Evocation

Chapter 19- Close Calls

"Echo!" Lorcan's strained voice startles me awake. It was faint, and I'm not sure at first if I heard it.

"Echo!" His voice gets louder. It holds fear and pain. I pull away from Fenix's body in a panic, looking around. "Echo please!" His pained voice shouts.

Not caring that it is storming, nor that I'm barefoot and in thin linen undergarments, I run out of the hut opening and immediately crash into Lorcan's body. He slips backwards, his eyes scared and his body soaking wet. I stumble to my feet, helping him up. "What's going on?"

"Dean is missing," Lorcan says with a distraught voice.

"What?"

"We went back to the sick bay to sleep last night. Morgan and I just woke. Christopher is dead and Dean is gone." His chest heaves and his tears mix with the rain beating down on his face.

"You didn't hear him leave?" I ask, my heart falling in my stomach.

Lorcan shakes his head. "I don't know where he could've gone."

I start running towards the shore. My bare feet slap loudly against the mud and wet grass, squishing between my toes. I can't feel air enter or leave my body.

"Where are you going?" Lorcan shouts after me.

I don't respond. I keep running until my legs burn. As the ground declines rapidly, the mud and grass turning to rocks and sand, I keep going. My feet slip every few steps at the uneven terrain but I push on.

Finally, I reach the edge of the water. There's an immediate drop off from the sand into the water, a few feet deep of large rocks. The Evocation is anchored in place a ways back, but it rocks heavily in the ocean's storm. The water was easy to swim and row through a couple days ago, but the ocean has turned to deathly rapids with the storm. I scan the waterline as Lorcan catches up with me. His feet come skidding to a halt, kicking sand in front of us.

"You don't think he jumped in?" His breathing is ragged and his voice is terrified.

I continue scanning the dark waters until I see it- a flash of brown hair swaying just under the surface. My face goes numb. I step back, ready to jump in the water after Dean.

"Wait," Lorcan grabs my arm roughly. "You'll die."

"So will he," I pull his arm off me, jumping into the water, kicking off the rocks towards Dean.

The water pulls me under instantly, sucking me down. I try to hold my breath but the rapids shove salty water up my nose and into my eyes, causing me to cough. I swing my arms, trying to get my head above water to take a breath. It takes me far too long, but I'm able to get my nose in the air just long enough to inhale and go back down. I frantically look around until I see Dean's arms flailing with the rocking tide. I kick towards him, but my injured leg hurts far too much against the force of the undertow. My leg has been healing well, but I still have to be gentle on it. I have to hope it will hold up now.

I kick and kick and kick and kick and kick against the water pushing me in every direction except the one I want to go in. My body flips and turns in circles against my will, my limbs flailing. The water pushes and pulls me side and side, back and forth. My brown hair whips around my neck and face, making it harder to see.

Suddenly my body crashes against Dean roughly, knocking all the air out of me. But I don't have time to panic. I hook an arm around his neck and kick towards the surface. My lungs ache and burn and I don't make any progress with Dean's weight dragging me down.

My eyes burn with salt water and my muscles quake from exhaustion and cold. We continue to sink. I try not to let panic set in as my body and mind tells me I'm going to drown. I kick and paddle, refusing to let go of Dean's slippery body. I don't even focus on where I'm going, just keep kicking up.