I managed to catch a few hours of fitful sleep after talking to Amarie, and woke up tired and sore. I could barely concentrate on the conversation during breakfast. My head kept drooping sideways. Halfway through, someone scooted next to me and I leaned my head against their shoulder subconsciously. It was more comfortable than any pillow I had ever been given. I dozed off in an instant, only reawakening when I heard someone call my name. I blinked blearily and lifted my head. That's when I realized that the comfortable shoulder belonged to Ravi. He smiled at me a bit shyly.

"How'd you sleep last night?" he asked gently.

"Um..." I said slowly, "not well."

He laughed. "Apparently not."

His laugh was nice. It was very relaxing, very organic. Some people, when they laughed, sounded like recordings on machines. But with Ravi, it was like you could feel the happiness reverberating through the air and warming your heart.

"I like your laugh," I mumbled, yawning.

He laughed again, this time in surprise. "Um, thanks I guess?"

My eyes widened. Oh shoot. "I didn't mean to say that out loud,"I said sheepishly.

He chuckled. "Sleep deprivation will do that to you."

I smiled, desperately trying not to blush and ultimately failing. I turned my now pink face away.

Just then, I spotted a unicorn galloping in through the breakfast hall. One of the legs was a shimmery silver instead of pure white. It must be Lee.

She slowed to a stop in front of our table, then dropped the transformation hurriedly, almost tumbling over with the drastic adjustment from four legs to one. She fell forwards towards the table and caught herself with her arms, breathing heavily.

I sat up straighter. "Are you okay?"

"Another...monster...attack," she gasped between breaths.

Ravi stood up abruptly. "What?"

Lee nodded. "I'm not sure about all sides, but on the north side of the island, there's this huge black mass that's creeping inwards like some kind of sentient shadow..." Her hands gripped the table so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Ravi nodded, and a sort of mantle of confidence seemed to descend on his shoulders like a General in battle. "Okay, we can assume that they're taking all sides of the island as usual. I want all Sierra, Sophie, and Audrey all on the north side. Your powers are focused in light, so hopefully that can drive back the darkness." He made eye contact with each of us, and we nodded.

"It'll be just like old times," Audrey said with a grin.

"Can I go too?" Deynan blurted.

All eyes turned to him.

His eyes were wide. "I want to use my fire sand," he whispered. "Please."

There was a moment of silence. Then Ravi sighed. "Yeah, okay, sure."

"Yay!" Deynan rejoiced.

Sophie scowled. "I do NOT want that idiot with us."

Audrey turned to her in surprise. "Have you ever used the word idiot before? In your life?"

Sophie looked at Deynan with a side eye. "I reserve it for special occasions."

"Hey!" Deynan said angrily.

"Not important right now," Ravi reminded them. "Alright, how many people do we have so I can get a head count?"

Lee and Tess both raised their hands. Abigail seemed to notice something was going on, so she skipped over to the table and raised her hand too.

"Okay, great," Ravi said, nodding. "So, what we're gonna do is--"

"Wait!" a voice called. We turned, and saw Talia running up, along with Amy in her wheelchair and one of the twins--probably Anna. Behind them were a few boys I didn't know.

They stopped in front of our table. "We want to help too," Talia declared.

We were stunned. This was new.

"Oh," Ravi said in surprise. "Awesome. Hey Alex, Harrison, Xavier. Thanks."

"No problem, bro," the dark skinned boy said, shooting us finger guns.

"Okay," Ravi said again, thinking for a moment. "Well, I'll go with the rest of the gang to the east side. Tess, Lee, I want you two to go with Alex and Harrison to the west side. Xavier, go with...um..."

"Amy and Anna," Amy supplied.

"Them," Ravi agreed. "South side. Are we all set?"

A chorus of agreement followed.

"Alright," Ravi said. "Go defend our island!"

Lee stood up a bit too quickly, and, apparently forgetting she didn't have a leg, nearly toppled over. Tess caught her, and wrinkled her nose. "Dang, you're heavier than you look."

Lee smiled. "Thanks, Tess." Her voice was softer than usual.

"Yeah, whatever," Tess grumbled. Then they realized they were still embracing, and Tess quickly pushed Lee away.

I raised my eyebrows, but decided not to dwell on it.

Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned. It was Ravi. I instantly felt warmer, and there was a strange fluttering sensation in the pit of my stomach.

"Hey," he said softly. "Be careful out there."

I smiled at his concern. "I defeated a majorly powerful sorceress," I teased. "Pretty sure I can handle a shadow."

He grinned. "I know. Just try not to fall asleep."

I snorted. "I'll do my best but no promises."

He laughed--that fantastic, honest laugh--and began to walk away. Suddenly, almost without thinking, I shouted, "Ravi!"

He turned slightly. "Yeah?"

"You too, okay?" I said.

He looked me in the eyes, and a moment of understanding passed between us. Stay safe. Protect the others. Protect the island.

He nodded. "I will."

