***************

Gobrianna ran over her mental checklist one more time, making sure she hadn’t missed anything, as she rubbed her bloodshot eyes. No amount of makeup had been able to hide the redness, or the dark circles. After her short nap the sixteen-year-old had completely forgone sleep for two days, preparing diligently for her departure. At last she thought everything was set. The OPL knew their second-in-command was leaving, a temporary replacement was already in place, her Pokemon lay dormant in their Pokeballs in the vault inside the Gym, she had called her mother and explained she might be unreachable for a while, and she was packed for the journey that was about to make. Gobrianna was ready.

The girl once again stood behind her Gym, surveying the scene before her for anything amiss, adamantly ignoring her exhaustion. There would be plenty of time for sleep as she made her way to the Seafoam Islands; now she had to be absolutely certain that everything was flawless. Finally satisfied, she strode forward to address the small group of Pokemon that waited by the pool.

"All right, we’re almost ready to go," the trainer informed her trainees. Six pairs of eyes gazed at her attentively, listening raptly. By the side of the pool Charizard shifted restlessly, its twitching tail kept well away from the water. Beside it a Raichu eagerly bounced on its brown-tipped feet and an Arbok lay curled in the sun, gazing at her lazily. In the pool itself the Lapras bobbed gently with the movements of the water, the Vaporeon sat on its knobbed shell, and a Dewgong paddled quietly. All gazed at Gobrianna with as much confidence as she returned to them.

"You all know where we’re going," she resumed. "We’ll head for Fuchsia City, and a boat will take us from port to the Seafoam Islands. You know you are the six Chosen Pokemon, and that we’re the only hope our world and the Eight have. When we get to the Island I don’t know what we’ll find, but there’s someone there who can make people believe in fantasy again. I don’t know why he hasn’t already. Maybe he doesn’t know how much people have forgotten, or maybe he’s hurt and needs our help. Whatever we find, whatever happens, I just want you to know that I trust you. And that I believe you can all do what needs to be done, we can do it. And we will. Right?"

The Pokemon each gave their various sounds of agreement. Smiling triumphantly, Gobrianna recalled them one by one, tucking their Pokeballs into her belt as she did, until Charizard was the only Pokemon left. She reached out to stroke the silver mark on its snout. "We’ll do it Charizard," she whispered. "We have to."

The fire lizard nodded, then bent down and nosed the button on its own Pokeball. Its trainer watched as her oldest and closest friend became an insubstantial red light and was sucked inside. For some unexplainable reason, her heart gave a little lurch of sorrow as it disappeared from her sight, as if they might never see one another again.

Gobrianna shook her head stubbornly, banishing the foreboding feeling. "Thinking like that is not going to do you any good," she told herself sternly. "You’ve got a long road ahead of you, so snap out of it." With the reprimand still hanging in the air, the Pokemon trainer turned and marched back inside to get her things.

* * *

"Please, miss, we’re boarding now." The voice caused Gobrianna to come back to herself with a start. A young man with short red hair and bright blue eyes was giving her a kind smile and holding out his hand. She took one last look around the busy port of Fuchsia City before accepting it with the hand that wasn’t clutching her staff. He assisted her up the short plank—a gesture of courtesy; she didn’t actually need help to walk up a ramp that took all of two steps—and onto the craft.

Gobrianna returned the man’s smile as he pulled up the wooden board and leaned it against the side of the ship. "Thanks. I’ve traveled around a lot, but I never saw the Fuchsia City docks. There are so many ships! Not to mention the population." She looked back at the many people strolling along the sidewalk, docks and adjoining beach. The Fuchsia port was a hive of activity. Men, woman, children, sailors, Pokemon and more flashed by in a never-ending wave of color and sound. Gobrianna usually preferred serene, less populated places, but cities were always fun to visit.

The young man chuckled. "County girl, huh?"

