Dreamweaver

Chapter 7

So there we stood, staring at the banks of this demonic lake. “You first.” I said, all chivalry gone. “Age before beauty.” She said, a nervous edge to her voice. I thought about pointing out that we were the same age, but decided against it.

In an unspoken agreement we waded together into the chilly waters, side by side. The slope of the lake was gradual, but every step I feared would lead to me plunging off a hidden cliff.

Soon we were up to our necks in the waters, almost to the middle of the lake. My teeth were chattering fiercely, but I couldn’t say whether it was from the cold or from the terror that coarsed through my veins. Amirra grasped my hand underneath the water, and, with a deep breathe, we dived.

My eyes stung when I submerged, but I didn’t dare close them. The shallow waters had revealed little from above, though the black waters were slightly transparent, and now I saw why.

Apart from the sandy bottom, there was nothing there. No fish, plants, debris, nothing you would expect to find in a mere this size. What was there, however, was an eerie, sickening pulse, like a heart beating, almost as if the lake was alive, a gigantic beast waiting to swallow on its next victims.

We kicked and pushed through the water, instinctively following the throbbing beat. It grew louder and louder, until I wanted to scream and tear the hair from my head. A kind of madness grew over me; I started clawing desperately at my deceitful ears, anything to get them off, to stop the dreadful pulse, anything…

Amirra yanked fiercely on my arm, and I came to my self long enough to see her gesture at a menacing hole in the lake floor, the apparent source of the noise. Already feeling faint from lack of air, I swam with Amirra into the chasm, both praying and dreading that it was the gateway we sought.

The opening of the pit was relatively small, just allowing us to squeeze through single file. The inside, however, was massive. The cave-like structure extended endlessly to both sides, but we swam straight down, where the cavern drifted into darkness. My head was spinning, but I kicked harder, and before long we were several yards down, surrounded by pitch blackness, at the end of our strength.

Amirra must have started back upwards, because I felt a hard tug on my hand. I was turning myself when I saw a light below us. Amirra tried once more to pull me towards the surface, then let go of my hand, desperate for air. I felt her stroke upwards, and I desperately grabbed the water above me, catching hold of her ankle. 'Almost there!' I thought, wishing she could read my mind as the demon had. She struggled against me, but I pulled down relentlessly.

I dragged her through the water, towards the glow. As I came closer, I realized it came from an orb, floating eerily in the center of the tunnel. I hesitated, but my lungs screamed in protest. I lunged for it with a final kick, felt its warmth in my outstretched hand, and all hell broke loose.

Immediately a whirlpool seemed to envelope the tunnel, tearing Amirra from my grasp and hurling my air-starved body through the water. We were spiraling downwards, anything but gracefully. I was thrown against every outcrop, every protruding stone. Finally one struck my head, I felt more than heard the loud crack, and for the second time in as many hours, I passed out.