"What is up with this wind?" Ana's voice cut through the noise. She was trying to sound calm. But she failed miserably.
"And why did we just destroy our rings?" Luca looked at his empty finger, then back up at Shiro. He wasn't angry. Well, not yet. Just deeply, profoundly confused. Like a man who'd been woken up, told to break something valuable, and hadn't been given a single reason why.
"I'll explain everything once we make it out of this." Shiro's voice was flat. Without all the humor.
His eyes were locked on the horizon.
Dozens of winged beasts. Dark shapes slicing across the sky, growing larger with every heartbeat. Coming straight for them.
Then his gaze dropped. To the water. Where more shapes moved beneath the surface. Slithering. Following. Patient. Closing in from behind like a net being drawn tight.
Above and below. They were being sandwiched.
