Across the Midnight Sea

Chapter 23: In the Depths

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.

-

It was quiet under the water, that was the first thing that Adira noticed.

Quiet and so peaceful.

The sea was clear, everything murky in a deep shade of navy blue.

Salt stung her eyes, lightning flashed out over head and the outline of the ship appeared clearly above her.

It was moving away.

Fear registered and Adira struggled to move her arms.

At some point she had breathed in water instead of air, and it had hurt...but not it didn't hurt so much anymore.

Another shape was moving in the water towards her, she could not make it out in the dim light.

And it was getting darker by the second.

Yet the deep midnight didn't scare her as it should.

It was so quiet...

Maybe dying wasn't so bad after all.

It seemed so peaceful...

-

There she was, Imre found her in the water, outlined like an angel, her white nightgown floating about her like a set of wings.

Time was of the essence and Imre pushed forward with everything he had, his lithe body used to the water.

Before his world went to shit, before the Tamerian's had taken over he had lived on the coast. Every day he swam in the ocean or one of the beautiful tiled pools Shaynari was known for.

As a child he had traced the tiles of mosaics with his tiny fingers, seeing the images of their gods of old represented there. Under the water the images always seemed so much more clear.

This was nothing like the serene playful days.

It was cold and a current grabbed hold pushing him. Imre started to fight and then noticed he had been caught by a stream that seemed to push him towards Adira. He thanked whatever fates there were for that little piece of help. He needed their aid because she was sinking, and sinking fast, which could mean only one thing.

She had already let the sea into her lungs.

Just a little further, he silently begged. They were only a few meters apart.

How much more rope did he have?

Imre didn't have time to look back, he just kept swimming for her, fighting against the need to breath, holding his breath.

Only a few feet separated them. Imre stretched his fingers out desperately. 

Let me reach her...He silently prayed.

The rope jerked as his fingers closed around her wrist and suddenly Imre was being yanked backwards through the water.

The tendons in his arm howled in pain at the sudden force exerted on them. Imre squeezed his eyes tight, a bubble of air escaping his lungs through clenched teeth as he refused to let go despite the pain. He held onto her with everything, his nails digging into her wrists to the point that he knew he would bruise her. 

Despite wanting to his arm did not have the strength to pull her in.

If he didn't do something he would loose her.

When they broke through the surface it would be much worse.

Imre angled his lower half and wrapped his legs around her scissoring them around her waist and then he used the strength of his muscles there to pull her in. Only while she was wedged there did he dare adjust his grip to pull her in closer. He pressed her to his chest, keeping his legs tangled round. He didn't care how it would look, he only needed to save her.