"Daphne!" Zephyr screamed, trying to dash in front of the blast of fire to shield Daphne.
He knew he could handle it― if he could absorb a hit from dragonfire unscathed, Atticus's human flames were nothing in comparison. But he was too late; he was too slow and he could only shriek, flattening his wings as though that would make a difference as he stretched out a desperate hand to pull Daphne out of the way.
Then, water entered his open mouth, and he slipped on the floor. And how could he not? The floor was wet, in fact, the room was steadily getting flooded, and the water was reaching Zephyr's waist.
Zephyr spat out a mouthful of water and wheezed, immediately panicking at the sudden change. Where had the water appeared from? He looked at Nereus who nearly floated away from his arms and hurriedly grabbed him back before he could end up in the literal hands of the enemy.
