Chapter 15

NYLA and Rowan hit a mass of water beneath them, hard. Rowan resurfaced, and took a deep breath of air, having struggled to find his way up to the surface after the fall. Surrounding him were hard stone walls and water fell to his left from a hole in the rock. He quickly spotted the shore but noticed that Nyla hadn’t surfaced yet.

“Nyla?” He called, “Nyla!” He turned around trying to spot the raven-haired girl but couldn’t find her. He took a deep breath and dived down into the dark water below him. Submerged, he lit up his hand to cast light in the dark waters and immediately spotted her, drifting in the water, unconscious. He quickly swam toward her and gripped her around the waist and swam to the surface.

Rowan quickly paddled to shore and carried Nyla out the last few meters and laid her on her back. He noticed that she wasn’t breathing and immediately began pressing down on her chest before covering her mouth with his and breathed air into her lungs. Rowan continued the process several more times as Nyla still wasn’t breathing.

“Come on, Nyla.” Rowan tried again and finally, she reacted, coughing up water. He sighed in relief as he patted her back to help her get the rest of the water out.

Nyla groaned as she propped herself on her elbows. After coughing some more, she winced as she tried to move. Rowan saw this.

“What’s wrong?”

“My ankle,” She coughed, taking in a ragged breath, “I think it’s twisted.”

Rowan made his way over to her right ankle and touched it, making her take a sharp intake of breath. “Well, something’s definitely wrong,” Rowan concluded. He looked around the chasm until he spotted a dead tree against the one side of the rock wall. He quickly went over to the tree and broke off some of the sturdier-looking branch sticks and headed back over to Nyla.

Rowan began placing the branches around her ankle when Nyla spoke again, “Where are we?”

“Some underground cave I suppose,” Rowan answered, looking around as well. Seeing what Rowan was doing, Nyla untied the ribbon around her hair and handed it to him to tie around her ankle. Rowan took it and tied the sticks tightly, “That should hold for now. Once we find our way out of here, Ezra can fix it up properly.” Rowan studied his surroundings again, seeing a pathway behind them, “Well, seeing as we can’t leave the way we came, I say we follow that path and see where it leads us.” He looked at an exasperated Nyla, “Want me to carry you?” He asked with a smug smile.

“Ugg,” She groaned. “Just help me up.”

Rowan chuckled then helped Nyla stand on her uninjured foot. She let out a pained sigh which made Rowan’s forehead crease with worry.

“Here,” he took Nyla’s arm and wrapped it around his shoulder and supported her. Nyla allowed him to help her and together the two wobbled their way down the unknown path.

The path finally opened to a glowing chasm. Rowan helped Nyla over to a large rock where she could lean against, then looked over towards what was glowing. It was a pond.

“It’s glowing green,” Nyla said.

“I noticed.” Came Rowan’s comment making Nyla give him a look, “You don’t think the piece is in there, do you?” Rowan asked, looking back over at Nyla. Nyla’s eyes widened then looked back over at the pond. Rowan began to walk toward it.

“Wait!” Nyla called, making Rowan jump from the sudden silence-splitting cry. He looked over at her, annoyed, “There could be a charm or something.”

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Rowan replied. Nyla sighed at his confidence.

Rowan looked hesitant but then carried on toward the pond. Nyla watched as Rowan submerged himself into the pond and waited.

Too long. Rowan’s been under for too long. Several minutes had passed and he still hadn’t resurfaced yet. Panicking, Nyla called out, “Rowan!” No movement in the water alerted her that Rowan was on his way up, “Rowan!” She called again and was about to make her way towards the pond when Rowan suddenly emerged, blowing water from his mouth, and taking in gulps of air, coughing. Nyla sighed with relief.

“Guess what I found.” Rowan panted.

“Your maturity perhaps?” Nyla muttered. Rowan smiled and raised his hand, a twisted object floating there. Rowan paddled over to Nyla, the green glow following him. He headed to Nyla with the piece in hand. Nyla let out her breath when she saw the Althea piece floating in his palm.

“Would you like the honours?” Rowan asked.

Nyla shook her head. “You found it, you destroy it.”

Rowan nodded then turned to face away from Nyla. He let the floating piece leave his palm then took the charm from his belt and tossed it at the piece. As like the previous piece, a white glowing sphere encircled it, glowing brighter and brighter, making Nyla and Rowan close their eyes. The glowing sphere exploded, destroying the piece within.

“Another one down,” Rowan headed over to rest against the boulder Nyla was leaning on.

“What took you so long?” She demanded shoving Rowan. He chuckled.

“Well, the piece was embedded in a rock at the bottom of the pond, so I had to remove it first,” He explained.

Nyla sighed and was about to speak again when the ground began to rumble and shake.

Rocks began to fall from the ceiling as the quaking subsided. Their relief was short-lived as the wall across them exploded. Rowan shielded Nyla with his body. While the dust began to settle, Rowan looked over to the hole in the wall, half expecting to see Enid or Kai there but was shocked when it was someone he didn’t recognize.

“Well, well, well.” The stranger said, “What have we here?”

The man was thin in build, like he was malnourished, and wore several layers of tattered robe. His blonde hair was cut short and tied behind his head in a small uneven ponytail and his green eyes glimmered with malice.

Rowan stood in front of Nyla protectively, making the stranger smile even wider. Streams of smoke flew into the cave from behind the intruder, filling up the chasm. Nyla and Rowan coughed as the smoke entered their lungs which felt as though they were on fire. Their airways became constricted, and they struggled to breathe. Black dots decorated their vision as they fell unconscious.