Faery Island

The Soulless

Chapter XIII – The Soulless

Dian

Dian screamed at the river bank, Gyrin held her back by the arms as she fought to go after Anthony. Whatever the creatures were, they were going to kill him and she couldn’t let that happen.

"Let me go!" She screeched and fought and Gyrin was losing control of her. In the gloomy fog of the river, everything was quiet but for their struggles.

"No!" Gyrin gritted through his teeth and Dian broke free.

It didn’t last long. The momentum of it sent her in to the black rocks that poked and brodded her skin. Gyrin didn’t hesitate to throw himself on top of her. Pinning her in to them even more. "You can’t. Its to dangerous!"

She twisted and rolled beneath Gyrin, not listening. But he shouted in her ear. "It’s a lost! If you even touch the water you’ll have the same fate!"

She stopped then, their heatbeats and breathing seeming to be the loudest thing around them. "He’s. . . Dead?"

Gyrin shook his side. "Not exactly. If we don’t get him out he will be but, he’ll be different."

"Then we need to get him out!" Gyrin wasn’t fighting her anymore, so shoving him off was easy.

Getting up to her feet wasn’t exactly what she would have called ‘easy.’ The white strand of hair in front of her face was something, something dangerous happened while she was asleep but she didn’t know what. She was still woozy from it.

"There’s a reason why its called the Creek of Sorrow, Dian. Just, remember that." Gyrin warned and grabbed his stick again. For a woodland spirit he liked using twigs a lot. Which, in any other woodland spirit’s case could have been one of their arms.

"We need to move down river, he shouldn’t be far." Dian began walking before finishing. Gyrin agreed and hopped along with her. Lately he had seemed more mature, less figity but she guessed that time had worn out. Looking at his face though, it was grim, serious, even for someone mature. She was starting to worry.

Dian stopped in her tracks, a tuff of dark brown hair broke through the water and then a ear. "There!" She called and pointed in to the shadowy water. Gyrin squinted and finally found him.

"The only way we can get to him is going to be dangerous. We’re going to use the stick for leverage. But you’ll need to be the one to grab him." Gyrin explained. "You have to stay out of the water."

Dian nodded and stepped to the edge of the river. She was just sheer inches away from touching it with the front of the shoe. She stuck a hand out behind her and grabbed hold of Gyrin’s stick.

Gyrin was at the other end getting prepared for the weight. "Are you sure this is going to work? You can’t pull in both of us!" Dian hadn’t realized this till they had came to the problem. Gyrin was only the same age and about same size as she was and she couldn’t carry much weight much less two people.

"Don’t worry, I’m a faery I can handle it." Gyrin said and prepared himself, his feet locking in. He nodded for Dian to go.

She leaned in close and reached out with her free hand for Anthony’s head. She came up short and let herself go lower. The hand holding the stick was starting to sting with the amout of effort. The bark was ruff against her hands.

She touched Anthony then, but was still to far. Leaning in closer she was just inches from the water. One strong current could grab her.

She grabbed a ball full of Anthony’s hair. Dian winced at the headache he’ll get later and started to roll him over to where she could grab his shirt.

"I got him!" She yelled when her fingers wrapped around the soft fabric.

Gyrin began too walk backwards pulling both her and Anthony up. She stumbled to standing straight and let go of the stick, sending Gyrin on his butt and pulled Anthony up on the bank.

He was wet with the dark water but not as bad as he should have been. His skin was gray and his eyes burned white. It looked as if the fog that surrounded them was swarming within them.

"Gyrin, what is wrong with him?" After saving him and seeing him like this she felt lost and dead inside as he looked. Gyrin crawled over as quickly as he could and without hesitating started pumping on Anthony’s chest.

Anthony coughed and inky black water dripped out of his mouth and down his chin. The milky white fog in his eyes disappeared and he blinked up at them a couple of times unseeing. "What-"

"Anthony!" Dian cried out and hugged him. He felt lighter to her by touch and almost like a wet sack of clothes.

"Thought you might have started to become a Slaugh there." Gyrin said and shrugged. He wipped his forehead with the back of his head and sagged.

"You- no," Anthony suddenly seemed confused and squirmed beneath Dian. He sat upright without warning and began to back away, his feet kicking up rocks. "No. Stay away."

Gyrin and Dian exchanged looks of concern, but unlike Dian, Gyrin knew why he was reacting the way he was. "You’re all dead!"

"Whoa," Dian said taking aback. Anthony was still going backwards. "We aren’t dead, Anthony. I promise."

"We can’t let him get to the woods," Gyrin whispered.

Like Anthony had heard him he tried to get up, turning that way.

"No!" Dian shouted and ran after him.

She was quicker for once, he was still clumsy and off balance from his water trip. She grabbed his arms and pulled him away from the tree line. He fought and fell.

‘I’m going to get something." Gyrin said and disappeared in to the woods.

"Stop it Anthony!" Dian hissed and fell on top of him. He was still struggling and wiggling beneath her.

"No, no, you’re all dead. All dead because of me!"

He wasn’t making much sense and he was screaming till the point his voice was starting to crack.

"Anthony," she hissed again and remembered a trick Rick taught her. She pressed her body weight in to him with her knees, and grabbed his flailing arms. "We. Aren’t. Dead."

He starred right in to her eyes. His were big, scared and wild. He was still going mad inside, she could see it going on all in his head but not really understanding anything. "Its okay."

He started to come down, at least stopped fighting when Gyrin arrived. He got up for them and Gyrin tied a rope around his wrist. Where he got it or knew where to she wasn’t sure. It didn’t look like theirs.

"We got to hurry up and get through this thing. We should contact the Captain, without Anthony we don’t have much of a defense."

"No, not the Captain." Anthony suddenly seemed even more horrified than before. "please, please. He’s dangerous."

Gyrin and Dian furrowed their brows and looked at each other and shook their heads. He was probably just going on how the Captain wants to slit his throat because of Leenah but they both knew, somehow he wouldn’t do it. So why would he be dangerous?

Dian shrugged wasn’t sure if she could trust her brother right then, it pained her to know she couldn’t anymore.