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Maybe it would change soon. Maybe these people were hardy and strong. They’d come out of this as better versions of themselves, having survived something difficult together.
But she looked at them and she thought... this was her fault.
“Alys?” Imber asked. His tail came around her like a giant snake, circling her entire body and pushing away those who had been close to her.
“What are you doing?” she asked as the other undine’s hand slid out of hers. She narrowed her gaze at the thick muscle suddenly banding around her waist. “Why are you circling me?”
He reached for her hands, lifting them and holding them in front of her eyes.
Her fingers were bleeding. Red bloomed in the weak light, and then his entire body lit up. Bright, sparkling points of green up and down his form. It only illuminated the blood even more.
All the help she’d given, every moment of her trying to make up for what her people had done, she hadn’t realized she’d been risking herself so much. Staring down at her fingers now, she realized that she was going to die very soon if they didn’t do something. Somehow, in all of this, Alys had forgotten that humans can’t stay in the water for so long.
Her skin was wrinkled and pale, skin cracking on her palms, and then she suddenly realized there were far more effects of staying underwater this long. She hadn’t noticed because she was so upset that it had been easy to ignore how badly her body hurt. Now, seeing herself injured, it hit her like a sledgehammer.
Her body ached, all of her muscles feeling tired in a way that they’d never felt before. She was so thirsty and had a headache blooming behind her eyes that had only happened once before when she’d gone too long without water. But this time it was so much more intense right between her eyes, like her brain was warning her about... something. Her stomach clenched in hunger, but she didn’t know how long it had been since she’d eaten anything.
She didn’t even realize that her body was listing to the side until Imber gently propped her up. He pulled her pale, wrinkled hands out of her eyesight. “What is happening to you?”
“I think the water...” Alys lifted her shaking hands again, just so she could see the damage. So it wasn’t entirely made up in her own head. “I can’t stay in the water this long. How long has it been?”
His concerned gaze focused on her hands before he cleared his throat. “I don’t... I don’t know.”
“How many sunrises?”
“Three.”
“How deep are we?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what that means. There is no measurement for me to give you.”
She looked up at the surface, her mind ticking through all the possibilities. She didn’t think she was deep enough to get the bends. It wasn’t likely, anyway. What if all of this made her sick? What if going to the surface made her blood boil and her body just gave up?
“Slowly,” she finally whispered. “I need to go to the surface very slowly. Just in case.”
“Just in case what?”
With a wide-eyed stare, she hoped she conveyed how terrified she was. And to his credit, Imber didn’t question her any more. He just gathered her in his arms and started their ascent.
They weren’t that far down, come to find out. It only took them a few minutes to get to where she could see the surface clearly. But she could also see there wasn’t any land anywhere near them.
“I need to get out of the water,” she said. And everything in her hurt. She needed food. She needed fresh water. She needed...
Not to be here.
Her heart broke. She wanted to be with him and now, it was startlingly real that this might not be possible. They werecreatures from two very different places in this world, and neither of them could change that.
He swam with her all the way to the surface, holding her head above the water so she didn’t have to kick or swim. She was limp in his arms, allowing him to do all the work as she stared up at the cloudy sky.
Almost delirious, the only thing she could think to say was, “It looks like a storm is coming.”
“There are always storms, Alys.”
“This one looks worse than normal,” she whispered, before turning her tear filled gaze to him. “I’m so sorry, Imber.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Because I’ve only been down here a few days with you and I’m already breaking apart. I’m in pieces. I thought we could...”
