Rising Mist(#1 Haze Series)Completed

10. The Invisible Thread Tying Them

Sana and Rishi were smiling as they moved forward. The pleasant mood they had been struggling to grapple had come with ease to them. The noon meal wasn't much, but it had been fulfilling. The sun was no longer above her head and it wouldn't be long before light would slowly start to dim.

She asked him, if they were to continue in the dark. The man had gone contemplative on her, thinking if it would be wise to move mindlessly without any direction. The alternative was just waiting and hoping for a miracle. It wasn't like he had been on receiving end of such a phenomenon on a regular basis. The only other option was doinging something to keep them busy. The waiting game was hard to play, atleast he didn't like it.

Still, he nodded in yes to rest for the night. Anyway there wasn't any map to follow, instead of tiring themselves while losing the current peace wasn't something he was planning on getting into. But it seems heaven was determined to go against him.

He felt it again. The fragility of the ground, the last time he had brushed it off with his imagination. However now he need to be more careful. But before he tugged Sana back from their current position, his fear had been realised to reality.

The wet muddy path they had been walking on had spiraled them within, drowning in dirt and water. Strangely water level had stilled to his chest level, surrounding them with a muddy wall so alike to the ground they had been walking for a while now. He turned to look for Sana who was no longer beside him. At one side he looked for her while at the other end he ordered Hussa to check for an opening to get out of this damn place. Even in such a chaotic state the flowerless grass had a strong grip to his tunic, not leaving his usual place, his shoulder. Same was not the case with his wife who was getting very cosy in releasing his hands and venturing alone.

Gulping little of the air available, he readied himself to jump into the water. Hussa too had found a small dried twing drilled into the muddy wall to jump onto. They soon separated to their new position and worked on the way to get out of this strange prison.

His eyes were on autopilot, looking around, but the girl seems to have been vanished. Not even a single trace of her. He dived even deeper, not knowing the depth his current prison. The place was too narrow to run his hand around. It was no less than a miracle to fit in two beings like them in such a tiny space filled with water. But the depth seems unending. He just hoped she wasn't too far down. The tightness in his chest had started to grow, it wouldn't be long before he had to resurface above and breathe again. The suffocating place didn't have much air to draw in too. Even the cloudy days wouldn't be as frustrating as his current days which loved throwing him out of balance with such high frequency.

With his hands and body aligned straight, he dived deeper and deeper with the force of his flapping legs. The girl was nowhere to be seen, feeling the end of his breathing stretch, he turned upwards to draw in more air. After few long breaths, he felt more like himself. Even though he had lived his entire life by ocean side and loved diving into the water since the time he wasn't even enrolled in Tarashala. It shouldn't scare him, the deep water. But he was feeling it, it wasn't even that far down, not even close to the level of water surrounding Astra. Yet the fear was more real than ever. The end he narrowly escaped few days ago was much more clearer now.

The water level had risen a little more above his chest. He turned his head around for Hussa, not seeing him anywhere. The grass was really bent on angering him, he called his name a few times hoping he didn't have to attempt another rescue.

As Rishi continued calling for a while, a green crawling creature appeared too near to his eyes. Fearing some kind of attack, he moved far away, his back now touching other end of the mud wall. The taut muscles of his body was ready to fight back. He waited and waited, yet the weird green being didn't move an inch.