The Keeper Exams

Chapter Thirty-Two - It's My Water, Do Not Touch!

User: infinitywordlover

Name: Zander

Realm: Feral Forest

My fingers curl tightly grasping at the ground dust clenched in my palm as I try not to die.

My tongue is swollen so much that I can barely keep my mouth closed. Thin, snakelike cracks crawl across my skin twisting and joining in sickly red lines as even my own skin cannot hold itself together.

As I lie there, a searing fire rises in my chest, burning hot and unbearable, and a scream bursts from my lips.

It's a horrible noise, harsh and cutting like the noise of a knife being dragged across glass. It's the scream of the dying, full of longing, regret and the cry for mercy.The wind carries it away, but still it echoes in my ears reminding me of what I had become. An almost dead, screaming creature that teeters on the brink of insanity. 'Or perhaps', I think, as I consider it, 'maybe I'm already insane'.

A choking gasp for air wracks my body followed by the sensation of knives tearing across my throat. Every breath is agony, and my body screams for water.

The acid water on this island is undrinkable, and even the plants that the animals eat for water contains a poison for humans, but I know this contest too well. There is a water source on this island and in order to find it, I will have to kill.

I had tried and tried to avoid the inevitable but now, I have no choice. If I wait any longer, I will be too weak to even move.

I heave myself up, my muscles yelling at me in protest. Already beads of sweat have begun dripping down my face. I watch them in dismay as they slide down my chest and into the dirt splattering into spots of darkness, carrying away the last bit of moisture that my body contains.

My knees shudder, and my legs turn to jelly. They want to give out, to surrender to the welcoming arms of death, but I refuse. My mind is fixed on only one thing-the sound of waves hitting a beach, the sound of dripping, the roar of water spilling from a waterfall.

Crystal blue droplets glimmer in my vision reflecting the sunlight and shattering it into a thousand shards of light. My mouth opens and I can almost taste them; their cool, quenching relief almost on my tongue but I open my eyes and they're gone.

Shaking my head at my own foolishness I struggle forward, my knees just barely withstanding my weight.

I don't how long I walk and crawl, but somehow eventually I end up in a clearing containing a small pond. A smile lights up my face and I sigh in relief.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I whisper and stumble forwards desperately, but at that exact moment my knees finally give out. I crumple to the ground but I crawl on undeterred, entranced by the glittering prize in front of me.

And at last a small wave laps up against my fingers, cool and relieving. I close my eyes in triumph, and then without a second's break I leap into the pond drinking and touching it greedily.

It's sweet and crisp more delicious than I have ever imagined water to be and most of all, it tastes of life.

I splash at it laughing and marveling at its perfect crystal droplets that to me, look like and are worth as much as diamonds. Now this, this is heaven.

But of course it doesn't last. There's a crackling noise and someone else stumbles from the edge of the trees. I grasp at the water desperately, fruitlessly trying to hold it to me. An irrational fear grips me tight,'He's going to take my water,' I think. 'My beautiful, precious water'.