Chapter Thirty-Four
Falling... the sensation jarred me giving me approximately six seconds to relax myself before water rushed up to meet me - and everyone else - I could hear the hoarse screams and the sobbing of children as we all fell and the water cascaded up over my head and I fought upward, looking around frantically as I coughed up water from lungs and counted heads as they popped up and swore as I only counted adults. "Where are the children?" I heard more than one of my sisters' voices ask in urgent unison, through water clogged ears.
"I don't know!" I heard Tommy's frantic answer his voice steadier than the first as I shoved water and hair out of my eyes looking around barely realizing yet that we weren't in the ocean anymore but in a large lake fed on both ends by a large, rushing river.
I have Cait!" I heard Destiny's relieved voice call out from my left and breathed a relief, that was one...
"Hey, get back here, shorty!" I heard Kris's voice and turned to see who she had hold of and breathed a sigh of relief - Kris had managed to dig Jayden up from the depths of the water.
"Cayden!" I heard the relieved sob in Nikki's voice further away to the right and trembled as that left one. Amanda.
My legs were screaming with the effort of staying above water with at least my head as I heard the spluttering of someone trying to catch their breath batting away a hand - without realizing what I had done as Nikki's howl of fear as I saw what she did -Mandy's head go back under water with a mouthful of it.
"NO!" I heard the howl of pain, terror and loss in Nikki's voice was nearly enough to send me into motion but the next sound had me nearly mindless with the drive to do something.
"MOOOMMYY!" the fear in Amanda's voice was garbled by the water in her lungs and throat both, but the word was clear as a death's bell in my ears and had me spinning half aware of hands trying to pull me out of the water and pushing off from the silt bank of the water way.
"Please - no you can't swim that -" a voice I didn't register behind me protested as I kicked off my ruined shoes in an effort to gain more momentum against the vicious current beginning a brisk breast stroke ignoring the twinge of pain up my calf as I fought the driving current.
"Raina! NO!" I heard somewhere Nikki's panicked scream as she saw the current drive Mandy under the water again pulling her farther away from all of us what I hoped wasn't the last time.
I wasn't listening I had zeroed in on the flailing, tiring child - my niece damn it all and I had lost enough - my sisters had all suffered enough be damned to hell and back if I was going to stand back and let a child die. I felt the water all around me, and I swam as fast as I could against the rush of the current, fighting down my fear as I lunged desperately once - missed her by inches and surfaced spitting water as I swore furiously as the girl didn't surface forcing me to dive under again making a desperate lunge as my strength was already bleeding away.
I could see her eyes wide with terror as I caught the squirming flailing girl around the waist and gasped for breath trying to fight the current and keep her head - and mine over the water - and kicked toward the water using my one arm to break the water away. "No you don't," I shuddered with the cold my teeth chattering as I only barely realized there were hands reaching over the bank and I slung Mandy toward the waiting arm out of breath and trembling as another wave of the current knocked me further and I felt myself sinking before a hand grabbed my arm and pulled hard enough that I all but cleared the water and I looked around trying to free myself frantic to keep track of everyone in my family when a hand yanked my shoulder spinning me as a scent that was both sea-salt tangy and earthy collided with my senses as I looked up the scathing remark dying on my tongue as I looked upward even as the feeling that I had been there before, in a pose not unlike that before I was sure of it.
Neither he nor I dared speak, though I didn't quite think I trusted myself to speak by then as I felt the shock, the cold and the sheer exhaustion beginning to dim my vision. I heard someone - Destiny I thought - called out a warning not to - when a warm hand slipped around my cheek to rest along the back of my head steadying my balance for a brief moment.
"I've heard of sparks flying before but I didn't think that was real." I heard Autumn say aloud to no one in particular, of course the rest of them were already setting up for a roaring good set of arguments.
I was keenly aware that there wasn't the jolt of pain shooting up the back of my head and sparking through my mind as a second arm wrapped around my shoulder as I began shaking all over again this time not from chill. "Ssshh," I heard the murmur before his voice raised and aimed elsewhere, ["Inform the Lady that Lothlorien has more guests for the festival, as part of the host from Rivendell."]
["Yes my lord."] I recognized the language and the words even as I heard the brewing argument between Nikki and Willow.
"You caused this! Just like always you ruin everything! Its all your fault!" Willow accused pointing her finger at Nikki who was being clung to by a trembling crying Mandy.
Nikki turned glaring at her sister, "Excuse me just how in the world could this be my fault or did you swallow more salt water than your brain could handle?" Nikki turned back getting on her knees to cuddle her daughter.
"Yes you did!" Willow fairly shouted angrily closing the distance between herself and Nikki who was trying to calm Mandy down and hold her temper at the same moment. "I don't know how you did it but I know you did you and that know-it-all attitude that always forced Kris and I to pull you out of trouble!"
