Chapter 16 #4
“We serve coin,” the one with a dent in his forehead growls, slowly closing in.
Pebbles crunch under my feet as I look around at my options. I lunge to the left, downstream, but the highwayman with a missing eye jumps in front of me, sword out.
The rush of the water grows louder, and my slippers slide on the pebbles. It’s so much deeper than it looked from the path. The icy water stuns my body as I take another step into the river. My toes surprisingly grip the rocks well.
“I wouldn’t do that,” the one on the right snarls, inching closer. “Do we kill her?”
“No, I don’t think so,” the other snarls. “She’s got something about her, huh?”
No fight I dish out will result positively. So, I calculate the risks. I can swim. I know that.
Taking a large breath, I jump backwards into the rushing current. The frigid water envelops me and tumbles me under the waves. The large skirt is about the only thing protecting my legs as my body is thrown about.
Disorientation builds as I toss around again, trying to orient myself.
Luckily, I surface for a moment to catch air before being swept under again.
My head flips and hits a jutted rock on the floor.
With the ice-cold water stunning my lungs, the pain freezes my body.
I bob above once more and hear some yelling before it’s muffled again by the river.
I didn’t get a breath that time but I firm my muscles to fight towards the surface.
A current yanks me to the right; my body slides along a log or some large rock.
It feels effortless to be carried by waters that numb you.
I flail my arms out, trying to pull myself to the surface in between rapids.
I bob in and out as my legs scrape along the natural floor of the river.
Just ahead, the small wooden bridge we crossed on our way in comes into view.
One shot.
With one last burst of depleting energy, I throw myself out of the water and scrape for purchase along the wooden planks.
My fingers meet wood and I use everything left inside me to pull my body up.
Splinters embed in the pads of my fingers and I slip on the algae, my left arm dangling.
The rapids below me grab my body, urging it to follow the rest of the way down.
Don’t.
My hand shoots up once more, finding some grip. My core tightens as I try to slide my hands along the planks to the edge, anywhere closer to the bank. It’s too late, though. My body too heavy, my chest burning, my mind freezing. Whatever grip I had loosens and I feel myself go unwillingly.
A hand shoots through a gap in the planks, grabbing my forearm.
“Liv, do not let go! Do you hear me?” a voice bellows. I crack my eyes open but the cold has essentially immobilized me.
I’m numb now.
Bits of wood fly past me. I can’t tell if I am still suspended in the water or if I am fully submerged.
Hands. Cloth. Someone is rubbing my body aggressively. I try to lift my head, peeling my eyes open for a moment.
“Sawyer?” I croak before losing any neck strength. Sawyer is here. Sawyer is here and trying to bring warmth back into my body.
“Liv, can you hear me?” His muffled voice only breaks the surface slightly. I nod or feign to make some movement, signaling I am here before falling out of consciousness again.
Wood. I feel wood. There’s a hand. Is this Erees? Have the Gods come for me? I try to smile because the heart of the sun above warms my body. The grit of the grain is barely felt because my extremities are no longer functional from the chilled waters.
“Not dead yet,” I groan, trying to open my eyes to take in the man above but a silver halo blurs around a silhouette.
“Not dead yet,” he says back as I drift away.
That hand is back again, rubbing my body. Slowly, my eyes open. It’s incredibly hard to manually force them. The grey light above shines down on me, warm rather than a cold overcast. A male blurs above me; his hair falls into his face before he pushes it out of the way.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” he repeats over and over and over.
“Cedric,” I say back.
It’s him. He found me.
He smiles, sliding his arms under my back and knees to lift me up. I use everything in me to put my arms around his neck. “Are you okay?” I whisper, my head bobbing as he carries me to Steele, who is tied by a tree. Sawyer walks with us, his own shirt soaked through.
Cedric looks down to me and laughs, softly saying, “There are far greater concerns than my personal wellbeing.” I moan at the sharp pain in my head again, unable to form a response.
“Sawyer,” I manage to say extending a hand to him before he mounts his steed. “Thank you.” It was him, after all, who pulled me from being swept further into rapids.
“Yes, thank you.” Cedric works his jaw and looks to his brother. “Truly.” Sawyer nods and mounts his honeyed brown horse.
Cedric lifts me onto Steele as if he wasn’t just shot with an arrow. He gets on behind me and pulls me tightly to him again, his arm completely wrapped around my midsection.
“Home,” he urges Steele.