Drowned By Water (Novella) by D.K. Holmberg

Author:D.K. Holmberg [Holmberg, D.K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ASH Publishing
Published: 2015-06-08T23:00:00+00:00

7

Elle swam for a moment before kicking her way back toward the shore. If nothing else, she would find Ley’s body and give him a proper burial. While some in Doma considered a sea burial the proper way to rejoin the Great Mother, the little village of Ophan did not. She would honor Ley that much, at least.

Pressure built in her chest and head as she swam. It was not the need to breathe. The nymid had given the gift of time so that she didn’t have to surge too quickly to the surface. This was a different sense, one she had grown accustomed to while in Ethea but rarely sensed in Doma: someone shaped near her.

Could she sense the lisincend? She’d never encountered one of Incendin’s twisted shapers, not closely enough to know whether she’d sense them shaping. And they had started as shapers no different than any other, only later twisting their shaping to serve fire more closely. Why shouldn’t she sense them shaping around her?

If it was the lisincend, she should remain beneath the water. At least the water would provide some protection from an attack. Without the elementals to protect her, any shaper would put her in danger.

What if it was Ley who she sensed? Shouldn’t she search for him? Maybe he had survived and it was him shaping, doing anything he could to try and find her. Considering all the time that she’d spent under the water with the nymid, Ley might think she’d drowned.

Elle reached the rocky bottom of the sea as it began to slope upward. Her feet caught at the rock and she pushed herself carefully along. The sense of shaping nearby continued, but with less strength than before. Did that mean that Ley failed, or was there another shaper, one who had been close but was not making their way farther from them?

She didn’t want to risk leaving Ley stranded any longer. As she neared the shore, she popped her head into the air, just enough to take a breath of salty air. Were there one of those winged lisincend nearby, she would only put herself in danger by poking her head too far above the water.

Smoke mixed into the salty spray kicking off the rocks. Heavy waves pushed against her, trying to slam her into the rocks, pushing her back toward the shore. Each one came with more force, building as they tried to tear her out of the water.

Elle kicked with annoyance at the water, wishing it would just give her the chance to pull herself free. It might only have been her imagination, but it seemed the water eased, relaxing into lesser swells.

When it became clear that no one noticed her, she poked the rest of her head above the water and looked at the shoreline. As she stared, she realized that Falsheim did burn, but far enough away that she should be safe. The massive turrets that looked over the sea, built to withstand the force of the udilm, burned with a bright orange glow.

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