Skayre

Chapter Thirty

CHAPTER THIRTY.

Abernacky leapt like someone his size had never done so before. Straight away he let out a yell as he was falling, he could hear similar yells and screams behind him. With an almighty splash he hit the water, hard, he came back up spluttering and coughing.
He looked up and could see the others all jumping and falling the same as him.

He saw Moya who had jumped with a lope literally just behind her, she had spun in mid-air and was shooting an arrow from close range and still managed to hit her target. Abernacky smiled a huge smile because of how impressed he was.
Once everyone had safely landed in the water, the conversation started. “what’s next then” chuckled Abernacky. “we can’t go by foot, the lopes will catch us quick enough” replied Moya, and sure enough out of the forest they came. They went to the edge of the water and no further, they sniffed the air and could tell their prey was there. However they would go no further.

They were screeching and pacing back and forth around the waters. “what do we do now” asked Stripe looking around. More and more grey Skelton like bodies crept out of the bushes, there seemed to be no end of them what so ever. Their blank faces with no eyes were unsettling to say the least. Moya looked around slowly, she knew however of a secret way out. “we go down, not far into the water there is a cavern, hidden and defended by us of the forest.”

The others looked at her in equal measures of both shock and fear. The thought of having to dive down with no idea of where to go and how deep they needed to go scared them all. Well all of them apart from Abernacky, he seemed absolutely thrilled “an underwater hidden cavern, how fantastic, our one under the tree was found quite easily to be honest, keep that in mind master Mert” Mert was going a funny green sort of colour.
“we must go now, the lopes can’t do very much, however if any gnomes come along we will be nothing more then floating targets” called Moya. The other forest sisters all dove under the water straight away. Moya started to count down from three, “three” she gave them no option, “two” Abernacky, Stripe and Beryn all took deep breaths, “one” the four of them all went under the water at the same time.

However still floating there by himself was Mert, a terrible shade of green and looking like his dinner might be making its way back up, he didn’t want to stay here, yet he also didn’t want to dive under the water. He knew he would have to go down at some point but it was a matter of building the courage to do so. Slowly he closed his eyes and blocked out the surroundings, he tried his best to block out the noise, the lopes sniffing the air and their screams all around. Mert took a deep breath, then blew it back out
Mert continued treading water, he smacked his cheeks on either side in the hope it would get him ready.

Another large breath and he dunked his head under the water, he could see clearly, under the water. He could see all of his companions slowly making their way downwards off into the dark. There was a faint light not to far off to one side of the deep water hole.
He came back up for air again. When he came back up there were even more lopes around, there was a little man standing just next to a bush looking around at the water.

The gnome noticed the head of Mert bobbing just above the water, quickly the gnome picked up a rock and threw as best he could. It landed right next to Mert’s head, whom made his mind up very quickly to go back down. The gnome was reaching for another rock.

Mert took a sharp intake of breath and dove once more, his legs were beating hard and fast aiming straight down deep into the water.

He was going as fast as he could towards the shadows of his companions and that light. It wasn’t quite so faint anymore, the light was growing bigger and bigger. He could feel the pressure starting to build on his lungs, as if something had grabbed him on both sides and were crushing him. Mert kicked harder and harder, the pressure was starting to build in his head now as well.
Mert knee that he was struggling, his arms and legs weren’t working the way he wanted, they were flailing around madly trying to move in any way possible.

He could feel his chest struggling, Mert was holding back as much as possible, but he knew that his body would take a breath soon. He was so close, he forced his eyes open and could see the light, and a tunnel reading just behind it and up into an open cavern with some power holding the water back. Mert could see a figure swimming towards him slowly, he looked but it wasn’t anyone that he knew. Before Mert could do anything or before this person could get there his body finally gave in, his mouth opened with a huge gasp trying to suck air into his lungs.

All it managed to do was flood his lungs with water, unfortunately for Mert he was still conscious, he could feel his lungs filing with water and he could do nothing about it, he started coughing profusely, which doesn’t work well under water, he managed to suck in more water, his eyes were starting to go black and the last thing he saw was this man right in front of him and then everything went black as he fainted in the water