Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 11-4

The ceremony was coming to an end. The faithful collected themselves one last time in silence before dispersing to the cemetery.

"Stay together," David insisted.

We, too, moved away from the lake, relieved that this night was over.

"I can't wait to take this off," said Lexy in a low voice.

"Me too. I don't know if I can ever forget what I saw tonight. Asarys? Are you okay?"

My question, left unanswered, forced me to turn around. Asarys wasn't with us. The anxiety then took me by the throat and my pulse raced. I looked for her everywhere in vain. We had to face the facts: we had lost our friend. Panic instantly won us over.

"David? Where is Asarys? She...she isn't with us!" I exclaimed in a panic.

"She's not answering me!"

"Try to locate her," Lexy asked. "Zoe and I are going to retrace our steps."

I carefully looked around the lake, hoping to find my friend, but all these tunics of identical colors made the task more complicated.

We were again posted at the very place where we had watched the ceremony moments before. The place was now almost deserted, the last faithful returning to the cemetery behind us. We took off our hoods for more visibility.

"Do you see her?" David asked, getting impatient.

Despite the lack of light, our eyes could make out a silhouette that was moving slowly in the dark across the lake.

"She's over there!" I cried.

"Bring her back!" David insisted.

Lexy and I rushed towards her, circling the lake from both sides. The extreme speed at which we traveled didn't destabilize us. I finished my run by throwing myself on the grass in order to slide more quickly towards my friend, who had started to enter the water. I grabbed the bottom of her tunic to prevent Asarys from escaping once more.

"What are you doing, damn it?" cried Lexy, mad with rage, who arrived just after me.

She helped me contain Asarys who was struggling with all her might at the edge of the water, making the cherry blossoms spin around us.

"We have to save her, we have to save her," Asarys kept repeating, her voice full of sobs. "She might have a family, she has—"

"She had accepted her fate," I tried to calm her. "We can do nothing more for her, but we can still save others."

"Zoe is right! We aren't equipped to dive in there, and who knows what is in this lake. You can't change the mission without involving our lives, too."

Asarys stopped struggling, aware of the truth of Lexy's words. She dropped in tears in our arms. I sat behind her, continuing to squeeze her to comfort her better while Lexy crouched right in front of her. Her moans broke our hearts. Seeing her in this state was emotionally intolerable.

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice trembling softly. "I'm sincerely sorry."

Lexy wrapped us both in her arms and we stayed like that for a while.

When we got up, the weight of our clothes was even greater because they were partly soaked.

"Ray and Min are waiting for you," David finally said. He'd respected our time of silence. "It's time to go back."

"Yes, we're going, David?"

"Yes, Zoe?"

"Thank you."

My friend's long sigh made me realize how relieved he was to know we were safe. In reality, this evening had been as tiring for him as for us.