Marin broke the surface of the water with a ragged gasp, the frigid air slicing into his lungs. Around him, the dark waters of the lake heaved and shifted, the currents pulling and pushing as if the very soul of the lake was restless. His heart pounded in his chest, each beat carrying the desperate echo of one thought: Ada. The cold bit into him, but he felt it only distantly, numb to everything but the growing panic gnawing at his mind.

Ben and Leora bobbed nearby, each of them gasping for breath, their faces pale as they clung to whatever fragments of debris they could reach. Leora’s wide, unseeing eyes reflected the horror that clung to each of them, her grip on a piece of driftwood tight. Ben floated close to her, his face haggard, his breath coming in shuddering gasps. Marin barely registered their presence; his eyes scanned over them quickly, his gaze fixed on the dark, churning waters, on the desperate hope that the next face he saw would be Ada’s.

A surge lifted him, and he forced himself to breathe as Orla broke the surface beside him, coughing and sputtering, her face pale as she took in their surroundings. She reached out to him, her voice soft and tremulous. "Marin… what happened?"

Her words barely penetrated the fog of panic clouding his thoughts. The image of Ada flashed before him, the moment she’d let go, the fleeting sensation of her slipping from his grasp. She’d been there, so close—and then she wasn’t. Now, every wave that rose and fell seemed to mock him, carrying shadows that faded to nothing.

“Have you seen Ada?” His voice cracked as he shouted the question, the desperation laced through every syllable. Orla’s face softened with worry, and she shook her head slowly. "I thought she was with you."

Another surge of water, and his heart leapt as he spotted a figure rising from the depths. Serena surfaced nearby, her normally calm composure shattered, her breaths short and frantic. Not far from her, Selena emerged, her hair plastered against her face, her eyes wild with the same disorientation and disbelief that clouded them all.

"Serena! Selena!" Marin called, clinging to that shred of hope as he strained to make his voice heard. "Have you seen Ada?"

Their heads shook, and he saw the same fear that clawed at his chest mirrored in their eyes. The water’s rhythmic pull and push grew more urgent, the icy currents carrying their fragile cluster of survivors in a slow drift. Callen broke through the surface next, his breaths ragged, and each of them, instinctively, drew closer, seeking the warmth of one another’s presence against the icy lake and the growing isolation.

Around him, he sensed the others beginning to breathe with the faintest glimmer of relief, a fragile, hesitant acceptance of their survival. But for Marin, there was no relief—only the encroaching dread that grew sharper with each passing second, with every face that wasn’t hers.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself back under the water, the murky darkness swallowing him whole. He peered through the silty blackness, searching for the faintest movement, anything that might be her. Ada, please. The cold pressed in harder, his lungs beginning to burn, but he forced himself to reach deeper, fingers outstretched, heart pounding with a fierce, desperate hope.

But all his fingers met was emptiness.

He broke the surface again, the air harsh in his lungs, his breath shallow and strained. Marin felt the weight of the others’ gazes on him, a silent sympathy, a helplessness that only drove his fear deeper. He could barely look at them, unable to bear their pity.

“Marin,” Orla’s voice was soft, but it felt like a knife twisting in his chest. “You need to conserve your strength.”

He shook his head, stubborn and unyielding, his throat tight. “I can’t leave her down there,” he murmured, the words choking him.

The lake continued to heave and shift, the unseen currents tugging at them, pulling them farther from the place where the council hall had stood. Every second felt like sand slipping through his fingers, dragging her farther from him. He felt it—the looming finality of it all—but he pushed the thought away, clinging to his refusal, his heart echoing a single, silent plea.

Ada… please.

Orla approached, reaching out cautiously, her fingers brushing his arm. “Marin… are you ok?” she said softly, an unfamiliar gentleness in her voice.

He flinched at her touch, eyes narrowing. “Since when do you care?” he snapped, the bitterness sharp in his tone.

She hesitated, the hurt flickering across her face. “I’ve always cared,” she replied quietly. “I know I haven’t shown it, but right now, we need each other.”

He let out a hollow laugh. “Need each other? That’s rich coming from you.”

“Please, Marin,” Leora interjected, her voice trembling. She swam closer, her movements laboured against the waves. “We can’t stay here. The water’s pulling us out.”

He glanced at her, his expression softening momentarily before hardening again. “I’m not leaving without Ada.”

“Think about what she would want,” Orla urged, her eyes pleading. “She wouldn’t want you to risk yourself like this.”

