The Seelie Curse

Chapter 7

Kyma smiles down at the horse, patting its smooth neck. It's a lovely, beautiful creature, all shining black. The horse turns toward the river and starts walking toward it, a strange sound coming from its mouth. If Kyma didn't know it was a horse, she would think it was sobbing. Kyma strokes its neck, trying to comfort it. She murmurs to the horse as well.

"Everything's okay, thank you for carrying me." One of the sounds from the horse rises in pitch and Kyma winces. "Okay, I'll stop talking."

The horse keeps steadily plodding towards the water, wading up to knees, then the water touches Kyma's feet. It's then that she starts to worry.

"Hey, I don't want to go in the river right now, can we go back?"

The horse doesn't turn, but she wasn't really expecting it to understand her verbal request. Even when she tries to turn it with a tug on its mane, the horse doesn't move, at least not the way she wants it to. Kyma tries to slide off the horse's back, but she seems to be stuck fast.

"Hey, let me go!"

Nothing happens, the horse just keeps walking further into the river. The water is at Kyma's knees now and it's rising steadily. She twists around to look at Astrila. Kyma's cousin is running right into the water after her. As Kyma watches, Astrila shifts and starts swimming for her. The water is at Kyma's hips now. Panic is rising steadily, but she pushes it down.

She has to think quickly and she doesn't have much time. Panicking won't help her now. She could use her dagger to try to get free, except she is stuck fast. There's no way she can get free, too much of her skin is in contact with the horse. She could stab it, but that won't change the fact that she's being dragged down. She'd still be stuck to the horse. So she can't use her dagger.

She can hold her breath for about thirty minutes, but what if that isn't enough? She could try to trap air within a bubble of water, but she's never tried it before and she controls the water, not the air. Astrila controls the air. Kyma shakes her head. She can try it and if it doesn't work, she'll hold her breath. By the time she comes to this conclusion, the water is at her shoulders.

Kyma takes a deep breath and wraps a sheet of water around the air by her head just before her head sinks beneath the surface of the river. She grins when the bubble of air remains around her. It'll soon be tiring to keep pushing it down as the horse - is it even a horse? - carries her deeper, toward the riverbed below. She has to move the bubble so carefully, one wrong move, one sudden shift and all the air could escape. But she can hold it for now.

There is movement beyond the edge of the air bubble and Kyma shrinks back, leaning away. One of the downsides of breathing in this bubble with water surrounding her is that she can't see very well beyond the bubble, it strains her eyes to see in both air and water. Whatever it is, it moves closer and Kyma lets out a ragged breath of relief. It's Astrila. She noses the edge of the bubble and slips through to look at Kyma. She tilts her head in a questioning manner. Her eyes speak for her, carrying the message to Kyma.

Are you okay?

Kyma shrugs. "I'm fine, I'm just stuck to this horse's - is it a horse, 'Strila? - I'm just stuck to its back. I should be fine as long as I have air, I think. I don't know why it wants me down here."

Astrila frowns, Kyma can see it even on her seal face. She looks up at the top of the bubble and slips out again. Kyma can see the shadow of her body moving up the bubble to its top. She hovers there, looking up towards the surface. Nothing happens, Astrila just stays there, looking up towards the surface. She moves a little bit so she can remain against the bubble as Kyma is still being pulled downward, but she doesn't move more than that.

Several more moments pass before something changes at the top of the bubble. A little hole opens up and Kyma gasps. No, it can't have opened, she was trying so hard! But water doesn't flood into the bubble and Kyma leans upward, trying to see. There is a tiny funnel leading all the way up to the surface, creating a tunnel. Kyma can see the sky, just a pinprick high above her. She frowns. The river isn't this deep, is it?

It didn't seem so while she was swimming. If she was still human, she'd be dead at this point, she knows that. A human couldn't hold their breath this long. The horse-thing seems to know that and it twists to look at her. Its nostrils flare, either in shock or anger, and it snorts. Its eyes are wide, confused at the sight of the bubble. Kyma grins. She doesn't know how well sound will travel outside this bubble, but she is going to speak to the horse regardless.

"You're not going to kill me that easily. Why are you doing this? What reason are you dragging me down here for? And why won't you let me go?"

The horse snorts. It's a low sound, full of pain. Kyma frowns. It's like the horse is trying to speak to her, but she can't translate its message to something she understands. She shakes her head.

"I don't know what you're trying to say."

The horse snorts again and jerks forward. They pick up in speed as it carries her down. The horse is diving now, straight for the bottom. A cry rises up in Kyma's throat as they get closer to making contact and her fingers tighten around the horse's mane. The water begins to swirl around her, picking up in speed. The current is changing, but why. Kyma fights to keep hold of her water bubble, the swirling water is doing its best to rip it from her grasp.

Astrila darts in close to Kyma, her snout poking through the water bubble. The edges solidify now that she's helping stabilize the air inside it. Astrila presses close to Kyma and Kyma grips her cousin's body, making sure that Astrila doesn't touch the horse. Kyma shudders. What if Astrila gets stuck too? She doesn't want that.

The strange whirling movement of the water stills around them and Astrila shifts to poke her head outside the bubble. She barks when she pops back in, her eyes glittering with shock and excitement. Kyma squints to see outside the bubble. They're not in the same river, it's changed. The water is less murky here. Astrila slips away from Kyma just as the horse and Kyma break through the surface.
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Sorry this one came out a bit later than normal, I was in class. First week of uni.

Yayyy, Kyma managed to stay not be killed by the Kelpie, at least not yet. Again, which Kelpie do you think it is? Do you know where they are now? What's going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.