Watty's Shortlist 2023
"I have been waiting a long time to meet you."
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When two warring kingdoms hear of a magical object that will end the conflict once and for all, two rival heirs embark on a quest to retrieve it and bring their...
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Like taking an ice bath, the freezing cold water shocked Aila's system. She surfaced, gasping for air and glaring into the amused red eyes of the man before her.
"What the hell was that for?" She argued indignantly. "I might not even have known how to swim!" She placed her hands on the side of the river, prepared to pull herself up and out of the cold current, but stopped as Ember's voice sounded.
"That's evidently not the case," he smirked. "And stay there, you need to awaken your water magic."
Aila huffed, beginning to shiver. She considered swimming a few laps but the quicker she learned how to do this, the sooner she'd be able to get out.
"Okay," she sighed. "What do I have to do?"
"Go under and don't come up until you can breathe underwater," Ember instructed.
"What?" Aila spluttered. "That's impossible!"
"I assure you, it is not."
"This is a waste of time," she insisted.
"You'd do anything for your kingdom, right?" Ember raised an eyebrow.
"Yes."
"Then at least try."
A sincere hope was shining in his gaze and perhaps that's what convinced Aila to take a deep breath and then completely submerge herself. Her body had still not adjusted to the temperature and as her head went under, the cold shock again hit her hard.
She stayed under as long as she could, until her lungs began to burn. When at last she could take it no longer she broke the surface, seeking red for feedback.
"Four minutes," Ember sighed. "Try again."
"What do you want from me?" Aila groaned. "There's no way I'll be able to breathe underwater."
"Again," Ember instructed.
Aila glared at him, but obliged.
It was harder this time. Her lungs protested, creating a pressure that she hadn't ever experienced to this extent before. When she was sure they'd explode she surfaced to again find him disappointed.
"Three minutes twenty seconds. Again."
She obeyed.
"Again."
She dove under.
"Again."
This time, she tried to do as he had said. When her oxygen supply began to diminish, she inhaled a breath underwater hoping that somehow her crazy companion's desire would come true.
It didn't.
With her nose burning, her lungs coughing out the water, her skin numb and body shivering from the cold, she pulled herself out of the water and took a seat on the riverbank.
