Broken Wings [Completed!]

Chapter 18

It felt like dying again.

She'd expected murky water, sewage and the smell of rotten flesh. But the Thames had seemed to transform, swell up like a full stomach until it stretched miles and miles around her. Ginormous waves toyed at her like a curious, feline lion, pushing her around as if she were weightless; the blue of the sea was so dark underneath Evira thought she had closed her eyes. A comfortable coolness danced around her and wrapped her in an invisible, silky cloak.

She could breathe.

Underwater, with a layer of lapis blue filtering the sunlight above her, fish swimming around her – yet she could breathe underwater. In disbelief, Evira tried another intake of air. She felt the rush of air in her starved lungs, forcing her limbs back into motion. Finally being able to kick her legs, Evira swam upwards towards a giant rock, and clung onto there for what seemed to be forever.

Where the hell was she?

The River Thames was definitely gone; it was just a prototype compared to this. Moving across the rock slowly, her grip nearly slipped as she witnessed a massive whale swim by. The prowess of the whale was enough to push the water away from itself, altering the whole structure of the sea. Evira outstretched her hands to feel the rough texture of the whale, but instead it felt smooth, like china.

"Get on the whale!"

Evira snapped her head up to see Haku riding near the end of the whale. He was sitting like one does with a horse, acting as if this was part of his morning routine.

She could see the end of the whale now. Seeing as this was her only chance, Evira threw herself onto the fin of the whale, slapping her cheek hard on to the moving tail. Her hands were slipping from the smooth skin, but she dragged herself upwards, panting from the effort as she struggled to sit upright.

"You do this every day?" Evira gasped, knuckles white from her strong grip on the whale.

Haku grinned. "More or less."

They sat silently for a moment, before Evira remembered the news reported the day before. "Don't tell me... you're the guy who was found coming out of the River Thames and supposedly kidnaps children?"

"The one and only."

She stifled a laugh and the two fell into comfortable silence again.

Each roll of the wave was a gentle massage on Evira's body. The whale moved steadily below her, and she felt almost like a child entering the world for the first time. There was no roaring of the sea, but the gentle sigh of the water as they made their journey outward. Fish of all different colours and patterns skimmed her dangling legs; some even had the bravery to caress her cheeks and neck. She twitched in her seat, on edge.

"You're scared of fish?" Haku asked, eyebrows raised.

"N-no!" Evira dodged another salmon as it swam extremely near her. She scowled at Haku's chuckle. "A-anyway, where are we heading exactly?"

Haku wasn't facing her, so Evira could only glance up at the back of his head. The white of his hair held the colour of moonlight, reflecting the light shade of the blue and the gentle rays of the sunlight. His hair was long and in need of trimming, but Evira knew it was unfair to say that when she was suffering from split ends herself. She found herself wondering what his eyes looked like in the sea, then threatened herself to jump off the whale if she came across the idea again.

"Faerie Land – the water clan, to be exact."

At the moment, the ruby was sparkling. The red became more crimson the longer they spent on the whale. "Faeries have clans?"