Guarding the Angel

Chapter 12

As the water pushes me along, a sudden energy surges into my body. The pain that made me want to scream earlier dissipates. It's as if the energy of the river is flowing straight into the essence of my being, healing every wound on my body. It's too bad that what's actually happening is that my body just released a ton of adrenaline, temporarily masking the extent of my injuries. 

I've always been a strong swimmer, but that's in the controlled environment of a pool or in a smooth, still and crystal clear lake. The river is nothing like either a pool or lake. It jerks me along in random directions. I keep hitting hidden obstacles, such as submerged rocks. It's a struggle to keep my head above water long enough to inhale a single breath.

With every drop in the river, my hope drops too. There is a very small chance that I'm going to be spat out into a small pond or large body of water sitting serenely at the end of the river. It's more likely that the river will end deep in a system of caverns I won't get out of. 

Something grabs my leg as I'm yanked around another sharp bend. I kick feebly against whatever has it's grip on me. My free foot makes solid contact with the enemy. The grip loosens and I almost pull free but then my other leg is grabbed as the grip tightens again. 

I flop up and down, trying to free myself from whatever creature has taken a hold of me while keeping my face above the water frequently enough to breath. I feel like a flopping fish --- if only I had gills too. 

Whatever has me yanks me backwards towards itself. Its grippers move up my legs and to my torso. The grippers then wrap around my stomach and I'm pulled back until I can feel the predator's breath on the back of my neck. 

"Stop fighting me!" a familiar voice, with perhaps the most emotion I've ever heard from it, hisses into my ear.

My muscles go limp and I let Cloud wrap his wings around the two of us. The wings mostly block the water and I'm able to take several deep breaths. We spiral back and forth, hitting numerous obstacles. 

I'm glad for the coolness and the darkness of the cavern. Otherwise, I don't think I'd be able to contain the contents of my stomach. After at least an hour of tumbling through the water, a rushing sound of the river intensifies. Suddenly, Cloud and I are launched into the air. 

Cloud grabs me under the armpits. I hear his wings begin to beat rapidly. We fly forward and then slowly lower to solid ground. A moment later, several orbs of light illuminate our new location.

Large crystal structures surround a glittering pool of water. Leading into the pool is a giant waterfall. In the dim light of the orbs, the waterfall looks dark purple in color. I turn to look at Cloud. He's sitting on a nearby rock. All of his clothes are soaked through and his hair is sticking up in every direction. He grimaces while pulling off one of his boots. A fish falls out of the boot along with a bunch of water. 

Cloud's face goes blank as soon as he realizes I'm staring at him. I swallow and bite my lip. After shifting from foot to foot a couple of times, I say, "Thank you."

Cloud stares at me impassively. "It would've been inconvenient to find a replacement Protector if you died," he says flatly. 

The corners of my mouth twitch up. "I'm glad to keep you from inconvenience." I don't know if it's because I swallowed too many tadpoles or because there is definitely a crayfish or five clawing through my hair, but the beginning of my smile turns into a full grin as I crash to the stone floor. 

I wake up to find Cloud leaning over me. His eyes are closed and he is humming an eerie tune while white light pours from his hands into my chest. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"I'm feeding your negative potential," he says.

It's more like he's feeding my pain. With every passing second, it feels like a fire is intensifying, burning me from the inside out. It won't be long before I turn into ashes like my house. Then, all pain subsides. I look up at Cloud in surprise as he stumbles back from me. His face seems paler than normal, but it might be the lighting. 

My blood runs cold. "Cloud, where's Pat?" 

"He jumped into the river after you. I'm sure he'll arrive here eventually. My wings are more hydrodynamic than your mortal skins," he says.

I explode, leaping to my feet and waving my hands up and down repeatedly. "Pat won't survive! I only survived because of you! How could you leave him to drown? Earlier, I told him not to call you a monster, but now that seems too kind of a term for you. You've completely disrupted our lives and now you've condemned Pat to death because of it. How dare you! I thought that I had already seen the worst that people could be to each other, but I was clearly wrong. There's a saying that goes 'Only tragedy and chickens thrown from an airplane fall from the sky'. That saying should be modified to say---" 

Cloud lets out a single, short laugh. I pause mid-rant, with my mouth still open. 

"Your bizarre friend is fine. He did try to jump into the river after you. Velica wouldn't let him go. Now, he's become her prisoner. There's at least a twenty percent chance she won't kill him." Cloud grins.