Live With What You Have

The Mark of Nimueh: Part 3

The Mark of Nimueh: Part 3

Adrielle soon discovered Gaius' idea of an adventure consisted of taking them down into the bowels of Camelot to the source of the city's water supply. They had walked a considerable distance along the outskirts of the citadel until they came upon an old wooden door hidden amongst the stones. Gaius produced an old and aged key from his robes and unlocked the door with a solid clank. Merlin lit a spare torch before the trio stepped into the dank darkness.

The trip into darkness made Adrielle oddly reminiscent of the trip she and Merlin had made when they discovered the dragon. The walls became more encased in dew and mold the deeper they walked. Adrielle guessed they hadn't walked as far to the source of the water as they had when they found the dragon, but she could still feel the cold, crisp air trying to seep into her bones.

"The water from here supplies the whole town," Gaius informed as the stairs leveled out into a small cavern. In front of them looked to be a small pool that led to a much more vast collection of water.

"Take a sample," Gaius instructed while handing a small vial to Adrielle. She took the vial obediently and stepped up onto the ledge and towards the pool. She felt the cool water slip over her hand as it dipped into the water.

Adrielle started to withdraw her hand from the water when a strange hand like claw grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into the water. Her voice shook as a scream escaped her lips before she was engulfed in the water.

"Adrielle!" Merlin shouted. He and Gaius rushed to the waters edge and tried to fish the young girl out. Adrielle flapped her arms haphazardly in hopes of gaining some footing and find her way back to the surface. Her hand shot out of the water still grasping onto the sample of the contaminated water; although at this point Adrielle was literally drowning in the water.

The creature grabbed her again by the ankle and dragged her deeper into the water. Adrielle's lungs began to burn from the lack of air they were able to take in. Her heart had been racing earlier to fuel her fight or flight response, but she could feel her pulse starting to slow down in a vain attempt to keep her alive as long as possible. She pulled her captive leg back before kicking the monster hard. It released it's grip on her before retreating into its watery home.

Adrielle started to kick her legs frantically and move her arms as if she was trying to claw her way back to the surface. She gasped for sweet air as her head broke the surface. It took her a moment to orient herself before her head bobbed back under the water.

Hands came grabbing for her hands and arms and hurriedly pulled her out of the water.

"Adrielle, are you alright? Did you swallow any of the water?" Gaius inspected quickly.

"No, I'm fine," Adrielle managed between coughing fits. Her teeth started to chatter and her body shake as the air started to remind her she was no longer submerged in water.

"What happened?" Merlin asked quickly.

"I have no bloody idea!" Adrielle started. "Something grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me in! And then when I tried to swim back up it grabbed onto my ankle."

A splash followed by a low groan erupted from behind them. They all turned around in time to see a large creature sinking back into the water.

"Come on, we need to get back and examine this," Gaius ordered, turning the two twins around and ushering them out.

~xx~

"Here. It was an Afanc," Gaius said while pointing to a spot in the book he had open.