*Please, John!* Neridia pulled on the mate bond, desperate to get him to listen. *Not even you can fight that thing!*
His sister paddled upright again, matching John glare for glare. *I’m not leaving you. If you want to get your mate to safety, then you’re going to have to come too!*
John snarled, but turned. To Neridia’s relief, he started to swim, herding his sister before him.
Neridia flattened against John’s sister’s neck. The sea dragon’s tail lashed through the water, fighting the drag of the dwindling air bubble. It was clear that she was tiring.
Neridia risked a backward glance. The Master Shark was catching up. His streamlined body was even more perfectly adapted for this environment than the sea dragons. He was close enough now that she could see his tiny, flat eyes. His jaws gaped wide enough to swallow the whole world.
*Swim!* John’s teeth snapped at his sister’s trailing fin. *For the sake of all the sea, SWIM!*
“JOHN!” Neridia shrieked as his fluid body doubled back on itself.
John flashed toward the Master Shark like a bolt of electric blue lightning, claws outstretched. The shark’s triangular teeth clashed together like a portcullis descending, but John darted out of reach just in time. Fast as a snake, he whipped round, seeking to entangle the shark in his coils.
The Master Shark bucked like a bull trying to shake off a rider. John might match him in length, but the shark was at least five times his own mass. Even though the dragon clung on with every tooth and claw, he couldn’t keep a secure grip on the writhing monster. His coiling tail slipped, coming within range of the shark’s twisting mouth.
“No!” Neridia cried out, as the Master Shark’s teeth cracked through John’s scales, sinking deep into his flesh.
With a jerk, the shark flung the sea dragon aside. Without hesitation, John twisted round. Blood trailing behind him in a dark cloud, he threw himself straight into the shark’s path again.
Her mate was going to get ripped to shreds.
*Don’t!* Neridia aimed the thought at the Master Shark like a torpedo. *Please, stop! I’ll surrender, I’ll come with you, just don’t hurt him!*
She had an odd sensation of her mental plea bouncing back unheard, as if she’d shouted at a brick wall. The shark didn’t give any hint that he was even aware of her attempt to communicate. The sea dragon and the shark closed with each other again, and the sea turning red around them.
*Do something, Neridia!* John’s sister pleaded. Despite her brother’s command, she’d slowed again, clearly reluctant to leave him. *Fling him away on a tidal wave, command a whirlpool to swallow him, freeze the very blood in his veins! If you’re the Empress, you have the power!*
“I don’t, I’m not, I’m not!”
John tumbled out of the swirling cloud of blood again. This time, it took him a moment to right himself, his previously-fluid movements stiffened by pain. There were deep puncture wounds in his side, and one side of his tail-fin had been shredded. But despite his wounds, his scales glowed brighter than ever.
He wasn’t going to give up. He’d fight for her to the last drop of blood in his body.
Neridia reached for him, praying to draw that indomitable will into her own frail soul. John’s head jerked round, his eyes widening in surprise. She felt him reach back in return. Their souls met, joined, like clasping hands.
The mate bond blazed up between them, bright and fierce as John’s markings. Neridia shook as if she’d stuck her fingers in an electric socket. She’d thought to draw strength from him…but instead he seemed to be taking it from her.
She knew how his pain was suddenly washed away, his strained muscles moving freely once more. She knew how the touch of her soul filled him with renewed resolve.
*My mate,* his voice whispered in her mind. And then, more strongly, *My mate!*
He swirled to face the Master Shark head-on, his great chest swelling. The shark lunged for him, maw gaping, but John didn’t move.
Instead, opening his own jaws wide, he sang.
Neridia clapped her hands over her ears, deafened by the power of his voice. The music exploded outward like a shockwave, tumbling even the Master Shark’s massive bulk backward in the water.
Neridia didn’t understand the thundering melody, but in her soul she knew what John was saying:
This is my mate, mine, mine alone! You shall not take her!
The Master Shark was beaten back by the tearing maelstrom of notes. Every muscle in John’s body was taut with effort of his song. Slowly, as if battling against some vast weight, he raised his front feet. His claws spread wide.
The sea parted.
At John’s command, a deep chasm sliced through the ocean. From surface to sea bed, the water drew back, trapping the Master Shark on the opposite side of a dry, widening canyon.