Air: Merlin's Chalice (The Children of Avalon Book 1) by Meredith Bond Page B

thrashing around in the water, trying to keep his head above the current, just as I had been doing only moments ago. But how could I get him out?
    In the dim light of the early morning, I spied a tree just ahead of me that had fallen into the river. Its roots were still firmly attached to the bank while its trunk lay sprawled halfway across the water.
    With two strong pumps of my wings, I sped toward it, landing with a bump on my own feet. Straddling the tree trunk and tightening my legs around it with all of my strength, I desperately reached out my arm into the river.
    “Sir Dagonet! Sir Dagonet, grab hold of my hand,” I called to the knight, who was approaching in the rush of the water.
    He surfaced for a moment. I called to him again, gripping the tree even harder with my legs. Just as the man was about to be swept past, I reached out and grabbed his floundering arm. My own arms felt as if they were about to be torn right out of my body, but I held on with all of my strength.
    The excitement of flying, which had allowed me to forget my exhaustion, was gone, leaving only leaden limbs in its place. There was no way I was going to manage to save Sir Dagonet by myself. I searched the bank for any sign of Dylan, but he was nowhere to be seen. We must have left him back where we’d fallen into the river, unless he had already succumbed to the pull of the watery hands.
    No, there was no one but myself—and my magic!
    With my grip on Sir Dagonet’s hand as tight as I could make it, I stared intently at Sir Dagonet and concentrated. Taking a deep breath, I imagined him coming closer to the tree on which I was perched. Closer. Closer.
    My arms were ready to fall right off. My hands were losing their grip. I was about to drop from weariness when the weight stopped pulling at me. I blinked a few times. Sir Dagonet was reaching out to grab onto the trunk. His hand slipped once but then found purchase. With a great heave, he pulled himself out of the water.
    I grabbed onto his tunic to guide him and to make sure he didn’t slip back into the churning river.
    He lay panting on his stomach, his legs still dangling into the water. I rested my head on his heaving back.
    Slowly the two of us managed to catch our breath, but I didn’t think I would ever be able to move again. I was so tired.
    As soon as he was able, Sir Dagonet pulled himself the rest of the way out of the water then dragged himself, and me, to the shore.
    Dylan ran up to us just as we stepped foot onto dry land. “Are you all right?”
    “Yes, thanks to Scai,” Sir Dagonet said, still out of breath.
    “I…I couldn’t believe it. Scai, you turned into a bird and flew straight out of the water,” Dylan said. His face was pale, but filled with awe.
    My mind was little more than mush from my exhaustion. “I…I was a bird?” I whispered, my teeth beginning to chatter in the cold air of the autumn morning. But even as I said it, I knew that he was right. I had felt myself fly. I had flapped my wings and glided above the surface of the water. It had been incredible!
    Even the shivering Sir Dagonet was looking at me now in amazement. He, who was used to magic, looked at me as if I had done something truly extraordinary. I wished I had the energy to ask him why he was looking that way, but I was too far beyond tired. My legs gave out and I sank to the ground, unable to even stand any longer.
    “I don’t know how I did it. I just…” I paused. “I just needed to get out of the water, and so I did,” I explained to the two men with a shrug of my shoulders, even as I curled my knees up against my chest and wrapped my arms around them.
    “Well, let’s get warm first. Then you can see if you can do it again, wot?” Sir Dagonet gave an encouraging smile.
    “I don’t know that I can,” I said, reluctantly allowing Dylan to pull me to my feet. I could barely move, but if I didn’t I would surely die of cold sitting there on the riverbank. Tears threatened me as