Diving into Ecl, I slam my body against
the trees of the forest.
Hard tree trunks with bark that scrape my skin
off,
and I'm falling to the ground, drowning
in Ecl's icy waters.
Breaking the surface, bubbles of my breath
meeting the air,
I need to find Acelan. Find Iris.
We need to leave.
shaking the water from ebony hair,
climbing clumsily onto the ice,
only to slip, can't get purchase
until I try to heave myself up again
(three times).
My wrists are throbbing.
Phantom pain from those
I have tied myself to?
Is this what Iris is feeling?
Chest aching from the cold,
I hug my white shift around myself,
the cloth tattered, and I'm
shivering,
wings trembling.
Where are you?
Echoing words, hurting my ears,
no answer and I keep screaming.
Urgency bubbling up my throat and
Cuts off my air,
And I cry out again,
"Where are you?"
Seeing someone on the ground,
too far away and I scream and run,
stumbling, ignoring
blood on the ground—from my hands?
But when I fall to a stop…
No one's there.
Just blood, just crimson,
Tendrils reaching out to grab me,
Soaking into the ice and staining it red.
I'm crying. Falling
to my feet, feeling pure
agony.
Suddenly, Acelan's here, too,
Side covered in blood with the arrow still there,
whispering we're too late.
He wraps his arms around me and
I'm sobbing.
Standing up, seeing Ecl's version of the
Forest around us, and I know
what to do.
Waking from Ecl, I clean my own wounds,
And Nahun makes his way over.
Soft hands running over wings, over bones,
Checking to see if I'm broken.
I'm not.
(But in so many ways I am.)
He is gentle, and I force a smile,
But Iris is dead,
and I'm choked with worry,
and I want Acelan
to wake up.
A/N: This is only chapter 37. Mara went into Ecl after the fall, and found out about Iris dying. Acelan did, too. Now Mara knows how to get them to escape. Please review!