Chapter 42: Submerged

The clear sea water was pitch black from the night’s raging storm, and he could only briefly see whenever lightning struck.

Then, several little yellow glowing seahorses swam past Ronan. They glittered and glowed near a crimson coral reef, and there Ronan saw Maritza, tangled in thick vines of kelp.

He swam further below and towards the seahorses, who all started squeaking and trying to pull the kelp away from Martiza.

A flash of lightning and a whip of thunder frightened the tiny seahorses away, and Ronan was left once more in the dark.

He stuck his hand out and felt Martiza’s arm, then tugged and yanked and pulled. He was running out of air, and he felt his lungs start to ache.

Finally, he tore Maritza free.

The tips of long kelp leaves itched at Ronan’s chest and legs as he pulled Maritza to him. In the darkness of the seafloor, he could see nothing, but he knew Maritza to be unconscious. Her body was limp in his arms, and he choked as his heart raced. He couldn’t hold his breath any longer, and his mouth opened only slightly, and he swallowed enough water to make him lightheaded. Ronan clamped his mouth and his eyes went wide.

Surely he would drown.

The water around his leg began to boil, and his Mark of the Seahorse on his forearm glowed a vibrant white.

It had been weeks since he heard the voices, but The Shroud returned to his ear and whispered, “This will not be your grave, Black Serpent.”

Ronan kicked his legs vehemently, and his Seahorse magic jetted him through the waters. A big bolt of blue lightning in the distance lit a path for him, and overhead he saw the floating stone that Illia and Ike were still on. Beside Ronan, a group of massive, silver ten-foot long tuna boosted him and Maritza out of the water.

Ronan, Maritza, and the giant fishes shot into the air, and Ronan coughed up seawater as they all hurdled towards the floating stone. With a harsh crash, the two Nightblades and one of the fish landed on the smooth stone, nearly causing it to capsize. As Illia kept the stone afloat and Ike swayed his hands, calming the impending waves, Ronan dashed over to Maritza and took her head in his arms.

He pressed an ear to her chest and heard no heartbeat.

“We need to get to shore!” Ike called out to everybody. Blue Essence was spinning around his leg, and a fourth tally mark etched beside his Mark of the Seahorse.

Under less perilous circumstances, Illia would’ve congratulated Ike on his quick progression, but instead she pushed Ronan aside and hovered over Maritza.

“Help Ike with the waves!” Illia exclaimed.

Lightning hammered the water beside them, drenching them in more water.

Maritza’s eyes were closed and as heaps of water splashed on her face and body, she remained lifeless.

It was almost impossible for Ronan to abandon her, though he knew she was in good hands.

Illia pressed her mouth to Maritza’s, blew air into her lungs, then thumped down on Maritza’s chest in short, rapid bursts.

While Illia repeated that process, the large fish clattered on the stone.

“We need your help again,” Ike said to the large fish. It hopped and splashed closer to Ike’s feet, and its large fishy eye looked at him.

Suddenly, an enormous wave approached, but this was one Ronan could not control. A school of the huge silver tuna pressed their bodies against the floating stone, then in unison propelled the stone forward towards the shore.

“I’ll help you with the waves,” Ronan said, slashing his hand to the air and cutting a path through the rippling water ahead of them.

“No!” Ike shouted. “Use your Mark of the Serpent to extract the heat from the air.”

Rain pounded Ike’s face, but still he stood strong. His wet brown beard flapped as the fish helped guide the stone away from the treacherous waters.

Ronan dared not look towards Maritza, for he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted for even a second. He prayed that Illia would help her, and he raised both his hands to the sky. Runes from The Shroud grew along both his forearms, and he felt his veins warm up with heat as he drew the heat from the atmosphere.

Suddenly, a chill struck the air, and Ike shivered, though he continued to command the fish to his aid.

Ronan’s hands turned a bright red, as if he had stuck them inside a forge, and he hollered out as he sweat from the intense heat entering his body.

The storm subsided, and the thick gray clouds cleared.

With a battering collision that tossed up bright piles of golden sand, the stone rammed onto shore.

The Nightblades went flying, along with the big fish that had been splashing beside Ike.

Ike, Ronan, and the fish landed inside one of the empty hot springs. Ronan quickly emerged and checked the coastline.

Illia was over Maritza, who lay face-down in the sand. Illia rested a hand on Maritza’s back, and Maritza turned her head ever so slightly.

Clumps of sand stuck to Maritza’s cheek as she coughed up clear seawater, then flipped onto her back.

The fish in the springs flapped its tail, and Ike started to laugh. His laughter was so loud and uncontrolled that it was infectious, and soon even Illia and Ronan were chuckling.

Against all odds, they had survived their training session gone awry.

Then the tuna’s tail swatted Ronan in the face, causing him and Ike to chuckle all the more.

Ike pet the tuna’s head, then said, “You and your friends have our thanks! If it weren’t for you all, I don’t know what we would’ve done!”

Like a dog being given a bone, the tuna raised its head and throttled its tail about the spring water, whipping up warm suds onto the surrounding sand.

Ike hoisted the massive fish up, then brought it out to the sea where he released it. As it swam away, it dove into the water only to jump up and completely out, as though it were putting on some sort of victory show by displaying its shiny scales in the sunlight.

Ronan, still chuckling to himself, ran to Maritza.

Illia sat back in the sand. She removed her white bandana, kneaded out the water, and let her long red hair flow to her shoulders.

“She’s okay,” Illia sighed with a smile. “She’s a strong one, that Black Butterfly.”

Ronan smirked, ecstatic that Maritza had made it out with her life.

But when he looked at her, she seemed anything but alright. Martiza’s green eyes had lost their sparkle, and although she was breathing, she stared with an empty expression on her face out at the sun.

“Maritza,” Ronan said, terrified. He shook her slightly, trying to wake her from her trance.

“Maritza,” he said louder.

She exhaled with just enough force to confirm that she was still alive, and continued to stare out in the distance.

Ronan pressed a hand to her cheek. Her skin was ice cold.

“Maritza!” he shouted.