She grinned sheepishly. "Is it that obvious? Yeah, my Gym’s ‘out in the boonies,’ as the saying goes. Not that close to the ocean, either." She rubbed her arms briskly with her free hand, making a mental note to put on a sweater as soon as possible.

"Oh? Pokemon trainer?" She lifted the hem of her shirt enough to reveal her belt where the six red and white hung, gleaming. He nodded. "You must be Gobrianna." At her lifted eyebrow he laughed out loud. "No," he replied to her unspoken question. "I’m not psychic or anything. I read the passenger manifest."

"And. . . ?"

"And there are only three passengers on this trip, including you. No one wants to go to the Island we’re setting out for in autumn. It’s cold enough in June! And the other two passengers are male."

Gobrianna nodded. "That makes sense. So why is this ship going to the Island?" she inquired curiously. The young man hadn’t been exaggerating in the lack of traffic to the particularly cold island they were going to. This was the only ship bound there for weeks.

"Oh, we run supplies over every month for the crazy folk who actually choose to live there. None of that year-round freezing for me! It’s not too bad, only a five-hour trip if the weather holds. I’m usually home in time for dinner." He flashed her a grin. "Well, nice meeting you, Gobrianna. You’ll have to excuse me now, the captain’ll be yelling for me any second now. The name’s Sam, by the way. I’m sure we’ll have a chance to finish this conversation later." With that the young man gave a cheery wave and walked away.

Gobrianna watched him go and found herself smiling. First impression not bad, she observed critically. Then the Pokemon trainer’s eye focused on the ship she was currently aboard, to perform a more thorough examination than the once-over she had given it when she first found the vessel bound for the Seafoam Islands.

It wasn’t that large for a ship carrying cargo, probably about thirty or forty feet long if she was any judge. There were no sails or motor in sight, and by the height of the sides she guessed there to be at least one deck below. Probably an engine room down there, she rationalized. My cabin too.

But Gobrianna didn’t want to go below deck just yet. Her things had already been brought aboard and stored, and the open air was just too tempting. Besides, she wanted to watch the ship pull out of harbor.

Making her way to the bow of the ship, she wondered briefly about the other two passengers. She didn’t see them on deck. Maybe they were below, or hadn’t boarded yet. That thought was dismissed as she heard a deep voice call out, "Cast off!" A barrel-chested sailor deftly threw a thick rope that had been keeping the ship moored to the docks at a whipcord-thin woman standing on the dock. Well, those passengers had better be aboard now, Gobrianna thought as the ship chugged away from Fuchsia City port. Slowly at first, carefully avoiding the other ships in the dark green water, the ship picked up speed as it cleared the docks and pointed its nose toward the open sea. Soon they were briskly gliding over the calm waves.

Gobrianna leaned over the railing, seeing the reflection of the white hull reflecting off the water below. Painted on the side of the ship were the crude picture of a Dragonite and the name of the ship: The Water Dragon. She smiled, liking the name. "Must be a good omen," she laughed. The sudden appearance of a Seel poking its head out the waves before vanishing again only confirmed her thoughts.

Soon, she promised herself as The Water Dragon cruised through the green sea. I’ll be at the Seafoam Islands soon. Then I’ll find this mystery person and bring fantasy back. I will. I can’t let the Eight down.

* * *

"Chaaaaaaaaar," moaned the massive fire lizard loudly, clutching the railing with its head hanging over the side. Its flaming tail lay limp upon the deck, its dark wings fluttering weakly. Gobrianna gently circled an arm around the wailing Pokemon’s shoulders.

"I’m sorry your seasick, Charizard," its trainer sympathized. "But you’re the one who wanted to come out of your Pokeball for some fresh air. Had enough yet?"

