Empire of Iron by Debra May Macleod

Author:Debra May Macleod
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Published: 2022-01-10T18:14:22+00:00

Chapter XVIII

Amicus Magis Necessarius Quam Ignis aut Aqua

Friendship is more necessary than fire or water.

—Plutarch

The Island of Pandateria

The panic of drowning was one thing. But the reflex to breathe and the horrifying thought of doing so while submerged was another. Julia tried to move her arms and legs, praying that somehow, some way, she would suddenly acquire the skill of swimming before her body compelled her to inhale.

Not only did her prayers go unanswered, but her arms and legs suddenly felt as heavy as the marble statues of the gods that she was praying to.

A hot fist of pain tightened in her chest as she sank farther below the surface of the water. She opened her eyes. A school of dotted fish was moving toward her, but it suddenly shifted direction as one massive aquatic entity to move under her feet, swimming through the sea below her no differently than a flock of starlings would fly through the sky above.

She tried again to move her stone arms but only her fingers responded. Something solid brushed against the bottom of her feet—a large fish—and she felt her legs spasm in response.

Even through the panic, she knew she could not stop it any longer: her heart beat even faster as, against her will, her body inhaled the water, sucking it in, desperate for air but only filling her lungs with a thick, burning, salty fluid. The awareness of it was even more grotesque than the feeling.

Her spine convulsed, and she found herself looking up. Sunlight was streaming through the surface of the water, dimmer and more distant with every passing moment. Phoenix’s cage was up there too, empty and half-sunken. She thought she saw a flash of a pink, webbed foot.

Poor Phoenix! He will drown too!

The guilt flared and then settled into a strange calm. She was just about to sink into it when a sharp pain pulled at her head.

The ugly little man had a tight grip on her long hair. He pulled on it hard until her head broke through the surface of the water. She felt him heave her body out of the sea, and she landed with a watery thud on the bottom of his boat. He pulled himself out of the water and knelt, soaking wet, in front of her.

He was shouting something at her and shaking her shoulders. Julia rolled onto her side and coughed, coughed from some deep part of her lungs, and retched up mouthful after mouthful of seawater, sputum, and finally vomit. She felt a warm stream of urine run down her legs.

She gasped for air and felt her lungs expand to take it in, the pleasure of the breath overwhelming the pain in her lungs. She gripped the side of the ugly little man’s boat and pointed to the faltering seagull.

The man reached into the water and grabbed Phoenix by his broken wing, tossing him into the boat. The gull made a croaking type of cry as he landed by Julia’s head and tried to get his feet under him.

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