I Figured

Taskar chose to flee. He could've chosen to stop Ning's water from drowning him in his lungs, but the water was already in there. Stopping him from making more would still drown him with what had already appeared.

So, getting away and saving himself was the proper way.

Thus, he crawled forward and jumped into the portal. When he appeared on the other side, he started coughing violently, even using Aether to force out the water in his lungs.

He coughed and coughed and coughed. Finally, after almost all the water in his lungs was gone, he opened his eyes, and saw a pair of shoes completely sprayed with his coughed out water.

The right foot moved and before he could prepare himself, it struck his face, sending him hurling away.

Taskar felt his face burn with pain and he splashed in some water. He had appeared on the riverbank of one of the locations he had been to during the last 3 days and remembered it well enough to come here.