Dark Vision (Ballad of the Seer, Book Two)

Chapter 17 - Helping Out a Friend

Lily drifted through the deep darkness that was all around her. She could no longer tell which way was up. She had been fighting for so long now to try to get out of this place, but her muscles ached and her mind was so sluggish. She was just too tired to fight anymore. She just wanted to shut her eyes and go to sleep. She wanted to leave behind the pins and needles pricking at her skin and the burning in her lungs.

It wasn't long before she got what she wanted. All of the pain disappeared and her body went numb all over. And just before her eyes closed, she saw something moving through the water toward her, a bluish glow surrounding the thing. She wanted to reach out to the thing for help, but she was too weak. Then her eyelids became so heavy that she couldn't keep them open.

She awoke again to a blast of cold and someone yelling out her name. She started coughing and the water that she had swallowed spewed up from her lungs. She rolled onto her side. Her stomach lurched as she expelled the rest of the foul lake water. She sucked in short, shallow breaths. Her lungs felt like they were going to explode. They were starving from the lack of oxygen.

When she fell back onto her back she saw someone leaning over her. She could see that whoever it was had their chin pressed to their chest, as if they were exhausted. She could still see flashes of that blue glow around them. It reminded her for a moment of the green lights that surrounded Duncan. It took her sluggish mind a long time to realize that it was exactly the same. It was this person's aura. She had never seen anyone's but Duncan's before. Maybe that's why she hadn't known what it was at first.

She tried to lift her hand. She wanted to turn the person's face so she might could get a look at them. She wanted to know who had saved her life. She couldn't lift more than a finger, and even that was taxing.

Her mind kept fading in and out. She was still so tired and the cold was making it hard to want to stay awake. As she fell in and out of consciousness she got glimpses of what was happening. But everything was a little bit hazy. Her savior wrapped her in a blanket or a jacket - it was something warm, which is all that really mattered. The person picked her up and started carrying her toward the parking lot. As she bounced in the strong arms holding her, her head lulled back and she caught sight of the stars. So many points of silver light in the blackness. That was the last thing she saw before the darkness swallowed her again.

Lily woke the next morning to a loud clapping just above her ear. "Hurry up and get dressed." her mother said, far too loudly. Lily turned over and pulled the covers over her head. She clutched the blanket tightly as her mother tried to yank it off. After a few moments of the tug-of-war battle, her mother won and she was exposed to the cold.

"Whah d'you wan?" Lily groaned.

"I want you to leave early today, so you don't have to drive too quickly." Jacquelyn said.

Lily squinted, looking over her shoulder at her mother. "Why?"

"The roads are still bad."

"Jus, please, go way." Lily mumbled, stuffing her head in between her pillows to block out the light from the open curtains.

"Alright," Jacquelyn said, popping Lily on the behind. Lily heard her footsteps walking away from the bed. "Of course," her mother spoke again, "if you don't get up now, Anderson will be driving you."

Lily moaned, opening her eyes wide. She tossed off her protective pillow. "Fine, I'm up." She shook her head, grumbling under her breath as she went to the bathroom to get ready. She could hear her mother laughing as she left the room.

Anderson was waiting at the foot of the stairs with a covered tray when Lily came down a few minutes later. "Your mother said that you'd be in a rush this morning. She suggested I make you this." Anderson said. He lifted the lid to reveal a Pop-Tart. There was a mild amount of distaste on his face.