Page 54 of Leviathan's Song
I tried to struggle, shooting the last of my energy into the sentries, my wasps, anything I could reach in a desperate last-ditch plea for help, though I knew this was beyond their abilities. A heaviness settled in my lungs and silenced my mind. Something hard hit my chest and constricted around my upper body before everything went completely black.
* * *
Pain.
I couldn’t be dead yet. It hurt too much. In my ribs, the back of my skull, and multiple burning slashes along my skin. A surge of blinding pain in my chest forced bitter, fetid water up my throat and out of my mouth. Rough, wet sand scraped against my cheek as my body convulsed under a steady, crushing rhythm.
“Breathe!”
Levi.
My lungs. No matter how much I choked and gasped, I couldn’t get air in them.
“Elara,live. Just... live!Please, live. I don’t care about the bond. You can have it! I’m yours. Just breathe. Please.”
His voice came from above me, the wild terror in it piercing through my pain like an arrow. I fought hard with my stunned body, trying desperately to obey, but I couldn’t. The darkness clung to me, unrelenting and immensely heavy.
The sharp, crushing press against my chest and back continued to force water out of my nose and mouth, and every time it did, the pain was enough to send me under again. Flickers of memories flashed through my mind as Levi’s voice continued to beg me to breathe.
Levi playing his guitar on the street and singing about a January wedding and needing a woman to protect him from the darkness all around him.
Flicker.
His mischievous smile as he clutched a locket with my hair inside against his chest.
Flicker.
The way his lips curved against mine as we crouched in a darkened alley.
Flicker.
Levi, looking out the train window as he admitted he didn’t want to be away from me.
Until finally, the darkness took me.
* * *
Every breath wasa labored pant that rattled, wet and thick. I coughed, then groaned because of the flare of pain it brought with it.
The constriction around my shoulders tightened slightly, and fear ricocheted through me. Trees were catching their limbs around me, wrapping around my throat, and dragging me back down to the bottom of the pond.
“Shhh, I’ve got you.” A quiet murmur in my ear.
Levi.
“I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”
Everywhere was cold, except where my body pressed against his, where warm skin pressed against my face and torso, his arms cradling me gently against him. The pounding in my head kept me from opening my eyes, but I could hear the crackling of a small fire behind me.
My mind reeled, but exhaustion still entombed me, and I hurt in so many places. I felt my body shivering, but whether that was from the cold or from shock, I didn’t know. I should probably be in a hospital.
“Potion,” I whispered, remembering the healing potions I’d packed and trying to remind Levi. Thankfully, I’d gone over all the safety supplies on our first day. “The healing potions,” I tried again, a little clearer.
I felt his hand caressing my back and noticed I was wrapped in my bedding, but my hair was damp. “I already got it and gave it to you over an hour ago, that’s when the shaking started. I put the rest of the salve you gave me on your cuts but some of the lacerations are pretty deep. I’m hoping the potion is legit and takes care of those. Just rest now.”
I wanted to stay with him, but the exhaustion was just too much. I had no choice but to follow his advice as the darkness took me again. My last conscious thought was that he probably shouldn’t be holding me like this, but I couldn’t make my mouth move to voice the words.
* * *
