Her last, small breath hadn’t been near enough. As the beast’s struggles slowed, the water fizzling and bubbling around it, so, too, did Elayra’s. Her lungs screamed at her to inhale, and her vision crackled with spots at the edges. She felt the pressure she put behind the sharp blade begin to wane faster than she’d expected.
	She kept only two thoughts in her head, two orders to focus on beyond her burning lungs:
	Don’t drop her dagger.
	[i]Survive.[/i]
	A hand touched hers, trying to take her weapon. The surprise sent a last burst of focus to her brain, and her grip tightened instinctively around the dagger’s hilt. She looked toward the second hand’s owner, the terrified fire burning in her gaze nearly brighter than the dying core of the nearby rock monster.
	[i]Ghent?![/i]
	Though the water turned his form into little more than a dirty blur, she was positive it was him. Even amidst the stirred muck, she got the gist of his wild gestures.
	Reluctantly, she handed the dagger toward him hilt first. Her grip loosened on it more from lack of oxygen than will, only the buoyancy from the water keeping her arm level.
	Only feet away, the rock beast’s movements slowed further. Its weak body slumped against the riverbed, sending an extra cloud of earth into the water. Its fiery core sputtered and sparked, fighting for life as fiercely as Elayra as it dwindled, its armor nearly entirely torn away by the stream’s currents.