AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jasmine
THE COLD WATER HITme and shocked my mind as I went under. The pull was immediate and blinding; for a while, I could not breathe or see anything. The current was strong, and I was powerless against it.
You’re an idiot, the girl said frustratedly. Maybe I should find someone else to save me.
I resisted the urge to retort. I had bigger things on my mind as I struggled against the current.
I could not find Brigid. But, perhaps, more importantly, I could not breathe underwater.
Kicking my legs to push myself above the surface did not work. When my fingers brushed against the dirt of the riverbed, I realized that I was upside down.
You’re running out of breath, the girl said, her voice getting distant even though I could hear the worry in it. Hurry.
I did not need her warning to know that. Once again, I did not bother to respond. I turned under the water and kicked the riverbed to push myself. The water helped me get up as I swam against the rushing river to break surface.
The air was warm against my cheeks as I took a huge breath. The forest was flickering around me as the current kept pushing me despite my attempts to stay still. It had been pushing me away for a while; I was in a different part of the forest now. I could not see the others nor Dearen's bridge.
None of that mattered. I had jumped in a few seconds after Brigid, and the deep breath I had to take as I broke surface told me that Brigid would not have much time if she were still underwater.
I instinctually tried to sense her. I could not. An ache threatened to overwhelm me.
Did that mean she was dead? I could not accept that.
She’s unconscious, the girl said, calming my mind at once. You can’t sense her when she’s out.
Help me! My plea echoed inside my mind. Please?
I was drifting with the current, but it was getting calmer now that the river was broadening. I felt the girl thinking for a second as I struggled against the water. Then, she made up her mind.
You owe me, the girl said. I heard a monster’s howl.
I struggled against the current to see where the sound came from.
The monster who had spooked the horses ran alongside the river. Its bloody eyes glared for a second as it looked at me, but I was not the prey it was after.
The image of the forest flashed through my mind as the girl gave me a look into the monster’s mind. It was so quick that the trees were only a blur. It ran alongside the river as I marveled at how fast it was and how deadly it looked while I struggled to keep my eyes on it while battling the foaming river. Then, with a loud growl, the monster jumped into the water.
The fear made me think it was coming for me, but the monster dove underneath the water where a cluster of rocks had gathered. The water was hitting the rocks and making the surface foam. The monster disappeared for a few seconds.
Swim to the bank, the girl said.
When I tried to swim to the side where we had come from, she warned me, and I changed directions.
I did not know why I trusted the girl. Perhaps it was because I could feel her concern as I swam to the shore, away from the monster. Still, I made a mental note to question any trusting feeling toward her; she could always be messing with my mind to make me feel so.
That’s nice, the girl responded to my thoughts.
Sorry, I replied. It is the truth.
I reached the bank and pulled myself off the water by clutching the thick taproots of a bush that had almost given in to the expanding river.
Behind me, the monster broke the surface.
When I turned around, I saw that it had dug its teeth into Brigid.
I screamed.
She’s not hurting her, the girl said, offended that I would think so.
