Phoenix of Dawn

There's No Way

Cold as ice and heavy as rock, I sank to the bottom of the ocean. My hands had long since given up on clawing to the surface. I'd accepted my fate. This was how they wanted me and I couldn't blame them. From the moment they'd arrived I'd been a threat to their survival and with me out of the way they would thrive. 

I sent one last look up to the darkened surface.

It was far past after hours and no one would be saving me tonight. They'd planned it to be this way. Dragging me out of the sleeping quarters in the middle of the night, a rag stuffed into my mouth to keep my quiet. 

No matter how hard I fought they were bigger than me. Older than me.

Why was I always the youngest, the smallest? 

Draco was still in the distance. We'd been camped out by the cliff side for days, training in the sweltering heat. The t-shirts on our backs were constantly sticking to our skin and the sweat never seemed to stop. 

I remembered the stench of them as they hauled me off toward the raging ocean. The waves crashed against the rocks, reaching up to claim me. 

Fighting and screaming were doing no good. On some level I knew I'd already be too exhausted to save myself once they threw me off. 

"Hold her down."

They tethered the straps to my ankles, the added weight pulling on me. One grabbed my arms while the other took hold of my legs and swung me through the air. 

Terror gripped my chest, it's claws digging deep and pulling out the scream that split the sky. My body twisted in the free fall, small and desperate. Nothing prepared me for hitting that water though. The waves gulped me down, my body splintering into a thousand pieces on the impact. No matter how hard I dug through the salty liquid, my head never broke the surface. 

So there I was. At the bottom of the ocean and so very alone. 

It's the way they intended it to be. It's what I deserved. 

A brilliant flash of sunlight burned through the dark water just as the world began to blur. Hands gripped my arms, the weights removed and suddenly I was ascending. Brilliant tendrils of gold spiraled around me until finally we broke through the surface. 

I gulped in equal parts air and water as my savior dragged me to the shore. I could hear him struggling against the waves, his feet trying to find purchase in the sand. He pulled my water logged body onto dry land.

"Kyra?"

I looked up at this boy who had saved me, trying not to hack up an entire lung. The air was harsh against my raw throat, the salt bitter in my mouth. 

"Who are you," I croaked.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, "That doesn't matter. I'm just glad you're alive."

Lifting myself up to sit my arms began to tremble. I'd nearly died. If this boy hadn't saved me then I would have died. Now I was going to go back to camp and endure the same fate all over again.

"You should have let me die."

"Never."

"I'll have to just go back."

He looked up at the cliff side with a serious look on his face.

"So run away."

My eyes buldged, "I'm seven! Where the hell would I go?"