Charizard nodded plaintively. Hiding a grin, Gobrianna complied. A look of relief passed over the lizard’s long face as it was drawn into the red and white sphere. As she tucked the shrunken globe back onto her belt, the sixteen-year-old raised her head to gaze out across the sea. The Water Dragon had left land over an hour ago, and Sam had just stopped by to tell her that they were about halfway there on his way to the engine room. Now she stared out over the green waves, seeing nothing save the water all around, alone again. Still no sight of the two other passengers either. Sam reported they hadn’t set so much as a foot outside their cabin. She, on the other hand, had spent almost the entire trip on deck, breathing in the salty air and feeling the wind blow back her coppery, unbound hair. It had been a long time since she last felt so . . . alive.

All afternoon the sun had shone down fierce and hot from its place in the bleached and cloudless sky, reflecting its radiance across the top of the waves. This was why it was so noticeable when the deck was suddenly plunged into shadow, the cool sea air turning absolutely frigid. Gobrianna shivered under her sweater as she turned her face skyward. A dark mass of black clouds had just rolled over the sun, now covering half the sky. Funny, she thought. I hadn’t noticed those storm clouds rolling in.

Neither, apparently, had the crew. A pair of sailors and the man she recognized as the captain emerged from the door leading below decks, deep in conversation and peering uneasily at the dark sky. The captain—a robust man with black hair graying at the temples—issued some curt commands. The two sailors immediately saluted and took off.

Gobrianna approached the man before he could depart as well. "Excuse me, Captain, is everything all right?"

His dark brown eyes went first to the wooden staff in her hand (not an uncommon reaction) before falling on the girl’s face. "Just a storm, Miss. They sometimes sneak up on a person like this, even an old sea dog like myself. Best get yourself down below though, just in case. Can’t have any of my passengers falling overboard now." Excusing himself, the captain strode away, yelling orders to a passing sailor.

Gobrianna sighed. "Well, guess that’s that then." She brushed her fingers across the silver necklace she wore, a habit that never failed to reassure her. Then she wasted no more time heading down below the top deck. The ominous clouds looked dark and heavy, and she already knew they moved fast. She wanted to be secure in her cabin when the storm hit.

And hit it did. As the Pokemon trainer hurried down the narrow hall that bisected the lower level of the ship, a rough wave crashed against the side of The Water Dragon, sending her reeling into the wall. There was a tremendous clap of thunder that resounded in the small space she was in. Gobrianna clutched her staff to her, staggering forward again as the ship pitched and swayed in the suddenly wild water. She had to make it to her cabin. Finally she recognized the two doors assigned to the passengers facing each other in the hall. She threw open the left one and stumbled inside, noticing the silence behind the second door and not caring. Behind her the door slammed shut as The Water Dragon lurched in the opposite direction. The motion flung her onto the small cot in the corner.

Gobrianna was inclined to remain on the bed, somewhere stable in the unsteady surroundings. She grabbed the edge with her free hand to ground herself on her perch, hastily casting her eyes down at her belt to check her Pokeballs. They were all there, thankfully. Looking for a lost Pokemon in a storm like this was not her idea of a fun time. Seeing everything of any importance in her mission was safe with her—the staff, the necklace and her Pokemon—she allowed herself to relax and prepared to outwait the storm.

After twenty minutes of listening to the ship creak and moan as it swayed, hearing the muffled shouts of the crew as they passed by the door, and watching her belongings slide across the floor of the cabin, Gobrianna was quite bored. The next time one of her tote bags slid toward her she made a grab for it and pulled it up on the cot. Fishing out her current novel, Second Chances, the sixteen-year-old happily dived in. It only took a moment for her to totally forget the storm and the fact that she was miles out to sea on a ship heading for the Seafoam Islands. There was only Lantom, Kimaera, and the winged serpent.

"Gobrianna!"

The voice jerked her back to life. "Huh?" She glanced up. Sam stood in the doorway, a look of anguish on his face. Seeing his distress, she put down her book and stood. "Sam! What is—oh!"

