Page 109 of Whispers of the Elderoak

Something grabbed her ankle and pulled.

Down down down, she went.

The water pressed in on her, pressure increasing as something continued to pull her to the bottom, pulling her to nowhere.

She tried yanking away, tried to swim, tried to kick whatever it was holding her, but it was too strong. More hands grabbed her, pulling at her arms and hair and waist. She was going to die down here. Drown a horrible death and then the creatures of the swamp would devour her remains.

She couldn’t hold her breath much longer. Her head felt light and body heavy. She was running out of time and exhaustion was setting in. Energy spent; she couldn’t fight any more as the corners of her vision faded.

A faint splash sounded in the distance and then a soft glowing light appeared, approaching closer and closer. As the light brightened, the creatures let go, seemingly scared of this ethereal glow. Strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her up and up, faster and faster to the surface.

A light breeze brushed her face. Air. She could breathe. She coughed and wretched, spitting out water onto the ground as someone pulled her to the shore. Gasping, she tried to catch her breath as she lay on her back.

But she was still so tired.

“Ava. Ava, can you hear me?” a voice spoke from far away.

“Mom?” she asked, barely able to keep her eyes open.

“No, it’s me. Casimir. Your mother isn’t here,” he said from above.

“What?” she whispered as her eyes tried to close. She wanted to sleep. She’d never been so tired in her life.

A rough hand patted her face. “Eyes on me, Ava.”

“I—” She squinted but everything was still blurry. “I’m so tired,” she whispered. Her body was still heavy. “I just need to take a nap.”

If she could just close her eyes and sleep, she’d feel better. She just needed to rest. Her eyes became almost impossible to open and she let them close, surrendering to the fatigue.

Casimir cursed and lifted her head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as something bitter was poured into her mouth. She thrashed as it burned her throat. “You have to swallow this,” he insisted, grasping her face and keeping her mouth closed. She met his eyes. He looked terrified as his voice rose. “Dammit, Ava. Swallow it. Now.”

She did. The burning sensation coursed through her body. Nausea overwhelmed her as Casimir turned her on her side and she vomited. Over and over, she threw up until she didn’t think she had anything left in her.

She rolled onto her back and took a deep breath, vision clearing, Casimir was still leaning over her, worry in his eyes. He brushed the hair from her face as he evaluated her for injuries.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine,” she said before coughing some more, trying to expel the rest of the water she had inhaled.

She looked up at him, still hovering closely above her, arms braced on either side of her body. Relief showed on his face as he realized she was alright and they maintained eye contact for afew moments, silent in the murky swamp. He searched her face and his eyes flared as if he realized something before the expression disappeared just as quickly as it had come. She reached out and touched his face, noticing he was faintly glowing.

“Are you an angel?” she asked, still slightly delirious.

He smiled and shook his head. “Not sure what that is, but no. Can you stand?”

He sat back as she slowly pushed herself up to a seated position and looked at him, taking a deep breath.

“I think so,” she replied.

He got up then grasped her hand, pulling her to her feet. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes,” she rasped. “I heard voices. I didn’t know what was going on.” She looked around and wrapped her arms around herself, trembling. “What did you give me?”

“Something to make you throw up,” he said. “You swallowed too much water. The swamp was still trying to take you.” He looked at her. “You’re shivering.”

Leaning over, he grabbed his dry cloak from the ground. “Take yours off.”

Fingers numb and shaking, she did as he said and let it fall to the ground. He approached her and wrapped his larger cloak around her, hugging it tightly. She looked up at him as he attached the clasp. “You saved my life.”

---