Elements

13

"Your father and i drowned immediately, turning into water spirits on the spot. I could see many other spirits around us. Some pulled us away from the dragon spirit, but I couldn’t find you, dead or alive.” Her mother reached out and stroked Raye’s cheek with a watery hand. “I was so relieved when Ryuu found you.” She motioned to the small wave. “By the way, he is the late hatchling of the dragon that attacked Tristan. Your father summoned the wave that pulled him off the ship and brought him to you in the Cave of No Time.”
Raye opened her mouth. “About that- why exactly…”
“I have no idea. I was only doing what the elder spirits told me.” Her mother glanced at the bushes along the shoreline. “Aren’t you glad they gave those orders, though?” She smiled warmly.
Raye ducked her head, letting her hair cover her warm cheeks. “Yeah.”
Her mother looked up, apparently sensing something. “I must go, but if you need anything, walk into the water.” She disappeared without a second glance.

The moment she left, Raye's exhaustion hit her again.
She was acutely aware of each wound. The smaller ones stabbed like needles into her mind and the larger ones made her ache with longing for the salve in her satchel.
Where even is my satchel?
Replaying the events of the past day only succeeded in making Raye more exhausted.
Whatever was in the broth her mother had given her had only cured her hunger.

Slowly, Raye's muscles gave out. She laid down on the warm sand and let her eyelids close.

Blurry with sleep, Raye's brain registered something shaking her shoulders.
Not thinking, she lashed her arm out, elbowing whatever it was away.
"Hey!" The sharp voice woke her up.
Tristan was sitting next to Raye. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, the setting sun illuminating him from behind. Raye felt her heart thump and wondered if he could hear it.
"Are you okay?" He asked, a crease forming between his eyebrows.
As much as Raye wanted to say yes, the aches had not subsided.
She groaned and tried to sit up. "No."
Tristan looped his arm around her back to support her. "Where's your satchel? Doesn't that have medicines in it?"
"I don't know where it is. I had it in the palace, but not in the maze…"
Tristan's eyebrows rose. "You were in the maze?"
"Yeah."
"How'd you get stuck there? I thought the maid was with you."
Raye sighed, letting her head droop forward.
Gently, Tristan laid her head on his shoulder and tightened his arm around her.