Not That Far

Chapter 17-Holding On

  I did think at all. I just jumped in. Later I was told that Zurii just missed the hem of my shirt as I unfastened my cloak, ditched my pack and dove through the hole in the ice. All I remember was hitting the water and feeling around desperately.

  It was so numbingly cold that I gasped and lost a lot of my breath once I went under. I began to search for Drayan anyway, but I couldn't see anything. The current was sluggish so I didn't drift far, but you couldn't see you hand in front of your face because of darkness caused by the snow-covered ice. And the hole he'd made in the ice did little to remedy that.

  In mere seconds my limbs started to freeze up and I began to panic. As little black spots swam before my eyes, I remembered my ibreather just as my lungs started to burn for air. Groping clumsily, I barely got it into my mouth. But I could no longer move after that.

  As I floated there, I got a crazy idea. One that probably would defy the laws of physics, but I didn't have time to worry about it. I just closed my eyes and focused the best I could. I was trying to focus my electricity inside me and keep it from escaping at the same time. But despite my concentration, I could already feel myself slipping away.

  I chewed my lip and tried harder. Do it for them if nothing else, I told myself. Do it for your family. Don't you go and leave Shay again, you promised him. You promised... That was enough to keep my from letting the gathering fuzzy, black spots from consuming me.

  I started to feel warmer after that. I became master of my arms and legs again as the heat of the electric current seeped through me. But I had to work constantly to keep it from getting away. It was nearly impossible to contain it, especially surrounded by water that was constantly tugging and teasing at the currents pulsing through me.

  I found the ice with my feet and pushed off with all my strength. It was several moments before I met the muddy bottom of the river with my head. The pressure itself was nearly painful as I sifted through the dregs of the river, searching frantically for my fallen comrade. I stubbed my fingers so many times on rocks and other debris that they went completely numb and began to swell a little, but the cold kept the pain from getting unbearable.

  I was mildly surprised when my sore finger tips finally met flesh instead of stone. But I too tired to give it another thought. I latched my stiff fingers around whatever I could get my hands on and launched myself towards the surface.

  I barely got a meter before I was dragged down again. He was too heavy for me to lift. His clothes and wings were waterlogged and his awkward, limp position wasn't helping. I began to panic again as I remembered that he couldn't breathe either. He was probably...

  I stopped my thought abruptly and scraped together another idea. I unfurled my own wings and spread them out level to my shoulders. Using the tiny muscles in my wings tips, I separated each feather and drew my wings up above my head. I was briefly satisfied by the reduced resistance as the water strained through them. Then I zipped the feathers back together and snapped my wings down as fast as I could while pushing off the bottom with my feet.

  After one more heave we burst through the hole in ice that was just freezing over again and into the chilling wind. I latched my unfeeling fingers onto the lip of the hole and pulled Drayan up with me. He flopped on the ice like a rag doll, his eyes half opened with the whites showing blankly. Water leaked from corner of his mouth and puddled on the ice in alarming quantities.

  Zurii leaned out and lifted us both out of the river just as Shay attached himself to arm, speaking too fast for me to understand. Or maybe I just couldn't hear anything. I don't really know. As soon as my feet were clear of the water I let go of what little electricity I'd managed to keep a hold of and lost consciousness.