Ink Sisters

Chapter Ten

Cold water rushes over Lorelle's head. As these thoughts rush into Lorelle's mind, she realizes too late that she can't breathe. A heavy mountain of rolling waves keeps endlessly cycling over her body, forcing her deeper into the dark depths of what she assumes is a river. Water rushes in her mouth where she was screaming, filling her lungs with the cold, fresh liquid. Black blurs tinge her vision. She blinks, but her eyes are losing focus. Beside her, she hears a muffled splash. A dense shape lunges for her, taking her easily in its grip. She doesn't fight. The exhaustion easily winning out. She closes her eyes.

            Only when she feels the hot sun beating down on her face, drawing the fat droplets of water from her cheeks, does she open them again. She takes a long, desperate breath of air just as the Seeker looms over her and hits her hard on the stomach. Water exits her mouth in a rushing swell and she sits up, hunched over and coughs and coughs until her lungs and throat feel raw. She blinks and looks up, raising a hand to shield the sun's bright light. It comes a quite a shock when they have been cooped up in Drakkor's house for so long.

            I, she corrects herself. A twinge of sadness settles down to the bottom of her heart. She must get used to referring to herself in the singular instead of the plural. Always before there were two of her. Now, for a time, there is only one. A piece is missing, and she wonders if it will ever be retrieved.

            "Hey!" she hears Maren shout to them across more whooshing waves. The river is relentless in its attempts to tug her from the small stone island she is now inhabiting with the Seeker. Maren and Jonas have pulled themselves over to the muddy edge, sopping and red-eyed, they don't appear harmed. She finds that she is slightly disappointed.

            Lorelle stands wobblily, clutching the Seeker's broad strong hand. He waves at Maren, who crooks her finger sharply at them. She glowers at them and purses her lips. The Seeker's glinting blade shines in a scabbard tied securely to her back. She wants them on the same ground as her. And soon. Lorelle will be happy to oblige.

            She wonders why the Seeker has brought them here, to this location. To this point in time. What point in time is it exactly? Suddenly remembering, she flings her free hand up to her neck. The stone and necklace are still there, and she lets out a relieved breath. She does not have time to ask the Seeker anything though, as he tugs her into the water after him.

            "Move!" Maren yells. Lorelle's head bobs up and down, alternating between the murky water and the sunny air. The Seeker is a strong swimmer and closes the distance easily. As Lorelle is pulled from the heavy water, she sees a thick forest behind Maren and Jonas. The water they have come from keeps going out, far into the distance. Not a river then, but a sea. Its violent waves grab at her feet and skirts as she hoists them and limps through the wet sand. Her eyes remain focused on the tree line ahead of her, trying to figure something out. It is as if she knows their location but not really at the same time. It is both familiar and unfamiliar. A puzzle that begs to be solved but just can't reveal itself. Something is wrong with the puzzle, but even that she cannot seem to grasp. She wonders if Leandra will be able to. She is usually the one between them that craves puzzles.

            Yet she is not here, she reminds herself.

            "Where the devil have you brought us?" Maren quips angrily, wringing her hands out in front of her. One of her boots has been ripped away by the ocean's turbulence. Two bare scabbards dangle open, revealing empty slits where blades should have been.

          "Still in the Mirror Lands, I think," Lorelle responds, eyeing the trees. She tucks her hand into her pocket and finds the parchment ripped from Syd is still there, miraculously glued to the inside. Why has Maren's swords gone missing, but the paper is still there? She does not know, wonders if it is some sort of omen.