Page 150 of Hijack the Seas: Seismic

And immediately staggered under the power loss because the Pythian energy wasn’t here. I was trying to run god-tier spells on Margygr power, and it might work, but it wouldn’t last. So I sent Alphonse, who was yelling at me as usual and heard his voice cut off mid-shriek.

He tumbled through the portal, and I collapsed to my knees, my head going under the waves, and I didn’t have the power to raise it again. Had I done too much? Where was . . . I needed more . . . I needed . . .

The room started to darken. Because there was no more power available unless you counted a few scant scraps that I could feel pinging against my skin, but that did almost nothing. They weren’t even enough to let me fight off the images, which were back with a vengeance, utterly overwhelming me.

Everywhere I looked, cities were going up in flames or crumbling to dust; rivers were spewing all over the landscape, having been knocked off their courses; and avalanches were cascading down mountains, which were right on their heels, racing each other into the dirt that itself was convulsing, was splitting, was—

Dying.

I hadn’t really believed it before, that an entire world could die, but I was seeing it now. And I was dying along with it because I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t see anything but carnage. And Enid’s face, appearing inches away from mine.

We surfaced from the bloody waves, I guessed because she’d dragged me up, although I couldn’t feel her. I was busy burning to death in a foreign city as my house collapsed around me; was chasing the family dog, who was panicked and running in a circle as multiple threads of lightning set our farm ablaze; was on a ship, going to my knees and staring with my mouth hanging open as a volcano spewed forth a cloud of fire and ash—

“Do you trust me?” Enid screamed. She was right in my face, but I couldn’t answer her, couldn’t speak, didn’t have the strength or breath. I just nodded.

And found out why even the gods had decided to let the Margygr alone. Because Enid had wanted to fight and fight, she did. Sending a blast of something ahead of us that carved a path through Horrors and merfolk alike before grabbing me against her and all but flying through the waves.

It shouldn’t have worked, but she’d caught everyone by surprise. The other Margygr had been focused on the Horrors and either hadn’t noticed Enid or hadn’t cared. What could a quarter fey do anyway?

That, I thought wildly, as she put on a burst of speed like a freaking torpedo, dodging or cursing anything that got in her path. And giving me a brief view through the stinging spray in my face, the blood in my eyes, and the roaring of the battle in my ears of a brilliant sun getting rapidly bigger. It reminded me of Rask and his people, who had thought they’d gotten away, only to have the world come crashing down on top of them.

I could see them now, running through a forest even as trees toppled around them. Could hear children screaming and men and women calling out for family members they’d been separated from and not finding them. Could see Rask pausing at the top of a rise, staring at the burning valley beneath him, the one his people had already started descending toward.

He didn’t follow them. Young as he was, he knew the end when he saw it. Or maybe that was something else, or someone else whispering in his ear. Instead of climbing down, he turned and looked me full in the face, and his eyes said the same thing that Faerie had.

I hope I chose my champion well.

“I’ll come back!” I screamed as Enid and I hit the portal’s surface, and its power grabbed us, sending us spinning into the void.

I swear to you.

I’ll come back.