Nikki stood up and turned putting herself between Willow and Mandy, "You know what if it wasn't for my as you call it know it all attitude you and Kris would still be hip deep in shit trying to keep yourselves from being killed and Tommy, Jason and the others as well. Now then I'm finished here Willow back off me and mine we all know your just jealous cause Tommy chose me over you and your drooling self." Nikki took Mandy's hand and pushed past Willow walking toward where Autumn, Tommy, Jason and I stood.
Willow's hand darted out and grabbed Nikki's shoulder and roughly yanked her backward and I couldn't hear what was said but the fury in Nikki's face said plenty as Destiny's argument with Kris was heating up to a boiling point as I saw Nikki's lips move, "Take your hand off me before you land on your stupid ass."
In the middle of that shouting match the roaring argument between Destiny and Kris was much the same heating up quickly and would escalate to blows quickly and it was Autumn - white faced and trying vainly not to cry keeping the children out of the blast radius with Jason and Tommy who both looked like they each had plenty to say about the whole mess to begin with.
"You wouldn't ever do that and you know it. Your always so full of big talk and no action." Willow hissed.
Nikki glared at her, "I will take your skinny no good ass out right here right now if you don't get your paws off me now and let me take my daughter to her father. Remember Willow you'll never grow up till you learn that there's someone bigger and badder than you that will take you out." Nikki's voice was so calm it was almost icy making Tommy and Autumn both give me a raised eyebrow.
Well your confidence in me is endearing. I mused for a moment and smiled wanly as I was already struggling to keep their emotions from tilting and spinning against my frayed ones and I sighed before drawing in a deep breath to interrupt the arguments and try to spare myself the brewing migraine when the entire area was filled with a single word, very loud and very direct.
"SILENCE!"
Even though I knew roughly what direction the bellow had come from I jumped nearly out of my skin and spun to see a controlled, if furious elf standing in the glade next to another, this one clad in shades of pale grey with his hands folded patiently before him the expression unreadable. I was just recovering from my shock of the bellow when one of my sisters so helpfully made an already aggravating situation worse.
"Just who the hell are you and what gives you the right to tell me or any of the rest of us to shut up." Kris sneered glaring hard at the newcomer.
"Shall I include or exclude the fact you're in the middle of my land?" the silver-haired elf - I realized by deduction that was what his race was though I didn't know him by name and I cringed inwardly though I moved to try to diffuse the situation, hopefully cutting off Kristina and her mouth.
["Then I do apologize for any intrusion and hassle our presence has already been."] I stated fluently in the elven tongue and with as much dignity as I could manage despite the fact I looked not unlike a very small very drowned rat as I stepped between the rest of them and the pair of elves, limping heavily despite my best effort not to show it.
Nikki looked around me her mouth opened, "Lord Elrond?" Her question made everyone stare at her like fish out of water.
It was a very faint flicker of surprise at the direct address of the elf as he nodded, "I am and if I am not mistaken you would be Nikki. Do any of you - at a reasonable volume level please - have any idea of what happened?"
The other elf raised his hand as grey eyes rested on the smallest, "Questions can wait, even if I much desire to know the answers as well." he trailed off as Cayden broke free of Tommy's damp grip heedless of any danger only to be caught by Nikki as he went to pass her squirming and irritated protest at her capture of his hand whined strongly.
"Cayden be still little man." Nikki admonished lightly only to lose Cayden's hand as he managed to squirm free.
"No I want down!" he protested in a tired whine as she tried to pick him up as I found myself being clung to by a still-weeping though blissfully quiet Mandy.
He darted out of Nikki's reach and moved with all the recklessness that only a child under four seems to possess and looked up at the two expectantly and raised his hands in a gesture that was universal and I couldn't suppress my surprise as Elrond bent to oblige looking at the rest of us with a faintly amused look.
"Cay-" Tommy began as Elrond spoke in a quiet voice to the child, brushing off the muck from the water from his face.
"Well young master seems you are the wisest of the land hm?" Elrond smiled gently, bending to pick the towel up and re-wrap the shivering boy before lifting him as if the boy was a feather, "I am going to escort the youngest to where a warm bath and dry clothes will be found all others are more than welcome to accompany or to find their own way." He looked around and met my gaze as I shivered and slightly - oh so slightly nodded at him in answer.
It was an unspoken question that to each of us was telling that we had yet much to discuss between us, at the same time there was even more that needed to be handled for my sisters and their many needs. It was almost sweet since Elrond had picked up Cayden, Mandy, Jayden and Caitlyn had ventured the same fate which I had to hide my reaction to the looks on my siblings' faces.
"I don't know about any of you but I'm cold, I'm soaked to the bone and if I follow the elf I know I'm going to find coffee somewhere along the way. You all can sit here and make asses of yourselves or you can play follow the elf." I said looking over to each of them, "Me, I want coffee almost as bad as I want a bath."