Nentarli [COMPLETE]

~ Nine ~

I closed my eyes and held my breath, expecting to be submerged under the water when we jumped into the lake, but it never came. I felt the breeze suddenly stop and a split second later a cool wind blew on my face and my feet slammed into the ground. Emy's hand was jolted out of mine, both losing our footing from the force of the landing. I opened my eyes and saw her fall, meanwhile I was flailing and about to fall backwards.

I started panicking, trying to find something to hold onto but there was nothing there. Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out and grabbed me, pulling me forward and away from the crossing point. I fell into them and held tightly, my heart was racing and I knew somehow that it wouldn't be good if I had fallen back through.

I looked up at whoever had saved me and my heart started beating an unusual rhythm. It was Blaike, he was looking into my eyes and he looked worried.

"Are you alright?" He asked, checking me over himself and then looking into my eyes.

"I'm fine..." I told him slowly.

My legs were shaking badly from the impact of the landing and he still had a strong hold of me. I tried to pull away from him and almost fell down, he caught me again and stood me up, holding me carefully. This was worse than if a stranger had caught me, I must have looked so weak in front of him, but why did I care what I looked like to him?

"Maybe you should sit down," he suggested, still looking at me worriedly.

I looked around quickly, "No, I'm fine but... where's Emy?" I started panicking that she wasn't in sight.

"I'm over here, Cass!" Her voice called from the other side of an ancient looking tree.

I walked around with Blaike still holding me up. She was sat on a tree stump, Kaleb was stood over her and seemed to let out a long breath when he saw us, as though he'd been holding it for a while.

I went to sit with Emy when Blaike finally let go of me and I hugged her tightly.

"Are you okay?"

I checked her over to make sure and cringed internally when I realised I was doing what Blaike had just done to me.

"Yeah, I nearly fell flat on my face but Kaleb caught me and pulled me out of the way just like Blaike caught you. I came over here because I think I twisted my ankle."

I frowned at her, "I thought you said you were alright?"

She smiled at me, "It's a twisted ankle not a broken neck, I've had worse injuries from work."

I took a deep breath to calm myself down, she was right and it must have been the adrenaline from the trip making me overreact. I peered up at Blaike and Kaleb who were watching the crossing point expectantly.

"Thank you for catching us, I don't know what would have happened if I'd fallen back through." I glanced sheepishly at Blaike's face then to Kaleb's as I said it.

"Well I do know and you are welcome," said Blaike in a kind but firm voice.

I was about to ask what would have happened when both their heads turned in the direction of the crossing point. It was camouflaged against a much larger lake on this side, judging by what I could see of it in the dark.

The sky had so many more stars here and they all reflected off the water, but the moon was nowhere in sight. The lake had a ripple moving across its surface and I knew it was Merkell and Kayle coming through. We watched as the two of them jumped out after a few more seconds. They both landed expertly beside each other and it made me wonder how many times they'd done this before.