The water shudders. Orange fire tears through the kelp forest, turning bright coral to black ash. Princess Hǎiyīng crouches behind a swaying anemone, her small hands clenched. A startled seahorse darts past—its tail clicks against her ankle.
Hǎiyīng swims to her mother's sea-cave and presses her ear to the cold wall. No humming comes. Only the drip-drip of salt water. On the cave floor she finds a smooth white pearl. She closes her fingers around it.
Hǎiyīng glides toward the reef. The Flame Demon Prince stomps through it, setting sea-plants ablaze with every furious step. He spots her. His mouth opens wide to roar.
Hǎiyīng hurls the pearl straight into his fiery breath. It meets the fire with a brilliant blue flash — sizzling like a thousand snapping eels. The demon's roar chokes into a spit. His eyes fly wide.
The demon turns green. His flames gutter and die. He bolts into the dark trench, swallowed by shadow. Only smoke remains.
Hǎiyīng swims back through the smoking reef. She checks every scorched patch of coral, searching. A tiny shadow moves near her foot.
A young clownfish peeks out from a hollow shell and flicks its tail at her. Hǎiyīng smiles. The water tastes of salt and warmth.
For the first time, Hǎiyīng does not look down when she swims. She rises toward the light.