Duty Calls

Chapter 15

Athos’ POV

I can hear waves. Wait what? Waves in death? This is weird. Finally I manage to force my eyes open. Damn, everything is just so white and bright… I blink several times. I can see the sky… It is daylight… I move and try to sit up. And I am punished with a pounding pain in my head. Great. So I guess. I’ll have to take it slow. I try again and manage to shift myself into a sitting position. I look around. I’m at a little beach… How the hell did I get here? I try to think of the last thing that I remember. Escaping the sinking ship. Being so tired and not having any strength left. Swimming… lots of swimming. The cliffs. D’Artagnan!
Worry and fear take over my mind. Where is he? Is he dead? I turn my head and look around the beach and finally I spot something. Something is lying halfway in the water and disappears from time to time when a huge wave crashes down on it. It has to be him! I have to get him away from the water or else he’ll drown for sure. If he hasn’t already drowned, a pessimistic part of my mind remarks. I struggle to get up and actually fall to the ground three times before I manage to do so. Then I stumble over to the figure and recognize him at once: it’s D’Artagnan. I grab his arms and drag him further away from the water before I fall to the ground again.

“D’Artagnan!” I call out his name and shake him by his shoulder.

D’Artagnan’s POV

Pain. I hurt everywhere. Someone’s calling my name. Why is someone calling my name? I try to shift, to answer, or to do anything. But my lungs suddenly hurt unbelievably and I can’t breathe. In some sort of reflex, I start coughing and spitting out water. I then feel someone touching my shoulder, shaking me. I open my eyes and blink trying to make the dizziness go away. It takes some time for me to find my way back into the world of the living.

“Where am I?” I finally manage to mumble with a hoarse voice.

“Honestly, I have no idea. It’s some kind of a beach… I’ve just woken up myself. Are you okay?”

Athos. It’s Athos’ voice. My vision clears and I can see him kneeling in front of me, looking at me rather concerned. I am in some sort of a sitting position, I must have jerked up when coughing out water. Question. He asked me a question. I should answer. My mind is working much too slow. So I might have hit my head. Yes, I also got a pounding headache. When I try to move, I hiss immediately at the sudden pain in my chest area. I guess, I must have hit my ribs, too. Besides I still feel the pounding pain in my left shoulder. I think I’ve been shot or something? Yeah, that’s what’s happened.

“D’Artagnan?” Athos squeezes my shoulder. Right. The question. Finally I force myself to answer.

“I’m not sure… My head, chest and shoulder ache. But I’m okay.”

I add the last rather quickly and Athos interrupts me at once.

“No you’re not. You have been shot, then you nearly drowned. You are definitely not okay. But at least you’re alive… whatever. We need to get off that beach. We need to find the others. Can you walk?”

Actually I’m not sure, but of course I’m not gonna admit that.

“I guess?” I just state a little hesitantly.

Athos tightens the grip on my arm and pulls me up. At first I gasp for air and struggle not to fall down again. For a second, I think the dizziness might win, but then I manage to free myself from it. I look around, trying to get as many details of my surroundings as possible. The waves are crashing at the beach and this beach is surrounded by high cliffs. How are we supposed to get out of here? We walk to the place where the cliffs seem to be least high. I stare at the stone in front of me. Athos frowns.

“We have to try and climb up”

“Are you crazy? This is impossible! You’re gonna get us both killed!” I tell him.

“If we stay down here, we’re no use either.”

I sigh in defeat. I know that he’s right. We both take a deep breath and start to climb. I try to ignore my shoulder and do most of the work with my right arm. The rocks are sharp and soon, my hands are sore. But still we have to keep going. I can’t give up. It’s my duty to protect France. We are half way up and my little strength, which has been restored since the ship incidence, is fading again. Suddenly I lose my grip and I would have fallen in my death if Athos hadn’t reacted quickly and grabbed my arm. This gives me the time to place my feet at the rocks again and give my hands a firm hold on them again. I send my friend a grateful look. Now we’re on our last meters of the way up. We’ve nearly made it. We’re so close to safety now. Finally, Athos, who has been climbing above me, reaches the top. As soon as he’s climbed up, he reaches down to grab my arm and pull me up. We both fall to the ground, panting hard and completely exhausted. With all strength drawn from me, I just close my eyes and welcome the darkness.