Blink of an Eye - a Guild Wars 2 Fanfiction

Chapter 7 - Brothers and Sisters

I'm going to die. The thought is spinning around in my head, over and over, getting louder and louder each time my inner voice screams it out, until at some point it grows into a painful cry. This will be my end.

I can't see anything, even though I've opened my eyes, there's only blackness around me. Only occasionally flashes of light that seem familiar to me in some way flare around me, even if I can't figure out where I know them from. They hurt my eyes, and yet I can't do anything against it.

Helplessly I'm standing there in the blackness, breathing heavily and frantically hitting my arms around me, but there is nothing that could resist my touch. I hear screams, painful and desperate, so loud and penetrating that the source must be very close – is that me, screaming?

My feet are cold as ice. I feel water flowing around them, so cold that it resembles thousands of small needles sticking into my flesh all at once. No clothes protect me, completely naked; I am at the mercy of the dark threat, which rises from second to second, wrapping more and more of my body into the freezing cold and ramming even more needles into my skin.

How did I get here? What have I done to deserve such a cruel end of my life?

Once again, there is panic growing inside of me, stronger than before. The flashes of light are increasing, and yet I can't see any of my surroundings. I keep my hands on my ears, why can't someone make these cries stop at least!?

The water has already reached my stomach. I don't want to die! A jolt drives through my body, my limbs are finally moving. There must be a way out; somehow I have to get out of the water!

Step by step I wade through the cold fluid, which is still rising higher with each breath that I take. The ground on which I walk feels soft, somehow unnatural, it pulsates with heat. But no matter how far I walk, I feel no change. Whatever is under my feet remains level, and walking is becoming increasingly difficult, as the thousands of needles and the freezing cold begin to cover every part of me with a numb feeling.

Suddenly the flashing light stops. Does it, though? Or is it just me, closing my eyes? Hard to say in this dark, but I force myself several times to open and squeeze my eyes. In fact, there is only complete darkness around me! But that doesn't help me, since the water is now bathing my chin, and second after second I can feel it covering more of my face. I won't be able to breathe anymore! I struggle with my arms in frantic movements, trying to swim to the surface to get some air at least, but in vain. The ground doesn't make place and the water keeps rising higher, as if something would make me stick to ground, still allowing me to move freely without loosening my feet from the hot pulsing mass.

My mouth fills with a disgusting taste, like rotting water that has been standing in the heat for far too long. The lips pressed together as tight as possible, I try to breathe through my nose, but soon no air gets into my lungs, but only cold, rotten liquid.

I scream all the air out of my lungs that my body could still hold, but no sound reaches my ears anymore. Gravity overwhelms me, presses me to the ground, forcing my face against the soft, warm something. Desperately, my lungs scream for oxygen, my whole body is burning, but with every breath I fail to take, only more and more water enters my lungs. I try to cough, but the only thing that happens is that my chest explodes with a tremendous pain. That's it. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die.

Like a mantra, these words are the only thing that I can focus on as my senses weaken gradually. Although I'm inside the water, I know that tears are streaming down my cheeks and mingling with the surroundings, as I can feel their salty taste inside my mouth.

Everything fades, even the pain in the end, only the freezing cold stays and just doesn't want to give way.

I don't want to die! Oh, if I just would have been able to stay in my world...