The Rainlands: Grand Delusion

Chapter 10: Lost

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWRRR!!

The noise was deep, a thick noise which pounded through his flesh as if his whole body had become a drum. He felt a shadow and looked up as he ran with all his might from the house ,which had begun to come undone, the beams exploding out into the wind.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Up in the sky, he saw it. The head rising out of the Yura, towering high, higher than any living thing or building, like a strange dark shadow silhouetted against the moon. The River Guardian stared down from the heavens, and saw the spiralling tornado of Dragonstone. It sniffed, and inhaled the gleaming dust into its great nose, and roared sadly. Then its great tail lashed and the storm intensified, the cold rain became a downpour, the strong wind a hurricane, the rolling thunder a bomb. It was like Eastrain itself had erupted in response to the invaders. Levi heard what he thought might be the strange accents of the enemy, screaming in despair. But he was terrified and unable to see in the dense rain. He made for the beach. Upon the shore, he found the Dragonboat he had taken earlier that night. The stone was still inside, the rope upon the shore. He clambered aboard, scarcely daring to look back as he untied the boat.

Through the rain, he saw something slithering out of the water in the distance, a beast which defied imagination. In the village, the flames and smoke were snuffed out by the storm, though down below, he could just make out dancing lights and torches which he assumed were the invaders. He shuddered to think that some of the villagers might still be alive, that he might be abandoning them, but Elder Shisshion had told him to go, and go Levi would, the container of the elder's scroll cold on his chest. He pushed the boat off the shore with an oar, once more setting into the water with muscles that he could no longer feel. In that moment, as the island began to slip away, turning to darkness, an incredible sense of loss overtook him. Something had been taken from him, and he had been powerless to stop it. Shivering, he rowed for the other shore, and prayed that the River Guardian's rage would not find him before he reached it. The journey seemed to take an instant and an age, lingering and yet passing with each thundering blast of the lightning. After an eternity, Levi saw the other shore, and he rejoiced in his heart though he felt no joy, only the blessed prospect of putting down the oars. Then the lightning hit his boat.

Wood shattered, oars cracked, the last Dragonstone evaporated into scintillating dust before Levi's eyes as a pillar of light seared through his vision, even through his eyelids when they snapped shut, and burned the world into his mind and away from his body. He felt heat rushing around him, it was hot, hot, HOT! His every sense was invaded and turned upside down, and he felt himself tumble slowly, as if he was just gently turning, his insides sloshing as his body soared through the inferno and landed in solid water.

Sinking down into the depths, he clawed aimlessly at whatever direction he thought could be up. Up, down, left, right, he seized fistfuls of water like he could hold it, and it hurt, the cold water burned on his heat-scorched skin. He felt like he might just fall apart, break into little bits and sink into the Yura. But then he touched air. If anyone had reached down to save him, Levi would not have cared his intentions, he would have pulled the other man in with him, for when he touched air, the boy gave everything he had and his whole body contorted, each leg pumping out as hard as it could one last time until he broke the surface!

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

The air in his lungs, smokey and crisp, he could hear crackling, but it didn't sound right, like the little pops wet wood gives off in the fireplace. He realized that his ears were clogged, and even if they weren't, his head was ringing. As he pawed around the water, his hands failed to find anything. Levi turned around and saw the flaming boat, the only other thing in the water. He gasped, despite still being out of breath.

"I'm so far away...!" He managed to whisper though it sounded odd to him since he couldn't hear his own voice. The lightning had blown him so far away that he couldn't even find a piece of wreckage near him, and he started swimming towards what remained of the boat, searching for something to hold onto. After he got close, he found himself atop another wooden board, stroking towards the other shore. Though he was cold, and the rain continued to fall on his face, he was numb to it all, just searching for something solid to lay on. It was only when he arrived on the beach that he felt inside the burnt remains of his shirt and panic arrived. It's gone!!

"No! No!! Where is it!!!" Levi's mind went haywire, but he was so groggy at this point that it felt like he was thinking too slow, pulling for answers that just...weren't...there. He looked out at the Yura, the dark waters frothing, the burnt remains of the boat slowly going out and erasing any trace of where he had been. "There's no way to find it. The message...the seal...Elder Shisshion...what do I do?"

His legs lasted him long enough to carry himself into the trees before giving out entirely. He tried to get up twice, but by the second time he was convinced it was impossible. There he lay, covered in the wet mud, amidst the ferns, staring out at the island. His ruined nightvision struggled to see much but smoke and lightning now, the River Guardian was out there, somewhere in the storm, roaring away. He knew not how long its rage would continue, but he knew that on the other side, the men of the Deathless City would come searching one day. And when they did, he, Levi, Reincarnationless boy, would be the one responsible for warning the Rainlands. And he had lost the message.

"I have nothing to prove what happened here. Eastrain is gone! Elder Shisshion is gone! The scroll is lost! All that remains is my word that war is coming!" Levi closed his eyes, they stung but he was too tired to cry. "No one will believe me."

Suddenly, it occurred to Levi that there was someone else, someone who might be able to back his story in the Capital. The fox-no Jasmine. She saw what happened here, and she's from the capital! She knows the way! If I can find her, maybe, just maybe the two of us might be able to do something!