The panic and fear. The slowness in their steps. The waves crashing below them as time seemed to slow into infinity.
Kaim tried to move faster, but it was like he was stuck. Nothing could propel his legs any more, and the strain in his muscles made him want to die. He would actually rather die than to see what was happening before him.
His daughter, just eight years old, was only moments ago laying in the tall grass, not anywhere near the edge of the cliff to the cold sea below. He knew she was safe. She was always safe. Sarah saw to that by making sure there was a wall that traced the cliff's edges so that their daughter could never somehow wander off from it.
The low, barely audible buzzing stopped. It even took Sarah a few minutes to realize that something had happened to it. She gripped his arm, and he looked up from where they sat. "Something is wrong." It was like her words were coming in slow motion. He took several seconds to finally understand what she was saying.
"What do you mean?" What was this feeling? Like something heavy was being draped around his shoulders. He suddenly felt the need to lay down, air becoming so thick he could hardly think straight.
The next words out of Sarah's mouth seemed to be at normal speed. "My wall is gone!"
"Lirum, don't move." There wasn't an answer in the grass. Kaim stood up to see that his daughter was no longer there. His legs seemed to take forever to function so that he could turn around. "Lirum?"
Sarah was up too, adjusting her glasses too slowly. What was going on? he thought sluggishly to himself. He lifted one leg into the air and that motion that should have taken only a moment seemed to last an eternity. Her hand was suddenly gripping his arm. Bruising, painful nails digging into his bicep, as she screamed. "Don't move!"
Kaim looked behind him to where Sarah was yelling to. There she was, pigtails and all, at the edge of the cliff. The buzzing that should be loud and clear in his ears were agonizingly absent. All he could hear was the crashing of the waves and his own voice screaming her name. As he moved slower and slowly forward, she inched closer to the edge. Didn't they teach her better? What was going on in her head? Did it have to do with this feeling he was experiencing? His legs beat heavy on the ground, sounding like explosions to his ears. "Lirum! Lirum!"
Sarah was moving too, but each step took days. She screamed, eyes wide, the sound deafening to Kaim. As they got closer to Lirum, time seemed to be catching up. It was as if it was playing with him. One hand outstretched and she finally turned around. He knew. He knew then that it was too late. Her green eyes seemed to be apologizing to him. Sorry for the new misery you are going to experience. Sorry for the hurt I am about to cause you, she seemed to say as she turned back towards the sea. "LIRUM!"
The weight dropped back onto him like iron, and he dropped to his knees as his world plunged herself into the wild, and cold sea. The cliff is too dangerous, Kaim, Sarah had said to him once. One wrong slip—
He pounded his fists into the ground as the crash of water hit the cliff below. A broken vow to keep Lirum safe echoed into his ears. He couldn't breathe, the grief breaking him into two. He looked down again, and his mind became hazy. He watched as the water turned dark and listened as Sarah's voice broke into tiny pieces. He stood up, legs like lead and reached out for her. She turned slowly, tears moving down her cheeks. His arms pulled her into him, their sobs mixing into each other; a sad movement against the clashing of the sea below.
Why wasn't he jumping into the water? Why wasn't she jumping too? Could Lirum have survived? There wasn't a risk in dying, he knew that. He looked up as if this was new information for him. Of course, he was immortal! He should be jumping in, but why couldn't he get his legs to move? Why was his head filled with feathers?
He instead looked ahead blankly to the other side of the cliff, one separated by a gap. There stood another person and a blinding purple light. Who was it? Why couldn't he jump? Why was Sarah's voice drifting away, and why couldn't he remember anything? Why was he crying?
He wiped away the tears as Gongora motioned a finger to him. Instantly, he let go. He left the strange grieving woman beside him, walking around the cliff to the other side.
"Come. Take off your shirt." Kaim did as he was ordered, pulling off his vest and unbuttoning the white shirt underneath. He unthinkingly folded them neatly before handing them over to this man. Gongora's laugh was loud, but Kaim didn't flinch away. "Why can't I remember what I was doing? Who is that woman, and why is she crying?" He was surprised as a tear escaped from his eye, and he looked down confused.
