Wings of Grace

Chapter 37

     Where are they?

     The Sovereign Cross blinked several times, desperately trying to clear her vision. Mangled clumps of rope, ripped clothing, and river reeds whipped across her face, as she searched frantically through the cloudy water for any sign that they were still alive.

     I've got to find them.

     Her fight for the right to breathe overtook the pain from her knee banging against the nearby rock.

     Twisting her head painfully against her captive's hand, she moved her raw, red eyes several inches to her left.

     Still nothing...

     Small, precious bubbles escaped from her nose.

     Her lungs, almost depleted of oxygen, felt like they were going to burst.

     Funny; this close to dying, she thought she would've been concentrating on the feeling of the water wrapping its hungry fingers around her throat, expelling every last breath from her lungs; or the toll, the struggle was taking over her tiring body; or even perhaps seeing her life flash before her very eyes; but instead she found her thoughts projecting forward.

     Her body, floating face-down, away with the tide.

     Glimpsed images of the only two people who meant everything to her.

     Wondering if they would be told of her death and... would anyone even care?

     The pressure of the strong current was pushing even harder against her cheeks, now, coercing her to inhale the freezing cold liquid.

     The disappointment and hatred she imagined in his eyes, when he had found out she was gone. She wanted to scream, to tell him she had no choice... They stole her very life, as soon as they threatened to kill Akaine. This precious child had come to mean everything to her. How could they not see she had to stay away... for them?

     A hand pushed her even further into the voluminous depths, ignoring her trouncing arms. Her legs still pinned firmly on the edge of the riverbank.

     How she missed them both.

     Her boy would be all grown up, now. That is... so long as he had kept his promise.

     For a single second, the rushing water grew silent as her thoughts centred around the hammering of a double heartbeat; loud and frantic. Then, all too soon, the roar of the current – the muffled thudding and clinking of mismatched objects colliding within its whirling depths – regained its dramatic victory over her senses.

     Forbidden from contacting anyone, she had been forced to live the life they chose for her. Wearing the aligning Siriius collar to keep her from transforming to her natural ethereal form, she was compelled to live in this grey lanky body.

     Her gift of mediation she knew was the only reason they kept her alive.

     The thrashing of water vibrating violently against her left ear, suddenly gave her hope.

     It had to be them.

     With added vigour she struggled with more determination to break free.

     The four of them were the last of their kind. All three had said they would protect her, no matter what. But how could she ask them to give up their life for her?