Chapter Two
Water or Women
MAGDELINE TWISTED IN her sleep. She could not find a restful spot where she lay on the forest floor. She could feel the rocks jutting through her flimsy mat. Her back and limbs were getting sore from all the tossing and turning. When she could no longer stand it, she kicked off her blanket in frustration and got up. For a moment she glared at the back of the deeply sleeping Cyrus. She secretly blamed him for her suffering—having not gotten her a more comfortable sleeping pack. She contemplated waking him and taking his mat to stack atop hers for more cushion. But she was not that cruel.
When her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could see that Cyrus had moved several feet away from his original spot on the ground. Magdeline could tell from his soft snores that he was deeply asleep, probably exhausted from their journey and most likely from trying to find a good spot away from Magdeline. She marveled at how he could stay sleep at all when he was lying on the bumpy terrain of roots and rocks.
But something other than the pain had woken her from her already troubled sleep, though. A tingle snaked down her spine, and the tiny hairs at the back of her neck stood on end. She surveyed the darkness around them, her mind still hazy with sleep. Then something... something in her peripheral vision caught her attention.
It was so dim, she could’ve missed it. A dull light pulsed in the distance, a slight break in the inky black. But before she could form a coherent thought, she was walking towards the source of the light. She wasn’t frightened; after all, she knew what was in the forest and this certainly wasn’t anything dangerous. She was sure of it.
Her steps made no noise. As she drew closer, the light was approaching her as well. Soon she could almost make out the outline of what it was—it was a horse. A shining white stallion to be specific. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Its coat shone so bright that it was luminescent against the black of the forest. It reminded Magdeline of her own hair.
It snorted softly and tossed its head, shaking its shimmering mane, and Magdeline felt a brief spray against her skin. It was a small horse, only barely taller than Magdeline herself. A feathered hoof pawed at the ground and its muzzle coming forward, nudging her shoulder, begging for a touch.
Magdeline stretched out her hand, mesmerized by the horse’s beauty. Its muzzle felt like velvet beneath her fingertips. The horse whinnied softly and drew back. From the way it stood it looked like it wanted Magdeline to follow it. With another whinny, it turned its back on her and started towards the depths of the forest, beckoning Magdeline to follow. And follow she did, all at once forgetting her companion man who remained sleeping soundly only few feet away.
She kept following the horse, wandering deeper and deeper into the depths of the forest. Magdeline wanted to be able to feel the velvet nose of the stallion but it always remained just out of the her reach. The air grew heavier as they walked on. Soon, Magdeline could feel the dampness of the ground seep through her slippers. But still, she didn’t care. She would have given up a hundred pairs of shoes just to touch the horse once more.
The Forest had turned into a swamp and the air was beginning to smell stale. She shadowed the horse’s every step so she wouldn’t fall into the murky water that crept along each side of their narrow path. The black water was indistinguishable from solid ground, if not for the ripples created by the stallion’s luminescent wake.
Suddenly, it stopped and turned to look at her, meeting her gaze with piercing, soulless eyes. Magdeline shrank back for a moment before reaching out in an attempt to touch the creature. Its black eyes locked with hers and seemed to lure her in. Her fingers brushed against its back—its surface strangely cold and damp. The cold was what finally snapped her out of her trance. When she tried to move away, she found that she couldn’t.
Some invisible force held her hand frozen in place. The terrifying helplessness sent her into such a panic that she let out a bloodcurdling scream. The piercing sound scared the horse and it reared, knocking her off balance. She scrambled to get herself upright while she tried in vain to move her hand from its stasis. The horse shrieked as Magdeline slipped and slid on the damp swamp floor. She gazed in horror as something crept from her hand. The white coat of the horse was disappearing from where she touched it and the transition was like creeping vines which changed color from pearly white to a deep, deep green. The horse reared again and she could see its teeth as it screamed into the humid air. She hadn’t seen many horses in her life but Magdeline at least knew that they weren’t supposed to have fangs.
