The surface broke around me and the warm sea closed over my head. I did not try to swim. I let the water take me deeper and hold me there.
As I sank, the last of my magic went out of me. The conjured human form dissolved, and what replaced it was my real self: the dragon. My bulk displaced the water all at once, pushing it upward in a heave that rocked the ships on the surface.
Then I swam. I rose until I was close enough to the surface to hear, but not close enough for my dark silhouette to show through the water.
Dragon hearing was not a gift of magic. It was innate, part of the body itself, and the Nullifier had no power over it. The sound was muffled by the water, but I could make out every word.
"...I told you, a hideous sea creature. A whale, maybe. It had far too much magic." Dura's voice was thick with smugness. "Papa, can we hunt it? It's been ages since I had whale stew."
'Is she serious?'
"Whales are protected," Rei said, in the flat tone of someone saying out loud what I was thinking. "They're rare, close to extinction. Hunting them is forbidden."
The pirate captain laughed. "And are we bound by anyone's laws?"
'How vile.'
"But never mind that," he went on. "Let's return to the matter at hand. Will you be my son-in-law, boy? Refuse again and this won't end well for you. I'll kill your crew and take your ship, and then you'll have no choice but to come with us. And from what I can see, your people are all incapacitated. They've been robbed of their magic. You as well."
Rei laughed.
"Aren't you underestimating us? My dear friend Benedict isn't incapacitated at all. He has no magic to lose, and he happens to be a warrior. I myself am not bad with a sword. I was born a prince, after all. Sheriya carries the deadliest venom in her fangs. Phoenix has the sharpest teeth. Ivanna is a menace with daggers, and she'll recover shortly." He paused. "As for the one in the water, she is no sea creature. She is a creature of the sky."
His voice grew steadier.
"She is the most beloved creation of the cosmic law. The Mistress of the Sky, the legacy of a bygone age, the most powerful of them all. And even without magic, she is just as powerful, because she is—"
That was my cue.
The rest of his sentence was lost in the roar of water as I burst from the sea, the ocean parting around me and the ships rolling in the swell. I climbed into the sky, and below me the intruders stared up with wide eyes. Some collapsed onto the deck in terror.
The crew seized the moment. Benedict, Rei and Ivanna launched themselves at the pirates, weapons in hand. They must have hidden them on the deck beforehand. Benedict swung a battle axe twice his own height as though it weighed nothing. Rei wielded a long sword with the ease of a man who had never been long without one. Ivanna drew the daggers concealed on her person and went for the nearest pirate.
I folded my wings and dropped toward the deck, closed my claws around a fistful of pirates, carried them up and hurled them into the sea. I did it again, and again. Rei and the others dealt with whoever remained. Even Phoenix and Sheriya joined in. Phoenix bit down on any pirate within reach, while Ivanna took advantage of the confusion to throw her daggers. Sheriya slithered unseen across the deck, injecting venom into ankles before anyone noticed her.
Soon only two remained on the deck: Dura and her father. Dura clearly had no idea how to fight, but her father shielded her with a formidable fury. He drew a broad sword from the scabbard at his side and held off Benedict and Rei together without giving ground. His style was crude but honed by years of practice, and he was plainly better than the two of them combined. His only weakness was that he had to protect his daughter. It would not be long before the crew overwhelmed him.
I had more pressing business. I flew to a position in front of the nearest ship and gathered fire in my throat. Fire was a dragon's own gift, not something borrowed from magic. Today they would learn that the hard way.
The pillar of flame from my open maw struck the ship, and the wood took the fire like an old friend. Those still aboard leapt into the ocean. I did the same to the second ship, and then the third. All three burned, timbers cracking in the blaze.
"How is this possible?" Dura cried. "Dragons died out ages ago!"
'Yes. Now for you.'
I swooped down, caught her in my claws like a ragdoll, carried her some distance out and dropped her into the sea. With that, the fight on the deck ended. Her father screamed her name and jumped overboard without hesitation, swimming toward her.
I had guessed correctly: her ability had a range. As I flew back toward the ship, my magic flowed back into me in great surges.
I conjured my human form in mid-flight and dropped lightly onto *The Lady*'s deck.
"It seems we won't need manual mode after all," Rei said. The familiar pink shimmer of his magic wrapped around him, carrying its sweet scent.
And 'The Lady' began to move.
---