Even through her shoes, she felt the chilled wetness. She was standing in four inches of seawater! The young man strode through the cabin and grabbed her hand, pulling her forward. "The Water Dragon’s going down, Gobrianna," he said softly, tugging harder when she stopped in shock.

"We’re sinking!?" she cried.

Sam bit his lip and nodded. She felt sorry for the young sailor as he dragged her through the door of her cabin, resisting only long enough to grab her staff. Together they raced down the corridor and up to the top deck. This was a ship he obviously took pride in working on, the pained look on his face declaring his heartache. What would she do if something happened to the Fantasy Gym? She pushed the unpleasant thought away. Gobrianna’s feet were soaked and numb from cold by the time the two made it up into the open air. She gasped as she saw the pandemonium.

The sky was now a total dismal gray, lit sometimes with bolts of lightning and crashes of thunder. The storm clouds had completely covered the sky. The trainer didn’t know how long she had been reading, didn’t know what time it was, but there wasn’t even a hint of light from the leaden sky to pinpoint the location of the sun. It could be the middle of the night for all she knew. A strong wind roared in her ears, blowing around anything loose on the deck. Sailors were running everywhere, yelling at each other and seeming to do three or four things at once. Then she noticed the slight list of The Water Dragon under her feet. The seawater hadn’t risen enough to cover the deck yet, but Gobrianna didn’t want to stick around and find out how long it would take. "Where do we go?" she asked Sam.

"We have to get to the lifeboats," he gasped loudly, "before the ship goes over." His sweaty hand, which hadn’t relinquished hers yet, jerked her forward again as he pushed through the carnage all around, making his way to the front of the ship. There were four long lifeboats suspended over the sides of The Water Dragon with thick wooden poles and ropes, two on each side. Shoving her toward the closest, Sam cursed out loud when he saw it empty.

"What? What is it?" Gobrianna demanded. Sam didn’t answer at first, searching the deck at his feet. A heap of life preservers was stacked there, and he grabbed one and thrust it at her. Then he burst out, "Captain told me to get the passengers in a lifeboat. The other two were here! Where the hell did they go?"

She watched him as he wheeled around, dark blue eyes scanning the deck anxiously. Finally they glanced up and widened in recognition. "HEY!" he called over the sounds of the crew and the storm, running forward. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?"

Gobrianna followed Sam’s gaze as he disappeared into the melee, her own eyes searching upward as his had. And what she saw standing on top of the wheelhouse, silhouetted against a sudden flash of lightning, froze every muscle in her body. The life preserver slipped from her nerveless fingers as she locked her gaze on the two men standing above the chaos, gazing down with a calm composure that belittled the storm and the confusion below. . . .

. . . .the men with long black cloaks and hoods that hid their faces.

Gobrianna stared, stunned and bewildered. And in that moment, the bright light of understanding shone in her turquoise eyes. Everything became clear to her: the attack on the Eight, the fact that they hadn’t contacted her since, the mysterious unseen passengers, the sudden storm.

It was the Darkness.

The Darkness had attacked the Eight, was battling them even now, to prevent the great silver beings from helping her on her final quest. And while she was defenseless without them, it had sent the men that dressed in black cloaks, the ones that called the Darkness "master," to stop her. She hadn’t seen them in five years, but there was no mistaking who they were. She recognized them instantly.

And they her. The taller one turned in her direction, the shadow under his hood singling her out of the crush of people all around. His arm appeared in the folds of his black cloak, slowly lifted and pointed a single finger at her. It was a promise, a declaration. Of what she didn’t want to guess, but it made her stomach clench in fear. While the black-cloaked man held her gaze with his, she couldn’t move, couldn’t make a sound, couldn’t see anything but the two men standing like figureheads with the backdrop of dark gray clouds behind them.

"Gobrianna!"

She started, the spell broken. Finally tearing her gaze away from the men, she fastened her eyes on Sam, who for the second time that day had called her back to reality and probably saved her life. His face was a mask of horror as he raced across the deck toward her, jaw slack and eyes locked on something, she realized, behind her. "Look out!" his voice screeched above the roaring of the wind. But almost drowning out Sam’s cry was the loudest crrraaaaack she had ever heard.

