The Dragon's Princess

22.

                                                                       ~ Katalin's POV ~

I had been floating around in these dark waters for what seemed like an eternity. Occasionally a glowing light would come and dance around me, but it came and went as it pleased. It was violet and crimson that looked like two watercolor paints swirled together. It took me longer than it should have to realize that it was Amadeus' and I's souls intertwined into one. Our connection.

There had always been stories of people seeing things when they weren't conscious. Their life flashing before their eyes. Their souls. Their minds. Some sort of glimpse into the afterlife. I never really believed it, but here we were. My soul and I together in this abyss. It was beautiful to see at first, maybe even a little entertaining to see it darting and flying around. As time went on, though, the bright colors started to dim. I noticed that lately, it had been getting slower and slower, weaker and weaker. Now, I couldn't tell you the last time I saw that little light of hope. It had just disappeared leaving me all alone here. It was the only stimulation I'd had but now it was just darkness and silence.

I didn't attempt to move in fear of becoming more lost than I already felt. So here I floated waiting for something to happen. I couldn't feel anything except coldness. I couldn't see anything except darkness. There were no emotions or auras to read, not even my own.

I missed the real world, with all my friends and newly made family. Amadeus. Indigo and Semoda. Freya and Kellan. Blaire. They were all starting to become a distant memory the longer I stayed here. The longer I drifted the longer it felt like I was losing myself. I was ready to go home. I was ready to be back amongst those I care about. Unfortunately, I didn't know when that would be so here I floated silently waiting and hoping that something would go right soon.

I blinked once and in that time my soul had reappeared. It had dimmed so much since the last time I saw it. It was starting to blend in with the darkness, but the longer I studied it the brighter it got. I smiled a little, but it was short-lived. I noticed that it was starting to crack. Frantically I started trying to get to it so I could do something to prevent it from shattering. I didn't get very far before I felt hands wrap around my forearms, shoulders, ankles, and thighs holding me in place. An intense pain exploded in my body ending the silence I had grown used to. All I could hear was my screams.

As I screamed, I felt myself sinking down into the water. It was the hands dragging me deeper and deeper into the darkness. I started struggling against them trying to get them to release me, but it was useless. They were too powerful, and their fingers only dug deeper into my skin the more I struggled. Soon I started to tire and resorted to begging, screaming, and sobbing thinking that it would make some sort of difference.

My eyes looked up and through the tears, I could still see my soul. It had cracks throughout with a glowing light that seemed to be darker than any black I had ever seen. I watched as everything glowed blindingly bright for a second and it started to burst. Before it could get to the point of actually exploding, it stopped. All the pain in my body stopped. I stopped moving. The hands around me slowly fell away.

I tried looking around me, but it was the same darkness that had been around since I got here. It took me a minute to notice, but there was a difference. I was warm. I couldn't tell why but I didn't have much time to investigate because I started sinking again. I wanted to panic but something told me that it was going to be okay.

This is when I noticed that there was a glowing yellow light below me. I dropped right into the center of it and the darkness was replaced with a white abyss. Great. Another lifetime of floating through nothingness, just what I wanted. Then, something unexpected happened. My body hit a solid surface and in the moment the white began to fade, and everything was replaced.