Chapter 124

"Hydrangea!" His words barely reached her and she looked down to see the snow giving way beneath her feet.

Her eyes went wide with fear. She raised her hands to try and grab hold of something, anything.

A scream escaped her lips as the ground gave way entirely and she crashed into the dark waters below.

Her heart pounded and her skin was instantly pricked by the glacially freezing water. She could actually feel it. Bubbles rose around her and chunks of snow and ice drifted past her and to the depths.

She kicked her feet and moved her arms to raise herself to the surface. She gasped for air and raised her eyes to the sky and edge of the snow above. The white snow was stark against the blue ice and black waters.

She couldn't see the Sovereign.

"Sovereign." She whispered through chattering teeth, "Bastian."

She was positive her lips were a shade of blue. She could no longer feel her limbs as they moved to keep her afloat.

The barrier between the surface and the water was at least three metres in length. The ice was a metre thick and the snow was deep and densely packed.

She suddenly felt something move her foot. Her breath hitched and she looked down into the water, effectively getting her nose and mouth wet again.

She could see nothing but the darkness. She heard a loud bellow that echoed against the ice. It shook the snow causing it to splash into the water.

Her breathing increased and she began to swim towards the ice. The bellowing grew louder and her breaths came out as whimpers.

"Hydrangea!" He called but she couldn't see him.

She reached the ice but her fingers were too numb and raw she couldn't grip and climb.

"Bastian!" She called and a loud cracking sound resounded as the ice on the opposite side of the pool burst and cracked from an resonating impact.

She shrieked and was forced under the water by falling snow. Her limbs were becoming lethargic and her mind tired. She blinked and looked into the vast depths beneath her dangling feet.

A shadow moved with frightening speed. Her heart leapt out of her chest and she unwittingly inhaled water.

She swam as fast as she could towards the surface, her limbs painfully numb as she struggled to push past the face of the waters. Her lungs burned for oxygen.

She looked over her shoulder and could make out a massive shadow in the dark.

She strained her muscles to their limit and finally reached above the pitch dark water. She gasped and coughed violently for air.

"Hydrangea! Take my hand!" She heard the Sovereign yell but she couldn't discern from which direction it had come.

"Hydrangea!"

She looked to her right and saw him stretching out his hand, his other hand grasping a rope.

Another bellow rang out.

She swam towards him and grabbed hold of his hand but hers, still slick from the water and numb from the cold, slipped from his.

"No!" He yelled in desperation as she fell back beneath the churning waters. Her eyes had only met his for a second but his fear matched hers.

She again strained with all her might and her head bobbed above the waters.

"Come on, Hydrangea! Reach!" He shouted.

She blinked away the water from her aching eyes and reached both her hands up. She panted in relief when he'd caught her. She clung to him as he pulled her up and out of the numbing darkness.

He helped her to wrap her numb arms around him waist. He then began to climb up the wall of white ice and snow.

A loud bellow sounded and shook the ice. More snow fell and floated on the dark, trembling water.

"Wh-wh-what is th-that?" She asked looking down into the pool and seeing a shadow move past it.

"A furred seal." He responded with a strained voice as he dug his dagger into the snow.

Her eyes widened and she clung tighter to him when she saw a large body skim the surface of the water and break off some ice with a jarring strike.

"Damn." The Sovereign muttered, "It's trying to knock us in."

She looked back down and saw that it was indeed causing the snow to break off and collapse into the water.

She wanted to scream for him to hurry but knew it would make no difference.

The beast attacked again and snow directly next to them fell off and into the depths. It bellowed angrily when it saw that they were yet to fall.

She looked up and saw that they were only a few feet from the edge of the top.

With a grunt the Sovereign pulled both of them up and they collapsed on the snow.

The creature raged and their surroundings shook as it continued to try and bring them beneath the ice.

After a few minutes it subsided and she assumed that the beast had given up. She felt confused at first as to why everything still shook when she realized that she was shivering.

"Hydrangea." He murmured and she felt him shift and bring her into his arms. He began walking but she couldn't open her eyes.

He placed her on what she recognized as a saddle and then he climbed on up after her.

"We'll make it to Domkorolei by sundown." He said as he removed her soaking wet cloak and replaced it with one of his. He also placed a different mask over her face, one that smelled like him.

But none of those things did anything to help. Her bones had been touched by the cold and rattled incessantly as she shivered. Her teeth chattered so forcefully she thought her tongue would soon be bitten through.

"Just stay alive till then." He muttered and she felt his hand on her damp head.

Tree then took off at a gallop through the snow. The wind had returned and viciously attacked them as they burrowed through the ice fields.

She felt a prick of guilt and shame. Why had she jumped off the horse and caused all that trouble? Why couldn't she had let her thoughts brew inside her?

She was still angry. Still feeling bitter and sad. This entire journey was unfair. She hugged herself as the Sovereign rode on.

Yet… he saved her. He risked his own life, same as he had many times for her. He was not the same person, she knew that. But this new person was once a terrible man. What if he became that man again? There was no trusting him.

She fell into a fitful sleep. She wished she could trust him.