She screamed again and pulled with all her strength. At last her hand was freed but she tumbled into the freezing water below.
Cyrus bolted awake at the sound of a distant scream. His hand immediately went for his sword and he looked around for any signs of danger. The forest was too dark for him to see very far. He squinted in the direction of where he had last seen Magdeline’s sleeping pack. The blanket was crumpled at the foot of the pack and the mat itself was empty.
Cyrus stood quickly, throwing whatever he could into his bag and ran towards where he thought the scream came from.
Another scream pierced the air and he ran as faster, adrenaline pumping through his veins, carrying him through the darkness. He stumbled in his limited vision. His elbows banged against the sides of trees and his face suffered minor cuts from low-lying branches. It had been moments since the last scream and he instinctively kept moving towards where he thought he heard it come from.
Several minutes passed and he began to wonder if his gut was right. The air had grown heavy around him and there were no sounds apart from his hurried steps pounding the ground. Then, something warm pulsed against the skin on his chest and he finally stopped to take a look at the source of the strange sensation.
A violet light glowed under his tunic. He dropped all that he carried and pulled hurriedly from under his tunic to reveal his Soulyte. The light of the gem was beating, an ever changing array of deep violet and amethyst swirled in its heart.
Cyrus scanned his surroundings. There was still no sign of Magdeline. But the gem seemed to hum louder as he faced a certain direction. He let himself be led by the gem. He faintly remembered of Magdeline’s warning about carrying a light in the forest but her safety was more important to him at that moment. What had she gotten herself into? Was she okay?
Minutes later, the glow of his Soulyte gem faded. He tapped it but the humming seemed to have stopped. He looked around and saw nothing but the black outline of trees. When he finally looked down at his feet, he let out an un-hero-like scream. Hardly a foot in front of him was Magdeline, fully submerged in the inky waters of the swamp. Her eyes were closed and her hair floated around her. That she glowed in the depths of the murky water was how he was able to tell she was there.
Cyrus’ first instinct was to dive in but something held him back. It was then that he realized that not only was he terrified of women, that he was scared out of his mind of water. He felt his legs rooted to where he stood. Watching Magdeline’s hair swirl around her brought back unwanted memories of him plunging into the river a week prior. He had almost died the last time he went into the water and the experience left a more lasting effect than he had initially thought.
The waters looked as if it was ready to swallow him, to claim him since he recently cheated a watery death. Cyrus watched helplessly as he was held hostage by his own fear at Magdeline’s submerged form. There was no telling from where he stood if she was even alive. Her screams had stopped almost ten minutes ago.
But Cyrus couldn’t leave her. He would not be able to live with himself if he hadn’t at least tried to save her as she did to him a few days ago. Swallowing his fear, and before he could think, he braced himself and dove headfirst into the icy black water.
The water rushed around him and he was momentarily blinded. It felt like a thousand knives piercing into his flesh. The weight of his sword seemingly tripled, tugging him down. He waved his arms around unti
l he could feel what he hoped to be Magdeline’s body. He gripped what he could and with a mighty kick, swam back to the surface, pulled her with him. With the last dregs of his strength he threw her body onto the shore lifted himself out of the black depths, using the twisted roots in the mud for a decent handhold.
Magdeline remained deathly still on the ground.
“Come on, come on,” Cyrus urged, as he crawled to her. “Please breathe.”
Remembering some distant training, he placed his palms on her chest and pushed down, pumping to force life back into her and get water out of her lungs. As he labored on he thought of the many times had he almost lost her. He kept trying but to no avail. Tired, frustrated, frightened, he knew he had one last shot at saving her. He cradled her head in his hands and lowered his head to touch her lips with his.
Just when their lips were a hairs breadth from each other, she sputtered and coughed out water. The stale water splashed on Cyrus’ face hovering just above hers. She continued to cough and sputter and Cyrus pulled back slightly, his shoulders sagging in relief.
“Wow, hero,” she chuckled weakly when she was finally able to talk. “Aren’t you feeling sociable tonight?”
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