Gobrianna wheeled, just in time to see one of the poles holding the closest lifeboat horizontal snap clean in half, sending one end of the small boat plunging into the wild sea. The half of the pole still attached to the ship swung on its pivot in a wide arch away from her. It happened in a split-second, leaving only enough time for the girl to cry out as the pole completed its arch and slammed into her middle, cutting off her yell and driving the breath from her lungs.

She might have blacked out, because the next thing Gobrianna knew was a brutal impact along the entire left side of her body—now both of her sides hurt—and the sudden icy cold that enveloped her, cutting into her skin like hundreds of tiny knives. She opened her mouth to scream and swallowed a mouthful of salty water, choking off the little amount of breath she had been able to draw in. Trying to spit it out only got her another gulp of the liquid that was so cold it made her teeth ache. Gobrianna kicked out blindly, trying to swim, but the waves were too violent, taking her body and doing with it what they willed. She couldn’t see for the water in her eyes, couldn’t breathe because the frigid air and the storm-tossed seawater both felt the same on her face, disguising which was the life-giver and which could kill if she inhaled. She was tossed upside down and back and forth and under and around and through until she couldn’t tell up from down and almost wished she was unconscious again. Her mad struggles slowed as her limbs grew heavier and heavier. She was so cold. Too cold even to shiver. Her brain was growing fuzzy from lack of oxygen.

I’m drowning, she realized dimly, and couldn’t find the energy to care. The Darkness has won. I can’t . . . I can’t. My Pokemon. . . .

My Pokemon! The thought sparked in her numb mind when her hand, thrown by the savage whitecaps, brushed against her side. The hard spheres were the only things solid in this insane world of terrifying movement and darkness and cold. She had to, to. . . .

Her hand slid around one of the tiny balls. In her delirious state, Gobrianna couldn’t even guess which Pokemon the red and white ball held, but she was beyond caring. Ordering a hand she could no longer feel to obey her, she detached it from her belt and inched her way toward the button in the center.

Only to feel the sphere slip through her fingers. In an instant it was gone, taken by the waves.

The girl screamed in her mind, not having the strength to force the wordless anguish through her throat. NOOOOOOOOO!

It’s gone. It’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone. The words echoed through her skull, condescending, mocking, and laden with guilt. It’s gone, she whimpered painfully. Whoever it was, it’s gone. The surge of emotion drained her of her last dregs of energy. She knew she wasn’t going to live through this tempest, and at the moment she didn’t really want to.

And yet the Pokemon trainer felt the weight of another Pokeball in her hand, cupped in her palm like a glitter of life. Whatever she was thinking as the raging waves tore her through the sea, somewhere inside her she did want to live, to see her mother and her friends and Pokemon. The Eight were depending on her. With detached surprise, she felt her finger press the button to release the Pokemon.

There was a surge of white light that lit up the brackish water, blindingly bright against her eyelids. And then the girl could feel a presence around her . . . and a solid surface met her shoulders, her back, her legs! It rose up under her body, lifting her upward. She was carried through the waves, breaking the surface after an eternity of cold and wet, and heaving the air into her lungs in great draughts. She coughed and choked, gagging as saltwater flowed from her nose and mouth in a painful torrent. But eventually the spasms abated and she collapsed against the solid presence holding her aloft, and her lungs filled with oxygen without struggle. For a long while she remained that way. She could feel her savior bobbing gently in the thrashing waves, navigating them effortlessly, as she lay sprawled on its back. The rise and fall of her chest was her only motion.

After a time she felt the strength returning to her body, flowing through her limbs as she recovered. Her extremities tingled as the feeling returned to them. Finally she cracked open her eyes. A world of endless blue-gray spread before her sight. It took several long moments to distinguish the blue-gray sky from the blue-gray sea. And even after she thought she found the horizon line, it disappeared almost immediately. Staring at it made her head hurt.

