“So, should we all jump at once, or does it make more sense to go one at a time?” Colette asked, staring down into the depths of the water over a dozen feet below.

  “We could jump in all at once, but I think it’s probably safer if we all try to aim for that middle section right there individually,” Regal said, pointing to a spot about five feet in front of where the waterfall crashed into the standing water.

  Regal and Lloyd, both supremely comfortable with heights, stood on the edge of the cliff, while Colette and Sheena remained several feet back. They had discovered earlier that it was the deepest part of the section, mainly through the women diving down—okay, exclusively through them diving down. Neither Lloyd nor Regal were comfortable doing that yet.

  “If we all jump at once, we might bump into each other, which is pretty much the worst-case scenario. Any takers for the first jump?” Regal asked.

  “Um, I’m not sure,” Colette said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “What’s that in the forest behind you, Regal?” she asked, pointing behind the boys. Regal and Lloyd turned to look, and before they could react, they heard movement from the edge of the cliff. They spun around in time to see Colette’s small frame shooting through the air, followed by the sound of a human cannonball breaking through the surface of the water. As Colette’s head broke the surface, Regal began hooting, hollering, and cheering her on.

  “I’ll meet you down there!” Regal said as he took a few small steps backward to get a brief running start.

  A few strides later, he found himself catapulting over the cliff, releasing a guttural yell. Lloyd looked over the cliff and saw that Regal might have overshot the entry point a little bit. In the last moment, Regal curled up into a ball, his splash doubled that of Colette’s. A few tense moments later, Lloyd saw his brother emerge, his hands pumping into the air. Colette clapped beside Regal as Lloyd shouted from the cliff above. Seeing his brother barrel into the watery depths gave Lloyd the confidence to do the same.

  A smirk spread across Lloyd’s face as he turned to Sheena, knowing the answer before he even asked.

  “So, who wants to go next?” Lloyd asked.

  Lloyd could see the attempt at anger on Sheena’s face as she glared at him, but her fear held a firm grip. Lloyd wanted to tease her in that moment. He had finally identified her fear, and it was something he didn’t share. But as he looked into her eyes, the urge to tease melted away.

  “Look, I know you and Colette grew up swimming in safe waters. That must have built your confidence around bodies of water, but Regal and I didn’t have that. Our house was in a tree nearly a hundred feet in the air. Every morning, we’d wake up, have breakfast, and look out at the town below. It was beautiful, now that I think about it. I don’t think I fully appreciated it at the time, but I cherish those memories now.” Lloyd explained, a pang of sadness creeping into his heart. He had always wanted to explore the world outside Breakwater, but he hadn’t anticipated missing certain elements of the place so early in his journey.

  Lloyd tried to refocus on the present moment, pulling his thoughts away from Breakwater. He noticed the fear had slightly receded from Sheena’s face.

  “Don’t focus on what’s directly below us right now. Look ahead at the forest we passed through to get to this river. See how the stream weaves through the grass, how birds fly through the trees, and how little animals and rodents scurry through the grass. A lot of that would be hard to appreciate from the ground, but from up here, we can see more of the beauty around us. Don’t think about jumping from this height to down there—think about moving from one beautiful place to another. Imagine the wind rushing across your face, your heart racing, and the excitement of briefly flying like a bird.”

  Lloyd’s face reddened slightly as he realized how corny his words sounded. But when he saw Sheena’s fear gradually fade, he realized it might have been worth it.

  “And if you think about it, if we end up jumping poorly, we’ve got Colette down there to fix our broken bones,” Lloyd said with a smile.

  Sheena choked out a nervous laugh, making Lloyd join in. “Great, definitely makes me feel much better,” Sheena said.

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  A smile spread across both their faces, knowing that just a matter of minutes had made all the difference in which side of the conversation they stood on. The two stood there for a few moments before gathering their wits.

  “Thank you,” Sheena said, bowing slightly to Lloyd.

  “No problem. I know what it’s like to feel fear, to venture into the unknown. Hell, to dive into something you have no fucking idea about. I followed my brother even before I knew I had powers. Trust in yourself. You’re pretty badass. I don’t think there’s much you can’t do.”

  Sheena cocked her head as she looked at Lloyd. What did I just say? Oh, shit. I just admitted I don’t have powers. Fuck, how do I fix this?

  “I can’t fly,” Sheena said, the confusion fading from her face.

  Phew. She didn’t notice.