"Never mind that, Kaim Argonar." Gongora rested a hand on Kaim's head. He could feel something cold run down his spine. "I need to make sure you are ready to serve me. First thing I'd like you to do is swim. No matter if you die of shock like that poor girl just did, or drown a few times, I want you to wake up and still swim. Swim until you see Grandstaff."
"Grand…staff?" Kaim felt his brow crease. "Swim to Grandstaff?"
"That's it. Be a good lad and swim all the way. When you get there, I'll tell you what to do next."
Kaim didn't understand why he would need to do this. Should he trust this stranger? What would be in it for him? He looked back at the woman still crying on the cliffside. She was on her knees, head touching the earth, but he could still hear her distant cries. He moved, wanting to get closer and comfort her, but Gongora brushed past him. "I'll take care of the woman, you just worry about your first task."
Shrugging, Kaim turned away to the ocean. He walked to the edge, watched as a few waves swirled on by before diving into the cold water below.
. . .
A sob wracked her body and soul, if Sarah could say that she had one. She could hardly breathe between the sorrow and the heavy magic that lay across her shoulders. She cried into the dirt, body moving with her emotions.
She felt a boot rest on her ribs, and before she could pull herself together to look at who it belonged to, said boot pushed her right over. She stared up at the gray sky for a moment before letting her eyes travel over to the person who kicked her down. Confused eyes stopped on Gongora. "Worthless woman. We meet again."
"Why? Why are you here?" Sarah felt herself grow cold. The source of the heavy magic was coming from this man with a wicked grin. Two and two put together, and she was on her feet in moments. Her own anger and magic flaring up, and she noted the slightly surprised expression on his face as her own energy pushed back on his. "You did this to her! You did this to us! Kaim will—Kaim? Where is he?" Her heart grew still as she looked around. Her husband was nowhere near, and she suddenly felt sick. "What did you do to him?"
"I did nothing he didn't want to already do to himself." Gongora stepped up to her, towering over her with his height. She felt her throat clam up, but she was ready to fight back with her magic. "Ah, I see the little witch wants to play games. Too bad one of us is stronger than the other."
Sarah's mouth opened, a scream tearing through her. The pain she felt in her head was worse than any ache that she had experienced in her long life. She felt his magic invade her body, leaving her lifeless and alone. She screamed again when he pressed his hand to her temple. Legs finally giving out, she fell crying. "Stronger than I thought. I can't believe you were able to suppress me for this long. Compared to your dear Kaim, you could have been a marvelous assistant," he said, and Sarah watched as his hand glowed violet. "It doesn't matter what I did to him. It was you who failed to jump after your own child. It was your fault the wall you used to protect your daughter from the ice below us, vanished!"
Gongora bent down into her face. Sarah could feel the tears fall from her eyes, and the anger wash away with a crippling sadness. "Nothing will bring her back. Not even your husband who jumped in after her. It is too late. And here you are, crying into the dirt. You have no courage. You are a worthless mother. Why don't you just die?"
I can't, Sarah thought, pain and misery washing over her in waves. What she would do to die in this moment. What she would do to leave this world behind and join her sweet, young daughter in death. Never would she be able to hold her. Not here in this immortal life or the one after. She brought hands up to her eyes, bitter tears streaming from them. What she would do to erase the past, to forget this moment forever.
Gongora's hand gripped her shoulder tightly. "I can help you with that. You don't need to ever remember about this again. You can live out your endless days in mystery rather than misery."
"You…you can do that?" Sarah's body shook violently. She needed this pain to vanish. She selfishly wanted to forget. If it would stop this never-ending desolation and stop the image of her only child falling to her demise, she would take any poisonous medicine. She sobbed and let her arms fall to her side. I'm so weak.
Gongora lifted his other hand and placed it on her cheek. Sarah almost laughed at how gentle it seemed, before the violet pain shot through her again. "Already done." And it was the last thing she heard him whisper before the world went white.
When she awoke, she wondered briefly why she was on a cliff by the sea. She grimaced at the pain still pounding her skull as she adjusted her glasses on her nose. When she finally could let her eyes adjust, she took a closer look at her surroundings. In the distance there sat a mansion, it's high walls seemed to speak to her, whisper its secrets.
She climbed onto her feet and rubbed hands on her cold upper arms. It felt like she was waking up from a long and dreamless sleep. She took one step forward, saying to herself, "I wonder who lives there, and if they'll let me stay the night?"