Chapter 5
HAZEL
The creature kept his word, and before I could sink into the frigid water once again, I was engulfed by his muscular arms. His body was warmer than the water, offering slight comfort as my body adjusted to the temperature change.
I tried to stave off the underlying terror I felt being in the ocean once again, but the Talassi held me steady until I stopped trembling.
I wondered how I’d survived so long after the shipwreck. Surely I should have died of hypothermia within my first few moments in the water, but I supposed the predator could have found me and brought me to the rocky island before I succumbed to the elements.
It was still strange, and part of me was still convinced I was actually dead. Maybe this was my final passage into the afterlife. Or maybe I truly was mad. Perhaps I belonged at the Akala Asylum after all.
“You’re going to have to ride on my back,” the Talassi said, interrupting my thoughts.
He twisted in the water, maneuvering until my legs were around his waist and my chest pressed against his back.
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, noticing a braided, leathery harness of sorts, grateful it provided something for me to hold onto.
His hands were nearly the size of my thighs, and heat shot through my core when he gripped them tighter, making me feel warm in ways I shouldn’t have been feeling at that moment.
Instead, I focused on the surrounding ocean, which was a terrible idea considering how vast and empty it was.
We floated in the water for a moment, his tail moving back and forth beneath us as he determined the best positioning to keep my head above water.
If I thought about the situation too deeply, I would have been overcome with terror. I was quite literally stranded in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, putting my life into the hands of a mythical creature that, until twenty minutes ago, I thought only existed in fairytales and myths.
This was madness.
“What is your name?” I asked.
He grunted in response, coiling his tail under the water in what seemed like preparation for us to move.
“Not fair that I told you mine, yet I don’t have anything to call you,” I chided.
“Draya,” he muttered.
“Are you sure I’m not dead?” I blurted out.
“No,” he answered, giving me no time to come up with another question. He flicked his tail in the water, and we lurched forward through the mist and waves.
Draya kept his word and held my head above the surface for the duration of the journey, even as it grew heavy and rested against his shoulder.
My throat was dry, and a dull pain throbbed behind my eyes.
I had no idea how long I’d been unconscious, or how long we stayed on that island.
When was the last time I ate or drank fresh water? When had I last slept?
I wondered if my father was even aware of the loss of his ship. For all I knew, that was his plan all along. Maybe they weren’t even expecting me at the Akala Asylum in the first place, and he’d planned for me to die alongside the crew of that ship.
What a cruel idea. If he had any semblance of honor, he would have killed me himself.
My dehydration and exhaustion were likely causing some sort of delirium, because I started to concoct grand plans to gain revenge on my father, all to be enacted once I reached the island…
. The island that held the sanitarium. Where I would be treated as a woman with hysteria.
I was essentially a glorified prisoner in our society.
As we drew closer, the pit of dread growing in my stomach became difficult to ignore.
Obviously, I didn’t want to go to the asylum.
But I didn’t want to go back to Whitethorn Bay, either.
I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and unfortunately for me, the options did not include escaping to a secluded cottage and tending to a large garden under soft rays of morning sunlight.
That was all I truly longed for. A simple life without a hateful father bothering me, where I could nurture my plants and pay my respects to my mother’s spirit. A friend or two would be nice, as well, as that was a luxury I’d rarely been afforded while living under my father’s thumb.
I laid my cheek against the back of Draya’s shoulder, sinking into the warmth of his body and the rumble in his chest, no longer attempting to stop the release of tears from behind my eyes.
Despite the circumstances, I felt freer the last few hours than I ever had before.
While I didn’t want to die, I was reluctant to let go of whatever dream I was trapped in, even if it may have been a nightmare.
I awoke hours later, lying flat on my back and staring at a starry sky.
It was dark again, suggesting I’d somehow slept through the entire day, and my throat felt like it was on fire.
The surface beneath me was soft yet firm, and damp grains of sand stuck to my palms and feet.
Aside from the vicious headache throbbing in my skull, my body felt better than it had on that rocky island.
My limbs weren’t quite as heavy, and my muscles weren’t nearly as weak.
Sitting up, I took in my surroundings. I was on a beach, completely dry, clothed in what remained of the tattered nightgown I’d been wearing since before the shipwreck.
Did we reach Akala? I wondered, unsure if I said it out loud. My eyes darted around, searching the beach for Draya, or any sign of life.
“Draya!” I called, pushing to my feet, but he was nowhere to be found. A wave of nausea crashed into me, and I needed a moment to steady myself before I took a step forward.
The vast ocean in front of me was haunting, beckoning me to slip back in. Seafoam danced at my feet, sparkling under the glow of the moonlight, but I pushed the longing thoughts away. Instead, I called for Draya once more, and was met with nothing but the ebb and flow of the waves.
Did I dream of him? I wondered, turning around slowly.
I desperately hoped I’d reached some form of civilization, but an underlying sense of unease told me I was likely on the beaches of Akala.
As much as I didn’t want to be there, I pressed on, knowing I wouldn’t be able to stay conscious much longer without fresh water or food.
To my relief and dismay, I looked up to find a massive stone building nestled at the bottom of a terrifying cliff.
From where I stood, it appeared to be about a half-mile away, and I thought I saw figures moving on the grounds.
Everything on this island was gloomy and wet, the ground seeming to shift in all directions with each step forward, but I knew my mind was playing tricks on me.
Just get there, I told myself.
It took what felt like an eternity to trudge across the terrain to the grounds of the sanitarium, and I seemingly passed out before I even made it. Thankfully, someone found my unconscious form, as I woke once more tied to a bed in a sterile room, wearing a white shift and hooked up to a saline IV.
Thank goodness, I thought, the realization that I was, in fact, alive setting in. I’d made it to the Akala Asylum despite my wretched father’s foundering ship, and I was no longer dying of dehydration.
Soon I was swarmed by a doctor, two nurses, and a few men and women in suits. It took nearly an entire day of pleading to convince them of what had happened to me. I was Hazel Emerson. I’d been in a shipwreck, but I survived and swam to the beach.
I left out any information regarding Draya.
These people weren’t to be trusted, and something inside me wanted to keep the secret of the hauntingly beautiful creature I’d had the blessing to see.
Either they would believe me and immediately try to find him, or they’d label me as a lunatic, neither of which I was willing to risk.
Though in truth, they already thought I was mad.
I wasn’t entirely convinced I was sane myself, by this point, as there was a high possibility this had all been a vivid dream.
Eventually their questioning tapered off, although I could tell they were still skeptical of my identity and my story. Whether or not they believed me, they admitted me into their care, and I began my new life as an inpatient at the Akala Asylum.