Page 80 of The Silent Mountain
The shock drives into me like a blizzard, jolting me awake in one rough motion. My eyes snap open, and I am met with the dark nothingness of the ocean. “What!?” I gasp. My whole body freezes. I am dreaming, this is still a dream. It’s a nightmare. I can’t be swimming in the middle of the night, in the ocean!
This is not possible!
I close my eyes, taking a couple of shaky breaths before forcing them open again. I am still surrounded by water, my clothes wet and cold. There is nothing beneath me but the vast depth of the ocean.
My head starts spinning, my blood rushing so fast that I am getting dizzy. I can feel blood dripping from my nose, a reaction I had as a child sometimes, when I was terrified of a nightmare. Keep it together, keep it together. I can’t lose consciousness now.
My first instinct is to scream before my warrior training takes over. An unknown situation; I’ve been thrown into an unknown and unpredictable situation. What did Ita teach me back when she trained me? Never scream. It could alert my enemies. Assess the situation first. Keep a cool head. A cool head, Alana. Freaking out will just make matters worse.
How did I get here? How is that possible? The path here takes me forever to cover on foot, a couple of hours at least. I must have been in some weird trance, or sleepwalking or damn it, was I abducted? Did someone kidnap me and throw me here?
Okay, calm down, Alana.
My heart beats so fast I can feel my head getting dizzy.Alana,Ros exclaims.Oh, for Goddess’s sake, I can reach you again! Our connection was blocked.
What happened?!
I have no idea,she blurts out.I was having the best dream, cuddling with our favorite dragon, when I woke up to this nightmare!
Her words make my stomach sink further. If I can talk to Ros, it means this is real. It’s real. I try to link Favian, but I can’t seem to reach him.Ros, Favian-
Our link is blocked,she growls.
Of course it is, because apparently, I attract bad luck. I carefully shift around again, trying to find some orientation. To my relief, I can spot the shore not too far away from me. It’s not the one the dragons usually use, but I can see the well-known silhouette of the mountain which the castle towers on. Well, at least that’s something, though I better not think of the sea monster that attacked the warriors close to the shore earlier today.
Ros tenses, alerting me that something is off.There is something… in the ocean right in front of us.
I squint my eyes in the direction she is nudging me. For a moment, I see nothing aside from the deep, black darkness of the night and sea, until there is just the tiniest movement that catches my eye. A sudden sound fills the air, a hum.
A hum…
I close my eyes, feeling calm again and comforted; so comforted. No way! Shaking my head, I try to pull myself out of the spell. I need to get out of here immediately; time for everything else later. Once I am at the shore, I can break down and freak out!
Without taking any precautions, I start paddling like crazy to get away from the creature that seems to be haunting me, or hunting me. It’s difficult to tell what’s real and what’s my imagination. Goddess, if only I weren’t so tired.Ros, stay on alert in case the monster from today attacks.
Just amazing,she mutters.But I got you. Focus on swimming, and I will focus on whatever is…She cringes visibly.Possibly beneath or behind us, or in front of us. Alright, just SWIM!
She doesn’t need to tell me twice! I start kicking my legs and flailing my arms to get further towards the shore. I am not the strongest swimmer. It’s just not something we did a lot in my home, but at least I know the basics. If I hadn’t known how to swim, this would have been my end, and not even Ros would have been able to save me.
I am moving excruciatingly slowly. The shore seems so close but also so distant. The ocean is scary, constantly tricking my eyes. I am not sure how long my strength will remain with me, but I am not called the Warrior Princess for giving up quickly. As long as I even have a little bit of will and strength left, I will fight.
The moonlight shimmers through some clouds, finally giving me some more light, when I see it: a golden shimmer in the distance. Gold like the sun, like hope. There is only one being in this world with that color.
“FAVIAN!” I yell out, using all my strength to scream his name over and over again. If my enemy hears it, I don’t care. There is no way I will reach the shore without help. It’s either Favian who hears me or whatever is behind me, and I will battle with it.
The golden shimmer comes closer and closer until I feel claws reaching out towards me. I raise my arms, my heart skipping a beat when I feel them closing around me and pulling me upwards. My clothes are so wet and heavy, I feel them being pulled downwards, but my dragon is making sure to hold me tightly.
*FAVIAN*
It’s an instinct that pushes me to leap off my balcony, shift and swoop into the air, just a mere instinct. My mind link to Alana is blocked, and while it could mean different things, I just know something is off. I love her, and I won’t let anyone take her from me. It’s the mate bond and my desperate fear for her safety, but also my love for her, that makes me head for the most terrifying part of my kingdom first: the ocean.
Favia is still asleep, due to my having used her powers for something so dangerous earlier today, and for her further guiding a soul to Aengus.
But for once, my instincts prove to be a real blessing.
The moment I make it over the mountains and make for the shore, I feel a pull, strong and desperate, and I just know she is there. My heart sinks further than it has ever before when I hear her screaming my name. It goes through the thick scales of my dragon and right into our heart, piercing and stabbing it mercilessly.
She is there, in the ocean! How? How?
