5. Esther #4
A thick crystallized bubble wraps around me. No! I try to shout, slamming my hands against the ice. Fire hits the side of my frozen cage, and I’m thrown overboard, plowing into the sea. The deafening splash and darkness of the water swallows me whole.
There’s a moment of suspense as I realize I can still breathe, but an uneasy rage and fierceness gnaw at me to get back on the ship and fight by my master’s side.
Water wraps around my frozen bubble like claws, pulling me under the water in another direction. I can sense the tentacle beasts presence vanishing into the distance as I’m pulled by Master Kain’s magic.
Bile rises from my stomach, impacted by the turbulent knocking as flashes of flames and thunder break above the surface.
I hook my invisible chains into Master Kain’s magic, desperately trying to hold onto him, even if I can’t chant to replicate his magic. But then it’s broken, the distance too great, leading me farther into a deafening abyss.
I’m suddenly flung, a forceful wave crashing over me as I’m thrown against rough sand and spat out onto a beach. The moment I stop, I hurl, and vomit covers my hands as I kneel in my frozen prison.
I heave again, shakily wiping at my mouth, trying to gather my bearings. Am I back in Caldom Kingdom? When I look around, all I see is a heavily overgrown jungle.
The bubble in my throat pops, and I feel like I can take my first proper breath since it’s been there, silencing me and relinquishing my right to fight. The ice shield bursts, splashing me in the seawater it was made from.
My body immediately breaks out in goosebumps as the wind picks up, my entire body, clothes, and hair saturated.
The dress clings to my body heavily as I try to stand, only to stumble and fall sideways because of my shaky legs.
I try again, clinging to the trunk of a tree as I take a shallow breath and look back out to the sea, where in the distance, the flames and lightning I was among have already vanished.
How far away did he push me? What region am I in? I let my chains stretch to their limits, groveling for his familiar magic, but nothing.
A sharp pain shoots through my ribs, immediately toppling me back over as I clutch at my side.
A choke of water immediately bubbles from my throat, and I bend and vomit the salty and coppery taste of seawater.
My bones crack as if breaking, and I scream, clinging even tighter to the trunk of the tree to hold me upright.
My vision blots in and out as I stare at my trembling hands.
My eyes widen as I realize it’s not salty water I’m tasting, but the metallic taste of my own blood, my hands covered in it.
I shove through the pain, looking back out at the sea, the terror and omen falling into place.
They’ll all die.
“Master Kain?” my voice rasps as this all too familiar pain tears me from the inside. My binding is beginning to come undone. Master Kain is… I can’t let myself finish the thought.
Flames appear to be drawing closer, and I realize three boats have followed me. My body breaks, my heart pounding at what’s happening on the sea. However, my adrenaline spikes, the burn at my throat reminding me of what I’ve done since I was a child, not just for me but Grimace as well: Survive.
The pain intensifies, my skin feeling like glass cracking as I come to a complete stand and look into the foreign jungle with determination.
I fight my body, which quickly wants to give in to the pain, my eyesight glitching as I put one leg in front of the other, holding onto that burn at my throat as my guiding light.
If not for myself, I’ll keep my beast safe.
I trip over a vine on the ground, the world beneath me feeling like it’s shattering, but I pick up the pace on what feels like broken legs and continue to run, my breath shallow and pounding in my ears. Run or die.
A creature’s screech echoes through the jungle, making me look this way and that, more eyes following me from the shadows as I’m being chased. I bring my hands up, shielding myself from low-hanging vines as I jump over objects that seem to shift, or maybe that’s my vision.
Branches rip at my hair, face, and arms like extensions of the foreboding dark jungle, little hands grappling to have a taste of fresh blood.
I hear a man’s voice shout something I can’t make out and internally curse, knowing that they’re still pursuing me. Dahlia wasn’t a fool, either; none of my pursuers are greers, which means, even if I wanted to link to one of them and use their magic to defend myself, I can’t.
A burning sensation erupts over my leg and stomach, and I scream as I tumble forward and crash over roots and leaves.
I come to a stop, tears sliding down my cheeks as my body burns, and I momentarily look up at the almost full moon peeking through the canopy.
I think of Master Kain, certain that he is weakening, that our binding is frivolous if I’m able to feel his pain.
The only time I’ve felt this previously was when my own parents and ancestors were slaughtered.
What feels like the talons of a valther scrape down my spine, forcing me to quickly roll onto my back, gasping for breath.
I rotate onto my front again to vomit, blood blotching my hands once more.
My throat marking burns, too, but I don’t have the strength to force Grimace into place any longer as he fights me to free himself.
He materializes, speaking gibberish and grabbing onto my finger, yanking at me to get back up.