Chapter 26 #3
Briar clawed for anything solid and from the corner of her eye saw Eliam diving across the ice toward her, his hand outstretched. She twisted, arm stretching, their fingers brushed, catching for the briefest of moments.
Then the river took her, dragging her under into the dark, endless cold, driving all thought from her mind.
She tumbled in the current, pulled between chunks of ice that spun and crashed together with lethal force. Her lungs screamed for air, but every time she fought toward the surface, another ice block pushed her down.
Black water, white ice, glimpses of gray sky, everything was spinning in a nightmarish kaleidoscope made up of winter’s fury.
Her shoulder cracked against something hard and she gasped instinctively. Water flooded her mouth, cold as death. The practical leathers Eliam had given her were waterlogged now, dragging her down like anchors.
She managed to break the surface, coughing up water and managing half a breath before an ice chunk the size of a table forced her under again. The current caught hold of her once more, and this time she couldn't tell which way was up.
This is how I die, she thought with strange, unsettling clarity. In a frozen river, wearing actual clothes.
The warmth in her chest pulsed frantically, like a beacon screaming into the dark. But it was fading too, dimmed by the cold that had settled deep in her bones.
Something massive crashed into the water upstream. As her vision darkened, she saw him, Eliam, maneuvering through the ice chunks with inhuman grace, eyes wild as he searched the churning water.
She tried to reach for him as she sank, but her arms wouldn't work properly.
The cold had stolen all her strength, turned her muscles to useless weights.
Her fingers barely twitched when she tried to grab for him.
Another chunk of ice struck her ribs, driving out what little air remained in her lungs.
The impact sent her spinning again, water flooding her mouth and nose.
Then his arms were around her, crushing her against his chest as he kicked upward, powerful strokes that broke them through the surface together.
She coughed up more river water while he held her head above the chaos, his grip on her absolute.
More chunks of ice battered against him, but he didn't flinch, using his body to shield her from the worst of it.
"Breathe!" he commanded, but her body wasn't listening. Everything was shutting down, too cold, too damaged.
He cursed in the old tongue, scanning the banks.
The current had carried them far from where she'd fallen in and the shoreline on either side was steep, offering no easy escape.
The ice chunks kept coming as more of the previously frozen river broke apart creating a grinding gauntlet of frozen battering rams.
A massive piece bore down on them. Eliam twisted, taking the impact on his back with a grunt that might have been pain. His grip on her never loosened.
"Stay with me," he snarled, though she wasn't sure if he was talking to her or himself. "You don't get to die. Not like this."
He struck out for the shore, powerful strokes fighting the current. But for every foot gained, the river dragged them back two. Ice crashed around them from all sides. Her weight, waterlogged and limp, made swimming nearly impossible.
Then she saw his eyes change. The green darkened to something ancient, something that predated human understanding.
The trees along the bank responded.
Not slowly, not carefully, but with urgency. Ancient oaks bent like saplings, reaching their branches into the torrent. Roots erupted from the banks, forming nets and handholds. The very forest reshaped itself at Eliam’s command.
He caught a root one-handed, muscles straining as he fought to hold them both against the current. The water wanted her, she could feel its hunger, its fury at being frozen and now freed. It pulled at her with liquid fingers, trying to reclaim what had rightfully fallen into its domain.
"No," Eliam growled. Not cold command or casual cruelty. This was savage. "She's mine."
He hauled them up through sheer force of will, using roots and branches as a ladder. When they finally collapsed on the bank, Briar was barely conscious, barely breathing. Everything hurt and every part of her was beyond cold.
She could barely feel as he gathered her in his arms but as he pulled her against him, she felt him trembling, from exertion or something else, she couldn't tell.
"Briar." His hands framed her face, and his skin felt like fire against her frozen flesh. "Look at me."
She tried, but her eyes wouldn't focus properly. Everything was gray and spinning.
"Don't you dare," he said, and was that fear in his voice? No, that wasn’t possible. The Forest King feared nothing. She was imagining it. "You ridiculous, foolish woman. What were you thinking? Why didn’t you stay back?"
She wanted to answer, but her teeth were chattering too hard. Her whole body convulsed with shivers that felt more like seizures.
"The ice thing," she managed at last. "Was going to... kill you."
"I'm immortal, you idiot." But his hands were gentle as he pulled her closer. "You're not."
The warmth in her chest flickered weakly. His arms tightened around her, and she felt his power pulse. It wasn’t the careful control he usually showed, but raw forest magic pouring into her, trying to counter the cold.
"We need to get you warm," he said, already lifting her. "The castle—"
"Too far," she whispered. Everything was going dark at the edges.
"Then somewhere closer." He whistled sharply, and she heard hoofbeats, their mount responding to his call. "Stay awake. That's a command. I’ll send you to spend another night in the bone garden if you close your eyes."
But commands, and even threats of the bone garden, couldn't fight the cold eating through her or the way her body was shutting down.
The last thing she felt was him swinging up onto the mount with her cradled against his chest, his voice urgent in her ear.
"Don't leave me, little thief. Not like this. Not when I haven't figured out what you are yet."
Then darkness took her, and even the warmth in her chest went quiet.