Before I could make the decision myself, something touched the tip of my toes. I yelled out in pain from the sensation of tiny blades digging into my skin, and lost my footing before clutching Azrael to my chest. I couldn’t even hear him scream as we fell. The only sound that filled my ears was the wind whipping around us, pushing us both down further into the pit of darkness.
Above, I could faintly see the black mist crawling over the edge, as if to follow us, but we were quickly consumed by smoke, and I lost all sight.
Just when I thought I felt the heat of fire ready to burn us, a sharp sting shot across my back, and we were quickly submerged in water.Water? I thought to myself, more confused than I was before.
It took a few seconds for my brain to catch up before I realized that neither of us could swim. I held onto him and kicked my legs, pulling one arm down to try and push us to the surface. Azrael, in a state of panic, clawed at my shoulders and arms.
In that moment, as my sanity slowly slipped away, all I could think was,Great. I’ve made it this far only to be defeated by fucking water. That’s when another, more useless, thought crossed my mind.I could really use one of those wraiths right about?—
“Ecce….”
There’s no way…
A bright light suddenly filled the dark water around us. It came from five pairs of eyes, all swimming toward us and chanting one familiar word:Ecce.
In one swift motion, I was hauled away from Azrael and dragged upward. I tried kicking and reaching for him, but they moved too fast. When we broke the surface, I sucked in a long, painful breath, and was pushed onto the hard, rigid land.
As I coughed, I crawled back toward the water. “Az… Azrael!”
No… No, no, no!
Another head broke the surface. It was one of the wraiths. Then, Azrael’s floating body rose slowly. I grabbed him, dragging him toward me and laying him on the ground. When I lowered my ear to his chest, I couldn’t feel it rising. I grabbed his face and shook it a little, waiting for him to take a breath, but his lips were beginning to turn a violet shade of blue.
“Azrael!” I yelled at him. “Wake up!” I tried pushing air into his mouth, but it wasn’t working.
Before I could even attempt it again, I felt a slight shove to the side as one of the wraiths pulled herself up and sat beside him. Her slick skin glistened with beads of water as her tail remained submerged.
“Te adiuvem,”she whispered, placing a hand on Azrael’s still chest. Her voice somehow sounded the same as if she were still underwater, but just as beautiful as the tune I had heard when they led me to the pier.
“What does that mean?” I asked her. “I can’t understand you.”
They spoke a language that I had never heard before.
Instead of answering, she bent over Azrael and placed her lips over his. Slowly, I watched as her chest rose as she took in a deep breath. From Azrael’s mouth, small droplets of water began to escape. They floated in the air, clumping together as more and more seemed to leave his body.
After a couple of seconds, Azrael’s body shook, and he began coughing. I immediately turned him onto his side. While he got the remaining water out of his lungs, I turned to thank the wraith, but she was already gone.
Not even a ripple could be seen in the water.
“Princess,” Azrael groaned.
“I’m here.” I snapped my eyes back to him and pulled him into my chest. “Don’t worry. I’m going to find somewhere for us to rest, okay?”
“I’m so hungry,” he whimpered, and it struck a chord deep in my heart.
“We’ll rest first, and then I’ll try to find something for us to eat.” It was a half-truth. As I looked around us, I knew there was nothing to find.
The ground here felt different than before. The trees were black—burned to a charred crisp. Beneath my feet, the soil crunched and parted, revealing a small light of what appeared to be liquid fire flowing below. What use would there be for food in a place run by death itself?
But still, I couldn’t let Azrael know that. The only thing keeping us alive at this point was the flicker of hope that seemed to dwindle with each passing second.
Lifting Azrael into my arms, I didn’t waste a single second as I found refuge in the shadows of the trees. I thanked the gods when I noticed a small cave dug into one of the many hills that surrounded us. Black hanging mosscovered the opening, and it was hollow enough that I didn’t need to worry about any creatures hiding inside.
We slipped through the moss, finding a dark-enough area that would keep us hidden, and I placed Azrael down. “We’ll rest here,” I told him, tucking him into my side and letting him rest his head on my lap. “Try to sleep, okay?”
“What about you, princess? You need rest, too.”
“I will,” I lied. I wouldn’t dare risk falling asleep right now. Too many creatures lurked in these woods.
