Corvan could only stare at Tyreth, frozen in place, as if he was another stone statue. She did not want him to save her, but there was no way he could just let her drown or be captured by the creature’s arms that waited in the water. If Tsarek was below the rim with the breathing sticks, there was still a chance he might be able to fight it off while they escaped.

  If only he had the hammer to help him to know what to do. No! He moved his hand away from the empty holster and shook his head fiercely. He didn’t need to hold the hammer to know that he had already promised to do whatever he could to save her. Tyreth was the future of the Cor, not him. He had to do something, and now.

  The lizard spoke from the stone platform overlooking the karst amphitheater and Corvan raised his eyes to the scaley creature.

  “The gods found the father guilty!” The Chief Watcher cried out as the lizard stepped back between the two pillars and pointed down at Tyreth. “Now we shall see if his daughter shared in his treason.”

  All eyes focused on Tyreth and to Corvan’s horror, he could see she was slowly edging her feet back toward the end of the pier.

  “No!” Corvan shouted, as he tore of the enclosed space and past the shocked priests. “You don’t have to die to save me! I’m not the Cor-Van!”

  He raced toward the pier and instantly two palace guards jumped out of the door at the statues boot and ran to cut him off.

  “It’s a trap,” Tyreth shouted, jumping toward him. “Run away!”

  Corvan did not slacken his pace. He easily beat guards to the pier and ran out to Tyreth. “Don’t jump,” he whispered to her, “we can escape together.” He whipped around to face the two red cloaked guards that had arrived at the far end of the pier. One was looking up at the Chief Watcher for further instructions. The other one, an angry snarl on his face, stepped onto the slender pier, his eyes searching the recesses of Corvan’s hood.

  There was no time for any directions from the stage above, for the man on the pier had no warning as a slender tentacle snaked out of the water from the shadows below the pier, wrapped around the man’s ankle and then, in the blink of an eye, he disappeared below the surface with barely a ripple. The audience didn’t move or breathe as the other guard, his sword drawn, stepped back from the water and two more ran in from the statue’s boot.

  The amphitheater was silent a long moment. Corvan turned to face Tyreth as the Chief Watcher spoke into the electric air and pointed directly at Corvan. “Tarran, you cannot take the place of your sister. Instead, the two of you shall be judged together.” The lizard lifted both arms over his head. “I call upon the gods of the water to show us if these two are the source of the conspiracy that has been tearing Kadir apart.” His claws dropped on the two posts, and he leaned forward.

  Corvan put his hands on Tyreth’s shoulders. “We’re going to fall together into the water, but you must not panic. Keep your mouth closed and don’t let the air go out of your body. I won’t let you drown; I promise.”

  Tyreth nodded but he could see the fear in her eyes. Reaching into his robe, Corvan pulled out the stub of a fire stick and stuck it in his mouth, just as a wall of spray exploded around them, obscuring everything and everyone in the amphitheater.

  Wrapping Tyreth tightly in his arms, he toppled them from the pier.

  Clouds of bubbles rose around them as they plunged into the water. Flicking the cap from the fire stick, he filled his lungs with air, then pulled Tyreth closer and tried to move the bubbling stick into her mouth. Her lips and eyes were squeezed tight, and a thin stream of bubbles were flowing steadily from her nose. They dropped deeper and her bubbles stopped. She needed fresh air right away.

  Pulling in another deep breath from the fire stick, Corvan placed his mouth firmly over hers, and pushed his air past her lips and into her lungs. Tyreth’s eyes opened wide, and a burst of fresh bubbles streamed from her nostrils. This time she watched him pull more air into his lungs through the firestick. When he put his mouth to hers, Tyreth’s mouth relaxed as she allowed the air to flow freely into her body. He took another breath through the stick, Tyreth’s blue eyes locked on his, her lips lifted in slight smile then she pulled him close and put her mouth firmly over his to accept his air.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Their intertwined bodies didn’t have a chance against the tentacles that wrapped suddenly around them. Corvan strained against the coils, but the powerful limbs squeezed even tighter, then swept them down through a dark opening in the wall of the karst. His lungs cried out for more air, but the stub of the fire stick was lashed firmly to his side.

