The dolphins were agitated.

It was dusk, the heavy curtain of night lowering slowly over the land. Even after many years living in this place, it never failed to amaze her: sunsets like splashed colours on a canvas of lilacs and roses, the sheen of water and air on the dolphin's smooth backs as they flipped and leapt out of the water with joy unabound. But tonight - tonight seemed different. The dolphins were silver darts in the rippling water, their fins breaking the surface in a plume of white water. Ciara frowned, tucked the baby closer to her hip, carried on walking. The strain of the loss of the ring tailed lemur lined her face heavily. Nalani had been her familiar, her daughter, and now - now they didn't even know each other. She sighed, buried her nose in the boy's soft neck, waited until the lip of the sun had disappeared completely behind the thick band of water and sand before turning back to the cave. Damon (Damon - the name manages, still, to send a thrill up her spine) would be waiting for her return.

They were all asleep, curled up in bed, when it hit.

Fortunately for them, their cave was at an angle to the tsunami, and so the tsunami did not hit them head on. Had the cave been slightly angled differently, the water would have smashed them against the back of the cave, broken their bones into little pieces, thrown their ravaged carcasses out to sea.

It was baby Ithy who woke first, his cries drowned out by the monstrous roar of the ocean, the sheer, swelling strength and power of the impenetrable wall of water approaching. Ciara woke soon afterwards, just in time to be greeted by the rush of frothy water. She had no time to think, caught in the turmoil of the water, flung backwards. She could feel the rock wall pushing the air from her lips, heard something crack. Her arms reached out - but they met nothing but darkness, no Ithy, no Damon. Had she any air left, she would have screamed. She didn't. She felt the roll of underwater currents press her against the rock wall, and then, just as suddenly, pull her out. This was perhaps even more scary; she was at the mercy of the ocean now. She forced her eyes open - saw a vague dark shape just behind her ear. She turned, willed her limbs to move faster, but they couldn't. The pain intensified in her arm, and she sent healing magic along - felt the flesh re-unite, the bone knit together. She pushed herself along, holding desperately to the rocks.

Ithy. Ithy. Damon. Where were they? Were they okay? They didn't have healing. They could die.

The darkness was pulling at the edge of her consciousness, but she knew, once she had let it envelope her she would never feel the comfort of air in her lungs, ever again. She ignored the persistent burning and pushed along, keeping her eyes open against the stinging seawater. Ithy, she could just see him, his form scrunched up, arms outstretched. She felt tears flow freely into the water and she reached out to grab him, grabbed nothing but water. He was being swept away by the current, and well, so was she.

She kicked faster now, letting the current carry her deeper and deeper into the depths of the water. There was nothing in her mind, just the movement of muscle against water -which was holding her back, how dare it hold her back- and the deep desire to find something, someone, to hold onto, until her last dying breaths were rocked from her body.

She refused to surrender. Surrender was not an option. She felt something fill her; something powerful and intense, felt the tongues of flame spread into every part of her body. She had never felt more alive, as the aching in her lungs intensified with every inch pushed deeper. Ithy, she focused. She had to find him.

He was there, she could feel him. And he was there, she could see him; a thin silver thread of bubbles pouring from his opened mouth. No, she said, felt the precious, precious air escape her lungs. She kicked further down, the air swilling in her mouth. She felt the softness of his body as her hands tightened around him, felt him, the way he hung in her hands like a dead weight. No. Her lips were pressed against his forehead, as they were carried down to their salt-encrusted graves, and she felt the magic enter his body, felt the cuts and hurts disappear. No more pain. The darkness was there, lurking, lingering, sinister smiles on their invisible lips.

She couldn't give up. Not now. So close, yet so far. She forced it away, told them lies about life and health until the darkness had retreated enough to let her look around. She had lost all sense of direction - she was relying on the sun filtering through the water to help her find her way.

It was too dark. She was lost. She may as well be swimming down. Panic rising, the hungry beasts of darkness circling her, laughing with cruel hyena voices. They had taken a shape now; grey, shark-like things, with huge, gaping mouths, and rows of blunt teeth...a friendly, familiar smiling expression...

Dolphins. They had somehow survived, and here they were; her saviours in silver, come to rescue her. Her hand reaches out and one bumps it with his nose, before turning and offering a fin. She reaches forwards, feels the slightly slimy skin beneath her finger tips, lets it carry her forward. Several times she lets go, but the dolphins come back for her. The entire pod have surrounded them, banding together for survival. They know the way, of course they do.

She can see the surface, vaguely, as the burning and darkness have almost taken over her body. She holds Ithy up. He'll get the first breath, of course, of course he will. She hears him stutter and choke as the air hits his chest, and she, too, soon joins him, retching up seawater, salt stinging her throat and eyes.

She survived. They survived. That's all that matters.
But something stirs in the back of her waterclogged brain.
Damon.