I could hardly hear his voice over the chattering of my teeth. But I nodded. He turned with his back to me. I hooked my arms around his shoulders. He dove forward. And the water engulfed us.
Cold I had never known before seeped through my clothes, my skin, and my flesh to my very bones. It deprived me of the ability to move. Even breathing became a nearly impossible task.
I locked my arms around Kyllen’s neck from behind and propped my chin on the back of his head, struggling to keep my face above water.
Somehow, he managed to swim. His strong arms cut through the ripples of the moonlight on the surface, stroke after stroke.
The silver mist surrounded us, taking a gentle tint of pink, and…we sank into it. The water closed over our heads, like an icy sarcophagus. But it was no longer dark.
Light filtered through my closed eyelids. It shimmered and danced as if playing in the leaves on a tree or the ripples on a pond.
Some feeling returned to my muscles. My skin prickled as if poked with a thousand needles.
The current ran by me, stroking my face. But it no longer felt like the water of the pond. It was much softer, gentler, warmer.
And I could breathe in it.
I opened my eyes.
Kyllen and I were suspended in the silky pink shimmer. It streamed all around us, but its movement had a direction. And we floated in it, being carried by it.
“Close your eyes.” Kyllen’s voice drifted through the mists to me. He turned in my arms, taking me into a hug. “Whatever happens, don’t let go of me.”
I flexed my arms tighter around his neck.
He kissed my cheek, then gently pressed my face into his shoulder. “Hold on to me, Amira. Don’t let go.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but the mist around us suddenly turned denser. It rushed into my mouth and into my lungs. I coughed, choking. My chest burned. My throat closed.
Kyllen’s arms held me tight like in a vise.
I thrashed against him, desperate to get to the surface wherever it was. I needed air. I couldn’t breathe.
Only there was no surface. No up. No down. Just suffocating water.
My mind swam, life drifting out of me with the stream.