  The tentacles jerked, squeezed one last time and then they were gone. Corvan released a burst of stale air, then held up the fire stick and filled his lungs. Tyreth watched, took it from his hand, and followed his example. Corvan looked overhead at the bubbles soaring up toward a huge silvery moon. There was fresh air back under the statue. Pulling on Tyreth’s hand, he kicked furiously, towing her upward.

  They broke the surface in a cavern lit by patches of phosphorus yellow slime floating on the water. Up ahead a shaft of light shone down a crumbling stone stair to a landing, then the stairs turned towards the water. Corvan towed Tyreth toward it and they crawled out of the water across a beach of small pebbles, then collapsed on the steps.

  As his breathing returned to normal, Corvan turned his head to find Tyreth sitting on the step above him, looking out over the water in amazement.

  “My father told me it was possible to survive the water, but I didn’t believe him.” She looked down at him. “I didn’t believe him about you either.”

  As she studied his face, Corvan found himself wondering how someone so strong could also be so beautiful. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “So, what happened to the frightened boy I met in the prison?”

  Corvan moved up onto the step beside her. “I guess he found someone worth fighting for.”

  Tyreth’s smile spread to her eyes, and Corvan’s cheeks grew warm. In his mind he was referring to Kate, but he was glad that Tyreth not only took it to mean herself, but that she also seemed to be pleased by what he said.

  She touched his shoulder. “I am glad you came back for me and did not let me drown.” She leaned back on the steps and a mischievous sparkle shone in her eyes from the overhead light. “Of course, now you will have to go back to prison for kissing the High Priest’s daughter without his permission.”

  The warm flush spread up to Corvan’s ears.

  Tyreth laughed and checked her shoulder into his. “I’m just teasing you. My father wouldn’t . . .” Her voice trailed off and she turned away to look over the water.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t save him,” Corvan said. “I didn’t think he would jump in like that.”

  She nodded. “He likely new it was just a matter of time before the poison killed him anyway and he would not let that evil creature win. I admire him for exposing the Chief Watcher’s lies. I just wish I would have had one last chance to speak with him while we were being held in the cells.”

  The surface of the water exploded as huge bubbles of air hit the surface, sending them both scrambling up the steps to escape the rising water.

  “The water creature is back,” Tyreth shouted, climbing higher and pulling on his hand.

  “No. It’s the Chief Watcher. He intends to drown all the priests.”

  “How can he—”

  The water churned and belched another explosion of air.

  Corvan hollered over the rising noise. “He controls the level of the water from the pillars where he stands. The low place where all the priests are sitting has been sealed off by a stone door and once the water rises into the priest’s area, none of them will be able to escape the water, or the creature below.”

  Tyreth tore up the stairs, with Corvan right behind her. Muted echoes of the Chief Watcher’s voice reached them as they squeezed through a crack into a corridor lighted by a single firestick in a holder on the far wall. The Chief Watcher’s voice seemed to come from both directions.

  Tyreth grabbed his shoulder, “I’m going left, you go right. If you find the Chief Watcher, come back and find me.” She pushed him to go but then pulled him back. “Don’t do anything without me. I need you to stay alive.”

  Corvan nodded and turned away, but Tyreth pulled him back again. “Do you have the hammer with you?”

  His heart sank and he shook his head.

  Her face dropped “But I thought . . . do you have a sword?”

  He shook his head again and showed her the empty sheath still strapped to his forearm.

  Tyreth’s voice rose in desperation. “Anything at all?”

  Reaching under his cloak, Corvan unclipped the krypin rope and held it out to her. She hesitated, then took it and tore up the tunnel. Corvan watched her disappear around the corner, then sprinted in the other direction. What good would a rope be against the black lizard?

  The tunnel grew dark and jogged to the left, bumping Corvan off the wall and into something soft.

  “Clumsy oaf,” a voice hissed in his ear. “We aren’t moving yet. Stay in your position.”

  A burst of light shot into the tunnel from a small window at the end. Squinting, Corvan found himself at the end of a row of red cloaked palace guards crammed into a short, wide passage.

  “Where’s your pike?” the man in front of him asked before reaching into the shadows. “Take this. You’ll need something to keep the priests from climbing over the wall. The idiots made it too short just so the spectators above them could see better.”

  “Blue flag,” the man at the front of the line whispered. “Let’s move out.”