I knew myself, maybe better than I ever had, recognizing my new perfect mesh of wolf, phoenix, and shifter. The Nexus had taken the best and strongest from each, weaving them together to create my true form.

Flames surrounded me, despite how deep I was in the water, lighting up the endless darkness. Not just the darkness, but the many, many creatures that encircled me.

The old Mera would have near died of fright, but I no longer feared any born of the Nexus. I embraced them all, from the hugest of prehistoric-looking monsters to tiny darting specks of fluff.

Reaching out, I placed my hand onto the snout of a creature nearby that resembled a crocodile crossed with a megalodon, my hand barely even as large as one of its five nostrils. A thrum of connection between it and me sprang to life.

They were mine. An urge to touch every creature and seal their essence within my own hit me, but just as I reached for the next, the ground rumbled, shaking even those of us in The Depths.

My head snapped up, but I was too far below to know what was happening in the realm. All was not well, that much I did know. Power ripped from me, sending out swirls of fire-touched energy, which did not hurt my creatures, but it did allow me to feel my connection to the realm and Nexus.

When I rose up, so did the land that Dannie had done her best to bury. My rebirth from within the Nexus “womb” had repaired the cracks she’d left in the power, and it was time for all of us to rise. From the ashes of our former selves.

The sea creatures swirled protectively around me, and I wondered how I could have ever feared them. They were just like the abervoqs and other land creatures—misunderstood. Yes, some of them were ferocious and killers, but that was survival. Once their natural food sources—and the health of the realm—returned, they would be no threat to any who weren’t a threat to them.

You couldn’t punish them for surviving.

As I got closer to the surface, the instability of the realm grew far more apparent. This did not come from me or my power base, though; there was something or someone else out there tearing the structure of this world to pieces, scattering the mists and leaving raging fire behind.

Urging the Nexus to rise faster, I was determined to stop this new threat. We hadn’t fought so hard to save this world, only to have it destroyed now.