It hurt anyway. So did her sides . . . and her chest, legs and arms. Her feet and hands too. Her lungs were throbbing from the abuse of the wooden pole and the water. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t a part of her body that didn’t ache in one way or another. Not only that, but she was freezing. The wind was still blowing strongly, and as it hit her sodden sweater and jeans the cold invaded the very core of her being. She started to shiver uncontrollably. All in all, Gobrianna felt terrible. She let her eyes—the same blue-gray as the rest of the landscape—close with a groan.

A small noise drove them open again. Big, moist, gentle eyes loomed over her. They were tinged with care and worry. And love. The sight of them sent tears mingling with the seawater on her pale face. The memory of a red and white sphere slipping into the waves burned in her mind.

Feeling the heavy weight of guilt pressing down on her heart, the sixteen-year-old pushed the image away. And the next thought, that her staff probably sat at the bottom of the sea this very moment, was likewise banished from her mind. She knew that there would be time for self-condemnation and remorse later. Now she had to focus on survival. Nothing else mattered. "Thank you, Lapras," whispered Gobrianna hoarsely. The water Pokemon smiled tenderly before facing forward again, to resume cutting through the thrashing sea.

Half an hour later, the girl stuttered around chattering teeth, "I-I-I’m s-so c-cold." It hadn’t taken long after her strength returned to strip off her waterlogged sweater, laying it to dry on Lapras’s large shell. The storm’s wind was too cold to dry the item quickly, but at least the thunder and lightning had died away, leaving the clouds a lighter shade of gray. Maybe the storm’s breaking up, the girl thought through her chill.

So Gobrianna pulled her legs up against her thin T-shirt and wrapped her arms around them to conserve her body heat. She perched unsteadily in the little space between the water Pokemon’s knobbed shell and its curved neck, though she never fell back into the churning water. The gentle creature she rode upon saw to that.

It turned to her now, its head with its gentle eyes and curly ears twisting around to look its trainer in the eye. The Pokemon blinked sympathetically.

"I-I’ll be all right, Lapras," insisted Gobrianna. "D-do you see The W-water Dragon y-yet?"

The large blue head swung left and right negatively, and the girl heaved a sigh that warmed her bare arms for a moment. "Where is it?" she moaned, not expecting Lapras to answer. "I couldn’t have been thrown so far, so fast. A ship doesn’t just disappear." She stared around bleakly, not wanting to admit that there was one reason The Water Dragon might be absent. No, it couldn’t have sunk, she told herself firmly, trying to believe it. There’d be debris and lifeboats with survivors. It couldn’t have sunk without a trace.

But the wild waves as far as the eye could see argued against her mental insistence. She and Lapras were the only living beings for miles in any direction, and they hadn’t come across anyone—human or water Pokemon—yet. They didn’t even know where they were. They were lost at sea.

Gobrianna allowed her tired eyes to close, feeling the water Pokemon parting the waves smoothly under her, its flippers rowing rhythmically. The cold wind slapped her face. The ocean spray kept her clothes from drying and drenched her lightly with moisture, doing nothing to help her shivers. The silver necklace under her shirt remained cold and lifeless. She sniffed miserably. At least she was alive. And not alone. That was something.

Suddenly Lapras gave a great bellow of alarm. Gobrianna’s eyes flew open in a panic, her body unfolding as she straddled the Pokemon’s back and threw her arms around its neck. "What’s wrong?" she yelled over the wind.

The aquatic creature roared again. It began to wheel around in a tight circle, turning back the way they’d come. As it spun, whatever drove it to such action was slowly revealed to its trainer over the side of its thick neck.

It was a boat.

