Fear

The lake stretched before me, its surface glassy and still, reflecting the moon in perfect clarity. Acheron had let me out here alone again. He trusted me not to run. Maybe he thought I couldn't. I took a slow step onto the water's surface, testing its hold beneath my feet. The technique Sylvin had taught me had grown more stable, more natural. I smiled despite myself. Acheron still believed I couldn't shape water, that I was too weak still, too powerless. But he was wrong. I lifted my hands, feeling my power surge underneath my skin, gathering liquid into form. Slowly, Malik's likeness took shape—strong jaw, his perfect curly hair, and his fierce eyes, every feature carved in water. My heart ached at the sight of him, the ache of longing that never ceased. Taking a breath, I reached for him. "Just for a moment," I whispered, stepping closer. He felt solid beneath my fingers, though I knew it was only an illusion. I placed my hand in his, and we danced—just like we used to. As I moved so did he, in perfect harmony. As I twirled, I sang the lullaby my mother had taught me. The melody was soft, soothing, wrapping around me like a distant memory. But as the final note left my lips, my vision blurred. Tears slid down my face, as I stopped dancing, my skirt curling around my legs. Malik's expression remained lifeless, unfeeling. The illusion would never hold him the way I longed for, would never warm me like he once did. My hands trembled as I pressed my forehead to his chest. "I miss you," I whispered. Tears rolled down my cheeks melding with the water from the lake. My concentration wavered. The sculpture collapsed, splashing into the lake with a violent ripple. I gasped, losing my balance as the water churned beneath me. The surface cracked like glass, and I plunged into the depths. The cold hit me like a blade, shocking my senses. My lungs seized. I kicked upward, breaking the surface with a gasp, but the world spun. My vision swam. My head throbbed, and I started to sink.

Hundreds of Years Ago

I wasn't in the lake anymore. I was floating—a silent observer, weightless in time. The water around me was thick with shadows, murky and suffocating. A disturbance above sent a tremor through the abyss. Then, a tendril of black smoke sliced through the water, faster than anything I'd ever seen. A girl struggled at the surface.

Mallory.

The darkness reached her first. I wanted to scream, to move, to do something—but I was trapped in place, forced to watch. The smoke coiled around her like a viper, slithering up her body and tightening its grip. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. Bubbles escaped, rising toward the distant light. I saw her fingers claw desperately, but the smoke didn't loosen. It squeezed, her body convulsing against the pressure. And then— It ripped something from her. Her eyes went blank. Her limbs went still. And then, it let her go. She drifted, weightless. Back towards the surface. The water had swallowed her whole.

Present Day

A jolt shot through my body. I was back—but the abyss remained. The darkness wrapped around me, pressing in from all sides. I couldn't tell which way was up or down. Panic clawed at my chest. No light. Nothing. There should have been no air, I should have been drowning, yet a thin pocket of air remained around my mouth and nose. Was it infinite? Or running out? How much had I already used? I need to get out. I exhaled, watching the bubbles drift—there. I turned and swam, arms cutting through the water. My legs burned, but the surface felt impossibly far. Then something grabbed me. A blackened hand latched around my ankle, tight as iron. I screamed, the sound warping in the water. The bubble around my face wavered, and I inhaled—no! My lungs burned, as water came rushing through them. I tried not to cough, to fight against the instinct to breathe. The tendrils of smoke coiled around me, vast and endless. The abyss itself had come alive, surrounding me, waiting. But it didn't take me. It just watched. And then, just as suddenly as it had grabbed me—

It let go.

The light above broke through the darkness. I kicked, my body screaming for the surface. The moment my head breached the air, I choked, coughing violently, expelling the water from my lungs. Voices. Shouts. Sylvin, Luna, and Acheron. I barely registered them as I gasped for breath. Thrashing in the water my energy depleted. Sylvin reached me first, his ice forming a bridge across the water. He yanked me up into his arms, holding me close. I was shaking so badly I could barely think. "Audra!" His voice was sharp, terrified. "What happened?" I couldn't answer. My teeth chattered. My lips trembled around words that refused to come. He carried me back to the shore and set me down in the grass. Luna knelt beside us, her eyes narrowing in confusion. "She's… fine?" Acheron was silent, but I could feel his stare. Cold. Calculating. "How is she fine?" he snapped. "She was under for fifteen minutes. Who knows how long before we noticed?" Luna only shrugged. "She had oxygen somehow. Her body's fine—just cold and shaken." "That's not possible," Acheron muttered, his jaw tightening. His eyes studied me, as if my from alone would tell him how I survived underwater for so long. Luna stood, brushing off her hands. "I need to run a more thorough check. Let's go." Sylvin helped me to the lab where I sat on the cold metal table, still trembling. Luna checked my vitals, murmuring to herself as she wrote. "Other than mild hypothermia, you're fine," she said, setting down her clipboard. "You want to tell me what happened?" She said quizingly, her brow raised. I swallowed, clearing my throat. "I was practicing walking on the lake. I lost focus, fell in, and…" I hesitated. "I saw another vision of the past. When I woke up, I was too deep to see the surface. Somehow, my magic formed a bubble of air around my nose and mouth." Luna frowned. "Your magic pulled oxygen from the water—constantly cycling it to keep you breathing." She tilted her head. "It should have dissolved after a few minutes, though. Strange."

Strange.

That was one word for it. She released me, and I climbed the stairs back to my room. But Acheron was waiting at the top. Without a word, he handed me dry clothes. His expression was unreadable. "Change. Meet me outside." I changed quickly into the leggings and tank top. I ran a brush through my hair pulling it into a low bun. As my feet echoed down the concrete stairs I couldn't help think about what happened earlier. As I stepped through the outside door i noticed how the moon cast it's pale light over the garden, its glow glinting off Acheron's exposed skin. Scars stretched across his chest and arms, reminders of battles long past. His silver-white hair was bound in intricate Norse braids, sharp and messy. His gaze burned into me, as I walked up to him. "Water shaping," he said flatly. "Continue it." I hesitated. "Start simple. Replicate the fish in the pond." I raised my hands, reaching for the water—but the second it touched my fingers, the memory of the abyss swallowed me whole. The feeling of drowning. Of something being taken from me. The water slipped from my grasp. Acheron's eyes flashed with frustration. "Again." I tried. And failed.

Again.

And again.

Acheron snapped. Fire erupted around him as he turned, hurling flames at the ground in fury. "What the hell happened to you in that lake?" He seized my wrist, his grip tight. Tears welled in my eyes. "I saw what happened to Mallory," I choked. "I saw it take her power. And when I woke up—it had me too. But it let me go." Something flickered in Acheron's expression. Fear? Rage? The emotion was barely readable. Then, without another word, he stormed off. Leaving me alone in the dark, a crumpled, crying mess. Sylvin came out eventually, guiding me back inside. But sleep was impossible.

Because every time I closed my eyes—

I was drowning all over again.