ALL NOVEL Volume 3 Chapter 11
How long had she been swimming? It felt like days. Sadly she suspected it hadn’t actually been very long. As a dragon turtle it had been easy and she had started to search in all directions for the ship, looking for some sign of its passing.
But they were at sea, there was no way for her to find any tracks. At least, if there was a method, she certainly didn’t know it. This form never seemed to tire. Instead it moved with a simple ease, going through the waters with enough stamina that she was certain she could have swam for days.
And perhaps she could have if she could have maintained the form for days. Unfortunately, try as she might to keep it going, eventually the magic keeping her form stable faded and she was left bobbing along in the water, without a ship in sight. She couldn’t see the rocks, either. All she could see was water in all directions.
She realized the moment her spell ended that she had underestimated the sea drastically. It was cold. Colder than she’d ever imagined possible. So cold it made her feel like her body was wrapped in ice. Worse, the waters that had appeared so incredibly calm before now felt harsh and wild, requiring all of her energy just to keep her head above water to breathe. Yvette couldn’t believe it. How long was she under there? How long had they waited before leaving her behind? Had they waited at all? Was she destined to die here, drowning at sea because she had no ship?
She wondered if they were even looking for her, were they--
Once more, she felt like an idiot. Still, she mentally thanked the stars that she had been an idiot before, rather than being a complete one now. She slowly lifted her hands, shakily pulling the ring off. She didn’t know if the others would be looking for her, but she knew she at least had to hope they would be. As much as she wanted to hide herself from the Mage’s Association, she couldn’t last much longer like this.
With shaky fingers she slid the ring inside her soaking robe, wishing that the clothing could offer a bit more warmth. Now all it seemed to be doing was weighing her down. A part of her considered tossing it off and letting it drift down into the water. Would it help?
It might save her a few more minutes, maybe. But the idea of tossing it off, of losing something so important to her made her want to scream. Besides, expending the energy required to take it off, with it clinging to her body like it was, seemed like a terrible idea.
Someone was coming. Someone had to be coming. She repeated those words, trying desperately to keep herself above water, to get as much air as she could into her lungs. Panic was slowly beginning to take hold, but she tried to push it away. To focus on keeping herself afloat. The longer she stayed, the more time they’d have to rescue her.
If they were even trying. If they hadn’t just taken whatever it was they desired and then left her to die, eaten by the leviathan. The smart thing would have been to leave her there. They had no way of knowing if she even had stopped the leviathan. For all they knew, it was coming after them. Running away as fast as possible was the smartest thing they could do.
She was going to die. She wasn’t going to make it. She couldn’t keep doing this.
She dipped under the water again, the water pushing her under for a moment and panic set in. She flailed her hands wildly, struggling desperately to get above the surface once more. It was so cold. She was so tired. It took everything she had to keep going. But every time she started to flounder, water would flow up her nose and mouth, making her come up, spitting water, only to fall back under again.
She screamed in her mind, flailing her hands wildly when she fell back under. She was desperate to find something, anything to hold onto. It only seemed to be getting colder, her legs going numb. Once again she drifted beneath the surface and had to try and fight her way back. Coughing and sputtering, she broke the surface once more. Except, this time, she didn’t go back down. As cold and tired as she was, it took her a few moments to realize she was rising. A few more moments to realize she was standing ON something now.
Her body was lifted almost entirely into the air and she let out a shriek, her hands reaching, trying to grab onto whatever it was holding her up. Only for her to realize it was growing. Worse, it was making it colder. A big block of ice had formed underneath her, now growing bigger even while it slowly rocked from side to side. She shook helplessly. But she wasn’t drowning, so she could at least thank the heavens for that. As cold as the water had been, though, it was nowhere near cold enough for ice. She numbly stared at it, not sure how such a miracle had happened.
It began to bob more heavily and she realized she could hear someone yelling. Slowly, she turned back out to sea and, to her eternal thankfulness, she saw the boat.
They’d come for her.
She was going to live. Yvette collapsed onto the floating ice, laying against its chilled surface and giving a small, giddy laugh. She swore she had to be the luckiest woman in the world sometimes. If not that, she was at least in the top five.
Then again, she supposed if she had been a bit luckier, absolutely none of this would have ever happened and she wouldn’t have to be risking her life in the first place. So maybe it was just her luck breaking even.
Yvette closed her eyes, letting the cold wash over her while she inhaled deep breaths. She repeated the words over and over in her mind as the darkness enveloped her. She was going to live. She was going to live.