“Don’t pretend to know what she would want,” he retorted. “You barely knew her.”

Orla’s gaze dropped, a mixture of regret and sorrow washing over her features. “You’re right,” she admitted. “But I’m trying to make it right now.”

“Too late,” he muttered, turning away.

A few feet away, Serena shuddered “What… was he?” she whispered to the others, her eyes distant with lingering horror. “The way he transformed…”

Selena nodded, her face pale. “I can’t get it out of my head,” she murmured. “Those screams... the... the claws.”

Ben gravely shook his head, “What did we just experience?”

Callen stared into the dark water, his voice barely above a whisper. “All those people... friends, family. Lost.”

Marin's fists tightened at their words, his nails digging into his palms. The weight of their collective grief pressed down on him, but it only fuelled his determination. “You all can go,” he said curtly. “I’m staying here.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Marin, please be reasonable,” Orla implored, fighting to keep her voice steady. “We won’t survive out here much longer.”

He shot her a fierce glare. “Reasonable? Now you want to talk about survival?”

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“Protect me? Like you protected the town?”

Orla recoiled slightly, pain flashing across her face. “That’s not fair,” she whispered.

“Fair?” His voice rose, carried by the wind. “Was it fair that you were never there? That you chose the council over your own family?”

Leora reached out, her hand gentle on his shoulder. “This isn't helping,” she said softly. “We need to stick together.”

He shrugged her off, his gaze fixed on the churning waters. “I didn't ask for your help.”

A tense silence settled between them, the only sounds the relentless lapping of waves and their ragged breaths.

Serena exchanged a worried glance with Selena. “We have to move,” she said firmly, raising her voice to be heard. “Marin, we only managed to make six cleansing potions. We drank two, Thorn and Callen had one, and can we assume that your mother and Leora had the last two?”

Marin’s expression darkened, nodding as he remembering the choices they had made.

“That means we need to leave now, even though you and Ada didn’t take part in the ritual you were still likely infected by the food Finnian donated.” She paused. “What good would you be to Ada if you transformed… what if you attacked us… or her?”

Ben nodded solemnly. “She's right. We can't stay here.”

Orla looked back at Marin, desperation in her eyes. “Listen to them. Please.”

He hesitated, conflict raging within him. The cold was seeping deeper, his limbs growing heavier. “If I leave, I'm giving up on her,” he whispered.

He closed his eyes, the image of Ada slipping beneath the water burned into his mind. The thought of leaving this spot felt like a betrayal, but the exhaustion was overwhelming.

A hush seemed to fall over the group, a tense stillness broken only by their laboured breaths and the soft, uneven rhythm of the lake’s shifting waters.

Marin opened his eyes slowly, resigned to the painful decision before him, and he caught sight of Leora, her face drained of colour as she stared past him, transfixed.

“Leora?” he asked, his voice rough, but she didn’t respond. Her expression was vacant, as if her very spirit had been stripped away.

“This isn’t real… It—it can’t be real…” Her voice was barely a whisper, a fragile thread of sound that wavered and broke. She shook her head slowly, her gaze distant, trapped in the nightmare unfolding before her. Her limbs stilled, her movements slowing until she seemed to forget to tread water, her arms drifting limply at her sides.

The other survivors glanced at her, confused, their bodies sluggish and exhausted from the ordeal. Callen stretched out a trembling hand. “Leora? What—?”

But she didn’t respond. Leora’s lips moved silently; her gaze fixed on something beyond the group. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, as if she were struggling to breathe, and then, very slowly, her arm lifted—a single finger pointing into the distance.

“Look,” she whispered, the word so soft it was almost lost in the gentle lapping of the water.

They hesitated, their limbs heavy with fatigue, too weary and broken to want to turn around. Fear anchored them, making them want to stay facing forward, unwilling to bear witness to one more horror. But something in Leora’s gaze—the pure, naked terror—compelled them to look.

“By the gods…” Orla breathed. Her face drained of colour.

“No… No, no, no…” Ben sobbed.

Marin turned, his heart pounding painfully in his chest. He blinked, his throat tightening, his breath hitching as his eyes finally registered what lay before them.

The town of Halrest.

Or what was left of it.

Marin felt his heart drop as he took in the scene. "No..." he whispered, the word barely a breath against the vast silence that engulfed them.

In front of them, the town lay half-submerged in the lake. The rooftops of once-familiar homes jutted out at crooked angles, barely visible above the waterline. Chimneys stood like scattered posts, some collapsing, others holding against the weight of water pressing down.

