Seraphina's body stretched in a heartbeat. Scales flowed over her limbs and torso, and broad dragon wings unfurled from her back. She crushed the sand underfoot and launched straight into the sky, taking the high angle to sweep her gaze across the entire shoreline.
Beach, reefs, open water—everything fell into her sightline. She watched for a long moment and still didn't spot anything closing in. Down below, only the retreating surf had left a mess of wet streaks across the sand.
Seraphina's eyes tracked those marks… then drifted back.
One patch of water hadn't soaked into the sand at all.
Andona stepped out of the shield at the same time. She tightened her grip on her sword and cut the blade flat across the beach. The edge-force shoved aside the top layer of sand, carving a ruler-straight line through the shore.
When that sword light skimmed past the wet patch, the "water" twitched—barely.
Andona saw it.
