Winter Embers [ Book 2 ]

Chapter Six

          The moment her fingers penetrated the glowing swirl, tiny pearls of light scattered outward before rushing back, sticking to her skin. The tiny balls melted, the golden glow spreading out and merging into one another and bringing with them an intense warmth that was almost too much for Claire to handle. It spread up her fingers, to her hands, and up her arms until she was completely engulfed.

          Claire could only watch in awe as the light spread and the burning in her lungs abated. The need to breathe became an afterthought and the only thing that mattered in that instance was the light. It grew steadily brighter, so bright that even when Claire closed her eyes it was all she could see, and then it winked out suddenly, leaving Claire in absolute darkness.

          In the next instant, Claire's still outstretched fingers broke the surface of the water. Her head followed, the air rushing into her lungs was cold and painful, but welcomed nonetheless. She floundered for a moment, nearly going back under before she was able to get her arms to function properly again. In her struggle to stay afloat, Claire barely noticed the chill that was creeping over her, or the snow that drifted gently from the dark sky above. Her teeth began to chatter violently against one another and she knew that she needed to get out of the pool and quickly or else she was going to freeze to death.

          Claire did a quick glance at her surroundings and swam towards what seemed like the nearest shoreline. While in reality it took only a minute or two to reach the muddy bank, it seemed like an eternity. Between the steepness of the terrain, the slick, snow coated muck, and the numbness in her fingers, Claire found climbing out of the pool far more difficult than she initially anticipated.

         By the time she managed to crawl out she was exhausted, the cold having sapped all the strength she had from her body. As she lay on the hard ground, two thoughts rose above all the rest. Had she made it and where the hell was Draz?

          Closing her eyes, Claire took a deep, steadying breath, grimacing at the way the cold air seemed to stab like icy needles at her lungs. Why had Draz thought that this was a good idea? She was so tired and all she really wanted to do was sleep for a little while. In the back of her mind was a nagging feeling that she probably shouldn't, but she couldn't remember why.

          Pushing up onto her hands and knees, Claire tried to crawl but only made it a few more feet before she collapsed again. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the black, starless sky. Maybe she should just wait there for Draz. Surely he couldn't have been that far behind her.

          Claire wasn't sure how long she lay there, drifting in and out of consciousness, before she heard the voices. At first she thought she was imagining things, the voices sounded far away, like a distant memory.

          As the voices drew closer, however, they also grew louder and Claire could make out bits and pieces of what was being said.

           "...gone... just a... minutes..."

          "How could... leave..."

          "I didn't think..."

          "Claire!"

          The sound of her name jerked Claire from her state of semi consciousness and she opened her eyes to see two round, white faces hovering over her in the darkness. The eyes were wide with alarm and she could see their lips moving but heard nothing but a deafening silence.

          "Move," another voice finally broke the silence.

          "Is she okay?"

          "What were you thinking? I told you to wait here!"