could stop your blood from moving through your veins. They could freeze your heart.
Their own hearts, if they had such organs, were so sluggish that it was difficult to discern a beat. And yet, they lived.
She knew also that there had been more of these creatures recently. More sightings. More reports of darkling attacks. Rumors that she hoped were untrue of people being changed into darkling demons or sucked down to Karthenhal where, many believed, darklings originated. Ariane usually dismissed such folktales, but there was no doubt that a darkling was pursuing them now at a speed that would bring it upon them quickly. She didn't know how Rin would fare in a darkling fight. Sea dragons were hard to kill, but she didn't want to imperil Rin.
"Rin! Take me into the water so I can breathe with you. We are going to have to dive."
But Rin's battle instincts had been aroused.
I kill.
She looked again over her shoulder. The thing was inky black and its face, if it had a face, was obscured by something that resembled a hollow hood. The eyes were hidden. Even so, she could feel them piercing her with a dark cold energy that made it hard for her lungs to expand. The darkling had huge and muscular wings, but it seemed to glide rather than use them for propulsion. Its speed was more constant now. It was no longer gaining. And yet it looked intent and relaxed, as if it knew it could close on them at any moment.
On instinct, she ordered Rin to change his course again. The speed of the darkling increased and it veered toward them. If they continued on the new course, it would intercept them more quickly. She readjusted their direction and the creature fell back.
It was herding them. But toward what?
"It wants something. I don't like this. It's driving us forward toward something. Maybe to others of its kind."
We stop, Ari? I can kill.
She wished she could be certain of that. She could smell blood and fire and hear the screams of a predator. It dived toward them again and got close. She saw talons with sharp, ragged claws.
"Rin. Take me into the water. We have to dive. Now. Now!"
He complied. One of his large pectoral tentacles curled up and wrapped around her body in a move they had practiced many times before. She inhaled deeply, preparing herself for the cold as his great tentacle arm lifted her off his shoulders and plunged her into the water by his side. He swept her beneath his massive body to the point on his chest where his other pectoral tentacles could lace around her and pull her tight against his soft underside.
Her mouth sought the breathing bud that conveyed air directly from his large bladder-like lungs. Like a baby fastening tightly to the breast of its mother, Ariane clamped her lips around the bud and sucked in air. Rin only needed to breathe once an hour; he could go even longer than that on his reserves. He rose to the surface like a whale to breathe, but until he needed to do so, they could travel underwater.
The darkling could fly but it could not swim. She hoped. Once they were beneath the surface, they would be safe.
But even through the rushing water, she heard the creature's bloodcurdling scream. Just as Rin was beginning his dive, the darkling's talons raked into his hide, tearing scales away and opening wounds. Through their bond, Ariane could feel his intense pain and shock.
Rin was enraged as he turned to fight the thing that had dared attack the proudest of all sea creatures. If he had still retained his ancient dragon fire and wings, he could have risen into the air, torn the creature from the skies, blasted it with his breath, and roasted it to a crisp.
"Dive! Dive! Rin you must dive!"
Battling the darkling would not be smart. It was a whole lot bigger and more powerful than any darkling she had ever heard about. It was a monster darkling and Rin was already wounded. She could not permit him to risk further injury.
Rin resisted her control. This was unusual. He was maddened by the attack. When she finally got him diving, she had to control that too. She was human; she could not dive too deep and survive.
"Steady Rin. Steady. We're deep enough, I think. Level off here and swim. We need to lose it so we can find a safe place to tend to your wounds."
He plunged ahead through the dark water, crazed with pain and lust and confusion. Everything seemed to be growing dark. How badly hurt was he? Was he losing consciousness?
There was a bright flash. She and Rin were knocked sideways. The next thing she felt was a sensation of spinning, as if she were falling from a great height. Or rising? She couldn't tell up from down.
No longer could she see the wavy seascape of the world beneath the sea. There was land where no land should be. Dark hills, rocky crags, mountains. Then the mountains somersaulted before her eyes, and the sea, the very cold and bitter sea, rushed up to swallow her.
When Ariane regained her senses, her entire body was wracked with pain. But even worse, she was alone. The bond between her and Rin was broken. She was no longer linked with her companion's mind, and she could not feel him anywhere.
Oh Goddess! Nausea gripped her. She knew as well as anyone that the Traveler’s Bond could not be suddenly severed without harming both partners.
She rolled to the side to vomit. She opened her eyes, searching for Rin. She was lying on a stony desolate shore. But she couldn't see her companion anywhere.