  “Neither can I, at least not yet. I’m working on that,” Lloyd said, winking at Sheena. “How about we jump together? You can count us down from three.”

  “I thought your brother said we shouldn’t jump together?”

  “What are you guys doing up there? Come on, the water’s not getting any deeper while you sit up there!” Regal called from below.

  “If you focus on jumping where Regal pointed, I’ll jump more to the left. We’ll be good,” Lloyd said.

  “Okay. Three, two, one!” Sheena said, the last number coming out in a screech.

  The two ran forward and leaped off the cliff. A scream erupted from Sheena as Lloyd yelled with excitement in the brief moment before hitting the water. Yelling was a mistake. Lloyd hit the water in a decent position, but with an absence of air in his lungs. He also didn’t scrunch himself into a ball, so he shot down into the water. He felt his feet dig into the riverbed, and he tried to springboard off the bottom as best he could. Panic surged as he desperately flailed his limbs to reach the surface. His lungs began to burn, and his body began to quake from lack of oxygen. His vision was blurred, and he wasn’t even sure if he was heading in the right direction. The only solace was seeing what looked like sunlight above him. Finally, he felt his palm push through air instead of water, his head following shortly after. Lloyd coughed and choked for air as he looked at his friends treading water around him.

  “That was…” Lloyd began.

  His sentence was interrupted by a noise that drowned out the rhythmic hum of the waterfall. Lloyd saw Sheena looking behind her, and fear gripped him as he realized it wasn’t Sheena who was making the noise. Milla paddling frantically as she tried to reach Sheena. Milla wouldn't make it in time. There was a massive displacement of water coming from behind the waterfall directly aimed at Sheena. In the final moments before the water got to her, Lloyd acted out of instinct. He willed his telekinesis to grab the water between him and Sheena. The water from his telekinetic shove rocketed Sheena toward the shore as a giant head and two large fangs swept through the space that Sheena had occupied mere moments before. The momentum of what looked like a large snake continued forward, heading in Regal’s direction. Milla diverted to the shore, with Colette following closely behind. The snake dissolved into the water once more, and the only thing signaling its existence was the massive waves that it left in its wake. It looked to be headed directly at Regal. The river was filled with frothing water as the snake and Regal submerged and re-emerged in rapid succession. Lloyd struggled to swim to shore, thankful when he could finally walk.

  By the time Lloyd stepped out of the water, Colette had already readied herself, and Sheena had found her daggers. Lloyd didn’t have time to run to his gear, so he reached out with the tendrils of his magic and flung his bag and robes toward him. He quickly slid the robe on, thankful for not having to put on a shirt and pants and summoned his staff.

  The snake stopped attacking Regal for a moment, turning its head to face Lloyd. Its tongue tasted the air between itself and Lloyd. Its eyes stared directly at Lloyd’s staff. Lloyd took a moment while the snake wasn’t actively attacking to target his brother. He found a grip on his chest as he pulled him to shore. Lloyd could feel the weight and resistance of his brother’s Mana recede when Regal must have realized he was pulling him to safety. Lloyd dumped him on shore a few feet away from his bag, and Regal unsheathed the sword from the belt they lay on the ground. The snake shimmered and then disappeared once again.

  The water stilled, and the humans slowly retreated deeper into the trees. Milla stood her ground a few feet from the shoreline, emitting a loud growl. Then, as quickly as the water had stilled, the line of disruption erupted again. The snake became visible again as it shot out of the water, heading directly toward Regal. Its mouth was open, fangs poised to pierce Regal’s skin. Regal was ready and, with a quick, powerful upward swing of his sword, slashed into the snake’s underbelly, dodging to the right. A loud clanging noise rang out as sword met scale.

  Lloyd frantically searched the ground for an appropriate projectile to throw at the snake. All he found were objects too large or sticks too small that would serve no purpose. Worry struck Lloyd as he saw his brother’s sword was as clean and silver as when he had unsheathed it. The powerful swing seemed to have done no damage to the serpent. The snake was fully out of the water and had risen up from the ground. Its head and tongue twitched methodically as its ruby eyes observed the humans before it. The snake's head was easily the size of Regal's entire upper body. The cobra’s eight-inch fangs hung from the upper part of its mouth. The upright snake stood easily over ten feet tall, making the usually large Regal appear more akin to a kid now.

  “Come on! Come and get me.” Regal yelled at the serpent.