Numb. Can that be considered a feeling?
Darkness surrounds me. I can make out the faint sound of whooshing and I strain to hear it. Is it wind? Am I in the air? There's no way.
I'm trying to breathe but the oxygen can't find a place to settle and I go under again. My vision goes completely white and I don't even try to struggle against it. My chest is burning, my lungs are on fire, and my nose is clogged.
Darkness envelopes me with welcome arms once again.
I have no idea how much time has passed. There's a buzzing sound erupting around me that's struggling to increase in volume and I try to block it out. As my consciousness comes back, I start to choke.
Water pours from my mouth as I sputter and cough it out of my lungs violently. All of a sudden, the buzzing increases and I can make out a crowd cheering wildly. The sound is very clear and too loud. My eyelids slowly open and all I see is white. Spasms shake my body as I continue to cough the rest of the water out. My throat burns when air travels through it, but I can't gulp it down fast enough. Why is it that every time I want to die, my body is forcing me to live?
Finally, the white spots clear up in my vision and I see blurry faces but they're oddly angled. They're standing sideways as if they're gravitrons. The sun's light is hitting the glass in front of me, causing a glare. On the other side of the glass are people but I can't pinpoint any of them. Panting, I realize I'm lying down on my side, not that those people are actually standing up sideways. Weakly, I try to lift my arms, but they're chained to the ground.
Oh.
I know where I am.
Angrily, I try to feel for my lightning, but nothing comes. I'm chained to the ground with Silent Stone manacles and Maven has called to order a public torture exhibition for me, a Scarlet Guard member. He is trying to set an example of strength to Silvers by using me as his guinea pig in this sadistic act. From the ground, I look around me at the small, glass rectangle I'm trapped in currently. It's bulletproof and one of the strongest barriers the Silvers created. Well, what the Silvers made the Reds create. There's no glass above me but it's all for show. Maven is taunting me. He has magnetrons lined up along the sides of my glass prison as well as Arvens guarding the perimeters. A metal sheet lies ready at one end of the prison if I were to somehow try and escape. I let out a low, raspy laugh. I'm not putting on a show for them.
A head snaps in my direction at the sound. Icy blue eyes meet my own with forced nonchalance. But I know him better than that. Maven is insulted that in my weakest state, I have the nerve to laugh at his charades.
Raising a hand, the young king calls for the attention from the citizens of Archeon. "My people, the wretched rat of one who calls herself a member of the Scarlet Guard seems to think this is a game. How can we show her that her dishonorable deeds against the throne should be taken more seriously?"
"DROWN HER. DROWN HER. DROWN HER." The crowd chants as though they are hypnotized and embody a unit of one. Briefly, I feel as though I've been taken back to First Friday, the excitement for violence fueling the crowd. Be it Silvers or Reds, people ache to see blood spilled. I spit weakly in their direction.
Maven smirks at me from the other side of the glass. Coward.
Forcing my body into an upright position, I realize there are nymphs on the other side of the glass beside me. The ground is dry right now, so where is the water?
Maven's hand is still raised as he apprehends what's behind me, with a sadistic grin. Slowly, I turn and see a great body of water circling wildly, thrashing together by the strength of the nymphs. They are controlling it until Maven gives the signal. My body feels ice cold as I'm frozen in place by fear. It's going to be an endless cycle of drowning, but not dying. I can't even call upon my lightning because of the Silent Stone. I'm truly helpless in this situation. I hope the fear doesn't show on my face.
Turning back, Maven looks at me with pity in his eyes before his hand drops and the water crashes into me hard. My knees give out and my head hits the ground with impact. I'm struggling to hold myself upright while the water keeps knocking into me, throwing me off balance. It gets into my eyes, my ears, my nose. The burning sensation from earlier returns and I struggle to hold my breath. These nymphs have created a helmet of water for me while the rest of my body is exposed to air. The truest form of torture.
My lungs feel like they're screaming for oxygen and I can't hold out anymore. I cough, a stream of bubbles release from my mouth and I am drowning again. This goes on repeatedly for who knows how long.
Exhaustion hits me until I can't keep my body upright. I'm dazed and disoriented, having admitted defeat long ago. Even if I were to figure out how to undo the chains, magnetrons would make sure they're secured back in place. My head feels heavy and I wish death would come already. But surely Maven wouldn't grant me that sweet release. Not like this.
My body is suspended, floating now. I feel the chains pulling down at my wrists. It must be a bubble of water surrounding me entirely. My eyes are half open, having gotten used to the water. It's surreal to me, seeing the world through water lenses. Things are blurry and strangely shaped. My hair fans out around me and my body feels light.
In the blue sky, there are hardly any clouds. It's too nice of a day for someone to die, I muse. Dark spots are moving quickly in the sky. My mind can't make out what they could possibly be before my eyes shut, giving in to the darkness.
In what feels like a second, a hot grip wraps around my wrists and I'm slammed back into the ground. I gasp for air, my eyes flying open. A dark figure is beside me, working on the chains. The water is moving randomly, but not in a suffocating manner.
As my vision becomes less blurry, I look up at my savior.
Ember eyes. Cal.
What is he doing?!
Adrenaline courses through my body and I sit up abruptly, realizing this is a rescue mission. Irritation also sets in.
"Are you an idiot?" I yell at him. Cal doesn't even flinch, continuing to work steadily on the chains with the tool that he has.
"I'm here to save you," he states.
"In a confined space, filled with water, surrounded by nymphs?" My voice rises an octave. He's a burner, deathly afraid of the water. His wet hair is plastered to his face and his clothes are soaked. "Brilliant idea."
Clenching his teeth, he asks, "What else were we supposed to do, Mare?"
"You could have sent anybody else in! Where's Farley? Cameron? Kilorn?"