The streets were gone, now dark channels that wound between what remained of buildings. Windows gaped open, hollow and empty, stripped of the warmth they had once held. Algae and seaweed draped over doorways and walls, trailing in the water, marking each building like a scar from the lake’s invasion.

The water itself seemed alive, swirling with an oily sheen that reflected sickly shades of green and blue under the moonlight. Broken pieces of their lives drifted past them—shattered carts, a fallen sign, a child’s doll turning slowly on the current. Here and there, tendrils of mist rose from the water’s surface, curling upward and vanishing into the night.

Beneath the surface, shadows moved. Strange creatures with too many limbs, or fins that glinted with an unnatural light, twisted slowly through the ruins, their eyes gleaming in the depths, watching.

"Is this... is this real?" Selena's voice quavered, barely audible.

Callen shook his head slowly, his face ashen. "It can't be," he murmured. "Halrest... our home... it's gone."

Selena covered her mouth, stifling a sob. "Everything we knew... everyone..."

Callen’s usually steady demeanour wavered, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "My shop... my wife... they're all down there."

Serena’s gaze was distant, her voice hollow. "We were just there. How could everything change so quickly?"

Marin stared at the ruins below, his mind reeling, the thought of Ada’s last moments consuming him. “Ada…” he whispered, her name barely a breath.

Orla’s face was tight with both horror and determination. "We need to move," she urged, her voice strained but steady. "It’s not safe here."

"Not safe?" Marin rounded on her, a raw edge to his voice. "Look around us! Nowhere is safe anymore!"

Leora's eyes filled with fresh tears. "Do you think anyone made it out?" Her voice was soft, trembling with the weight of unasked questions.

Ben wiped a hand over his face, smearing lake water and tears. "I don’t know," he replied, his voice a rough whisper. "I just... I can't believe this is happening."

Callen clenched his fists, the knuckles going white. "Those things... those monsters we saw. They've destroyed everything."

"How could this happen?" Selena weakly let out.

Silence fell over them, heavy and absolute, their breaths the only sound above the soft lapping of the waves.

“What do we do now?” Leora asked finally, her voice small and broken.

Serena straightened, a flicker of resolve in her tired eyes. "We survive," she said firmly. "We owe it to those we’ve lost."

Ben nodded; his expression grim but determined. "She’s right. We can’t give up."

Callen glanced toward the darkened treeline. "Maybe the woods can give us some shelter."

Selena shivered. "Who knows what's out there waiting?"

Marin’s voice cut through the quiet. "Does it even matter?" His voice was thick with despair. "Everything’s gone. Everyone… Ada…" His voice broke, the weight of her absence pressing down on him.

Orla reached out, her hand hovering uncertainly. "Marin..."

He pulled back, the grief twisting into something sharp. "Don’t. You can’t fix this."

Her hand fell back, her voice quiet. "I know. But we can try to keep going."

He gestured toward the lake, his words thick with anger and pain. "Look at it, Mother! Look at what we’ve lost!"

Leora wiped her eyes, glancing between them. "We have to stick together," she whispered. "It’s all we have left."

Selena moved closer; her voice soft. "Staying here won’t bring her back, Marin."

He closed his eyes, fighting back the images of Ada that lingered in his mind, the memories now tinged with raw loss.

Serena’s voice was gentle but firm. "We need you, Marin. We need each other."

Marin took a slow, unsteady breath, looking at the faces around him. Their shared grief, their barely-held-together strength, was mirrored in his own heart.

"Fine," he whispered, the word filled with exhaustion. "But if there’s any chance, she’s out there..."

Orla gave him a small nod. "We’ll find her. Together."

Ben managed a faint, reassuring smile. "First, let’s get to shore."

Callen nodded, his gaze settling on the forest beyond. "Then we figure out what’s next."

They turned reluctantly, each movement heavy with fatigue as they began to swim north. The water resisted them, clinging as if reluctant to let them go.

Leora glanced back, her voice barely more than a whisper. "What will we do… what if... something follows us?"

Serena’s jaw tightened. "Just swim… if anything follows, there’s nothing we can do."

Selena shuddered. "I just want to wake up from this nightmare."

"We all do," Callen replied quietly, his words a solemn echo.

They swam on in silence, each stroke a struggle against grief and exhaustion. And as the lake receded behind them, the weight of what they had lost settled, deep and unyielding, into their hearts.

.