Queen of Summer's Ice (Book 2)

Chapter 9

     The morning mist of salt used to be so calming for me, but now it was never ending irritation in my eyes and nostrils. Every nerve on my skin has become overly sensitive that the water felt like thin needles piercing into my skin. This was torture, every second of it passed slower than it needed to be. And my patience had run out a day ago. I hated the ocean, I hated the broken piece of wood that kept giving me splinters along my arms, I hated how my hair was knotted and frizzy, and most of all I hated the sun for draining me of my energy and burning my skin. 

     But I endured it all with a quiet mouth, leaving my self loathing to myself. And even if I did want to waste precious energy to vent my problems out loud, there was no one around me. Well no one awake. I looked over at Nazim and wondered how tired his body must have really been if he could be this asleep while in the ocean. And it was selfish of me to think this, but the only silver lining I could think from being in this mess was that at least I wasn't alone.

     I sighed. In frustration, in tiredness. 

     My eyes were heavy, but I forced myself to stay awake. My brown eyes skimmed around the horizon again for any sort of sign that land was near us. But again all I saw was blue. And so for the next hour or two I did what I've been forcing myself to so, ignore the pain and just swim.

     I want to say a little over an hour has passed, the sun was higher in the sky and its rays were stronger against my exposed back. A few minutes ago I had taken my shirt off and blanketed it over Nazim's face. I was left with a cotton wrap around my chest and the bottoms I was wearing when I boarded the Summer Breeze. Still there was no land around me, from nothing that I can see or feel from my non existing power, so instead of staring off into the blue like I have been that past day I focused on taking the annoying splinters out from my arms.

     My nails were dainty from being in the water so long, and they had started to crack and break, but I still managed to get the bigger splinters out. The thin smaller ones somehow hid deeper into my skin. And I know it was impossible to get those out, but it was the only distraction I had, so I kept trying. 

     And I was so concentrated in getting a splinter out in my left palm that I didn't even realize that I should have payed more attention to what was lurking under the water, not just for land on the surface, until I felt something slimy graze against my ankle. Immediately I froze. I didn't swim any faster, there really wasn't a point when whatever it was could swim laps around me at the pace I was going. So I stayed in my spot and right when I placed my hand to wake Nazim up, I felt its slippery texture wrap around my left ankle. 

     I let out a croaked as I tried to shake it off, waking up Nazim. He looked confused for a split second before he realized what could possible be happening to me underwater. And without a second thought he reached for the inside of his belt where he kept a small knife and dove under water.

     All I did was stay in my place, one moment I felt the slippery thing around me, the next it was free. The same time Nazim popped his head out of water.

     "What was it," I asked, frantically looked around us.

     He was hardly under for less than five seconds, there were no marks on his body from being in a fight or getting hurt. I expected him to say whatever it was swam away, not what he said next.

     He lifted his other hand out of water, raising and slapping down what was around my leg onto the wood like it was a dinner table, "It's breakfast."

     "It's seaweed," I said, my face heated with embracement that I was scared frozen by seaweed. I was to afraid to even think it could be something so harmless, that I automatically thought it was a blood sucking leach with sharp teeth ready to take a chunk out of my calf. I took one last look into the waters around me and saw nothing but my legs continuing their kicking right next to Nazim's. I have completely had it with this ocean. It's won, yet it still continues to taunt me.