"Wait, Lapras!" shouted Gobrianna, thumping the Pokemon on the neck to gain its attention. "It’s a boat! Maybe it’s here for us!" The creature trumpeted an answer, not slowing for an instant. She frowned in confusion as it completed its arch and sped away at its greatest speed, hurtling through the waves. "What do you mean that’s what you’re afraid of?" she demanded.

The booming crack exploded into the silent air, beating hard against the Pokemon trainer’s eardrums. For a moment she thought the storm was gathering strength again, but she dismissed the thought when she realized it came from behind her. That was no thunderclap. Twisting around, her gaze sought out the boat that they were running from.

It’s a speedboat, she recognized. And it’s gaining, and. . . . Her heart stopped beating. And there was a black-clothed form standing on it, a gun raised to its shoulder and pointing at them.

Gobrianna swore, but it sounded more terrified than angry. "Go Lapras!" she shrieked. "They’ve got a gun!" Another thundering blast exploded behind them. A howl screeched through the air an instant after. It came from Lapras.

"NO!" she screamed. The Pokemon’s rhythmic strokes faltered. Its speed slowed dramatically. Now the sound of a motor reached Gobrianna’s ears. "Lapras!" she cried in anguish, ignoring the fact that the boat would soon be upon them. "Lapras!"

Looking up, she saw the water Pokemon’s eyes, heavy-lidded and glazed. But strangely, there was no pain in its gaze as its gentle eyes sought out those of its trainer. And something else caught her attention. It was smaller than the palm of her hand, almost lost in the wide expanse of the blue flesh of the Pokemon’s upper neck. The girl gathered her legs under her and stood, reaching up and plucking the tiny white speck from Lapras’s skin. As she stared at it in her hand, an immense sense of relief crashed through her. It was a tranquilizer dart. Lapras wasn’t hurt.

But that relief was gone in an instant as she felt the creature give up swimming altogether, concentrating on just keeping itself afloat in the waves. The growling of the speedboat’s motor was much louder now. And if she didn’t pull Lapras into its Pokeball, the aquatic Pokemon was going to slip into unconsciousness and drown.

There was no more time for thought, only for action. Pulling out the empty red and white sphere that would keep the gentle giant safe, she recalled Lapras as she leapt from its back into the freezing water. It hit her like a physical slap across the face, but she ignored the cold cutting to her bones and made sure her Pokeball was securely attached to her belt. Then she forced her limbs to move. She kicked out and stroked with her arms, propelling herself away from the growing noise behind her.

It was a pointless gesture. There was no way she could get away from a speedboat, nowhere to hide in the never-ending stretch of dark water all around. But Gobrianna couldn’t just wait for them to come, doing nothing. Even if it was pointless, she had to at least try to escape.

As the speedboat pulled up alongside her she didn’t look, just turned away and took a deep breath and dove. Maybe if she put enough distance between them before surfacing they wouldn’t see her. She could stay underwater as much as possible and wait for them to give up and—

A hand grabbed the leg of her jeans. She had half been expecting it, but it still took her by surprise. She gasped, inhaling the cold seawater. The strong arm pulled her out of the water without resistance, coughing and choking. She couldn’t breathe, and as a dark presence loomed over her she knew she couldn’t fight back. A cold hand grabbed her bare arm.

"Let go!" Heart in throat, her mouth formed the words, but she had no breath to say them. There was a prick of pain. Blinking the water from her eyes, she saw through a curtain of dripping copper hair the needle in her arm. It withdrew in a moment, along with the cold hand, which dropped her unceremoniously on the bottom of the boat. Almost immediately her vision dimmed to black. The strength leeched out of her body, leaving her paralyzed. Gobrianna held onto consciousness as long as she could, straining her ears to listen when her sight failed. But the dark figures—there must be at least two, she thought, though she hadn’t seen anything other than the hand and the needle—didn’t talk. Just before the drug claimed her, she heard the sound of the motor revving and felt the speedboat tip under her limp body as it turned around.

And after that Gobrianna knew nothing for a very long time.