In spite of our situation, Cal actually has the audacity to laugh. Chuckling, he goes, "You think Kilorn would have gotten you out of this fast enough?" One of the manacles clicks loose, and he throws it to the farthest corner of our imprisonment.
"I think Kilorn would have been more comfortable with water than you. Anybody would," I grumble. Cal moves quickly to my right hand and begins to work on that side.
"I think everybody else is preoccupied right now."
Beyond the glass, the crowd of citizens have scattered, and a battle ensues. My eyes widen when I see so many red scarves, members of the Scarlet Guard, fighting with Maven's soldiers. Searching wildly, I try to spot Maven in the crowd. Fireballs fly around wildly and tracing its sources, I see Farley chasing Maven down as he retreats. A group of Arvens surround him but they have no effect on Farley, with a gun. Silver blood coats the ground as they continue to flee from the resilient general. I gasp when I see Kilorn following behind her with a few other members.
Around us, magnetrons struggle to fight off gravitrons while closing us in with the metal sheet. The nymphs look around confused as to what to do, whether to flee or fight. That's when one of them locks eyes with me and notices the ball of lightning I hold in my left hand.
"Kill them!" he commands to the other nymphs. With renewed focus, the water swirls around us like a hurricane and crashes into Cal. He hits the side of the glass wall, dropping his tool.
"Cal!" I scream. The lightning in my hand vanishes as the water rises above our heads. I can't risk electrocuting him. My other hand remains trapped to the ground. I try to reach for the tool he dropped, but it's tiny and the water carries it further away from us.
Cal tries to swim against the powerful currents of the nymphs but it's useless. The water around him boils with his frustration and he grabs for the chain holding me to the ground. It's heating up underneath his touch but not enough to completely melt. The water is freezing cold. I can't see past the wild currents and I doubt he can either. It's too strong for us. I doubt even Kilorn would have been able to handle this unnaturally vicious current.
In seconds, our bodies are being pulled sideways and the water follows as well. It's all being pushed against the wall, where our feet are pointing. The work of the gravitrons. Cal and I are choking and gasping against the air, but his hand never releases from my chain.
"Just… a little… longer…" I choke out. The chain is almost completely melted until we're falling onto the floor again, regular gravity pulling us down. With the help of the gravitrons, the nymphs are having a harder time drowning us.
Water swirls in a wild pattern at our feet as the nymphs refocus their efforts on fighting off Scarlet Guard members. I aim my lightning at a magnetron attempting to close us in again, letting it streak out of me violently now that the Arvens aren't here. They crumple to the ground, barely breathing and I'm already moving on to my next target.
"There!" Cal shouts, and I aim both of my hands at the magnetrons above us, ready to drop them all dead. In one swift motion, a nymph creates a wave trapping Cal and I underneath water once again. Electricity pulses through the body of water for a second, but strong enough to make Cal's body spasm violently. I bring it back in as fast as I can, but he cries out, bubbles streaming from his mouth.
Just as quickly, the water splashes around us and I scream out, "No!" Rushing over to where he's lying on the ground, I hold him in my arms and feel for a pulse. It's there, but faint. I refuse to use my lightning until we're out of here. I can't risk it.
Putting my hand to his cheek, I ask, "Cal, can you hear me? I'm so sorry!"
"I'm okay," he rasps out, weakly. "We have to find a way out of here."
"You can barely move!" I'm worried about the state he's in. The state I put him in.
Cal struggles to lift himself. "I've been through worse. The longer we're in here, the worse it will get." He shudders to himself. Lightning and water are a bad combination, especially for a burner.
With newfound resolve, I scan the area for a way out. The glass walls are much too high to climb. The water seems relatively still for now, and Cal is looking around for a weak spot as well. At the same time, we notice it. There's a magnetron who has one foot on the metal sheet above us and the other on the wall, trying to hold his ground. Reacting quickly, I raise both of my arms and shoot out a strong stream of electricity causing the magnetron to yelp and lose his footing.
"Now!" I shout, and Cal rushes him, pushing him forcefully against the glass wall.
Holding the magnetron up by the neck, Cal heats both of his hands causing the guy to sweat profusely. "You're going to get us out of here, now," he growls. "Unless you want to be incinerated in here."
The guy tries to nod in Cal's hold and waves his arms frantically, shaping the metal into what looks to be a messy staircase. Cal releases the guy, who drops to his knees holding his neck. There are burn scars there.
"Let's move," Cal orders, grabbing my hand and pulling us quickly up the stairs. My nimble footing allows me to be ahead of Cal, and when we reach the top, we quickly make our way down to the battlefield.
I grab a Scarlet Guard member. "Where's General Farley?"
They point towards the palace but before I can head in that direction, Cal yanks me back.
"No," Cal warns. "They've got Arvens surrounding him. The plan is to retreat."
"What?" I exclaim in disbelief. "But we're this close to defeating him." Closer than we've ever been in months.
His jaw clenches. "The whole point of this plan was to be a rescue mission, Mare. We've rescued you, and now it's time to go before we lose more members."
"You're just going to leave Farley in there to fight Maven by herself?"
Shaking his head, he explains, "Chances are Farley knows you're out and is on her way back to the jets. Everyone is."
Around us, members struggle to get to the jets and continue to fight off Silvers.
"But Maven-"
"No." His tone is firm, and his decision has been made. He's going to drag me out of here if he has to. "I'm not going to lose you again because of some reckless decision. I've got you here with me now. I'm not going to let him get ahold of you ever again."
His eyes burn bright with anger and I can see fear hidden beneath the surface of his emotions. He dived into a confined container of water to save me. It's still affecting him now.
"Okay," I relent. "Let's get to safety."
Cal exhales in relief, and grabbing my hand, we retreat.