Then he walked out.

~~~~~~~

The north side of the island was the docks where the ships came in. I had never fought here before. The sun had risen a few hours ago, but was steadily being blocked out by clouds. The day seemed gloomy.

I could see the wall of mist a few yards away. I smiled, remembering the first time I had come to the castle.

"Where's the stupid shadow thing?" Audrey demanded. "Lee said she saw it!"

"I'm sure it's around here somewhere," Sophie said with a shrug.

Deynan took out his bag of sand. "I'm ready!" he said with relish.

We stood for a moment, watching the water. All was peaceful, except for the ominous gathering of the clouds above our heads.

"Hey, Sierra," Deynan said suddenly, "do you have a crush on Ravi?"

I felt heat rise in my face, caught off guard by the question. "Pft. What? No. That's stupid. Of course not."

"You do!" he declared proudly.

"Oh gross," Audrey complained, wrinkling her nose.

"You guys are being childish," I insisted. I didn't have a crush on Ravi. I just really enjoyed his presence. He was an amazing friend with a kind heart and remarkable intelligence and a great laugh. But it wasn't like, a crush.

Was it?

I admit that I'd thought about dating him before. But they were idle thoughts. They didn't MEAN anything.

"Well, I think you should go for it," Deynan said bluntly. "Because he's totally into you."

I blushed, trying to think of a response. My mouth opened, then closed. Finally, I stammered, "that's ridiculous."

My heart was beating faster and my face was flushed. Why can't you get a hold of yourself, Sierra?

Maybe I had a tiny crush on Ravi. Tiny. But there was absolutely no way he'd like me back. He was so smart and levelheaded and passionate, and I was just...me.

Deynan snickered. "Wow. I've never seen you speechless."

"Leave her alone," Audrey said, aiming a kick at Deynan's shin. He scampered away.

"You're ridiculous," I insisted, finally finding my voice.

He stuck his hands in his pockets, grinning smugly. "Maybe, but I'm right."

"This is not important," I muttered. I looked out at the water, searching for the shadow creature, but not really focused.

"Okay, Deynan," Sophie said in a somewhat challenging voice, "do you have a crush on anyone?"

Deynan's face flashed an expression I couldn't quite read for a second, but then his face smoothed and he raised an eyebrow. "Um, no? Just because I exposed Sierra doesn't mean I'm suddenly a romantic."

"Ew ew ew ew," Audrey said, putting her hands over her ears. "Make it end, I'm begging you," she pleading, eyes wide.

Deynan snickered. "Awwww, Audrey, does it make you uncomfortable?"

"Yes," she said, extremely seriously. "Get your freaky romance crap away from me."

Sophie giggled.

I sighed. "Guys, seriously? Deynan, stop antagonizing Audrey. Sophie, stop antagonizing Deynan."

"For once, Audrey's the one not antagonizing someone," Deynan mused.

"He's bullying me," Audrey whined.

Just then, Sophie went stiff beside me. "Shadow," she whispered, pointing.

Pooling beneath the dock was a mass of darkness. It was the kind of thing you wouldn't notice at first, but then out of the corner of your eye, you realize it's moving. It swirled slowly, growing and shrinking like a slowly pulsing heart.

We all fell silent.

"What's the plan," Deynan said in a low voice.

"Two of us should be mermaids," Sophie suggested. "Go under the dock and see if we can drive it out."

"Then two on top of the dock to attack it when it leaves," Audrey finished.

"Fire saaaand," Deynan whispered with glee.

"I'll go mermaid," I said.

"Same," Audrey agreed.

"So Deynan and I are on the docks," Sophie finished.

I turned to Audrey. "We should get in the water before transforming. That way, the light from the transformation will help."

She nodded.

Then, as if part of the same mind, all four of us leapt into action.

Audrey and I ran down the dock, Sophie and Deynan behind us. Since it needed to be deep enough for a massive ship, the dock went far out. Once we got to the end, Audrey and I made eye contact, then jumped into the water on opposite sides at the same time.

The water was colder than I expected. After the initial shock wore off, I pulled myself to the surface. My clothes, even though they were light, began to feel heavy and dragging. I saw Audrey on the other side.

The shadow was even creepier up close. A big swirling cloud of darkness, it snaked around the posts holding up the dock. I stroked a bit closer to it. Curious, I reached up a hand to touch it. Instantly, I jerked my hand back. It was cold. Extremely cold. So cool it burned my hand. I looked down. My hand was blistered and burned. When I put it back in the water, the salt stung when it touched the wound. I hissed in pain. It felt like my hand was on fire. I clenched it into a fist.

"Don't touch it!" I shouted.

Then Audrey and I made eye contact again, and we turned into mermaids.

It was generally easier for me to relax and find peace while in water, but I was distracted by the pain in my hand. I closed my eyes. Feel the gentle motion of the waves. The peace. The flow.

I relaxed and, with a flash of light, became a mermaid.

I felt three times later without the added burden of my clothes, and the water felt less like an obstacle and more like air. I laughed. I couldn't help myself. I was just so relaxed, so at peace.

I looked up and realized that with Audrey and I's combined light, the shadow had split in two and left the underside of the dock.

I could see bursts of fire within the shadow, Deynan throwing his sand and Sophie flying around in Phoenix form.

After a few moments, the shadow seemed to abandon its goal. It streaked off across the water and disappeared into the mist.

I swam around for a moment before building up momentum and shooting into the air, transforming midleap, and landing on the dock. My clothes were wet, clinging to me uncomfortably. I shivered in the chilly morning air.

Audrey started wringing water out of her hair. "Well," she said, "good job team. Can Sierra and I go change?"

Just then, without warning a scream pierced the air.

It was from far away, but seemed to resonate across the entire island.

It was the scream of someone in agony.