I’m drowning.

The sensation hits me full force, like I’ve been out of breath for some time and I’m dropping into the middle of the agony. My throat constricts around the feeling, a liquid sloshing in my lungs, up my esophagus. It pools in mouth and dribbles through my teeth.

I try to breathe, to suck in a bubble of air, but the liquid fills every space and I can’t get through to oxygen!

My body spasms and my fingers claw at the floor, the pain of my nails scraping stone dulls against the agony of my chest.

There’s screaming, from somewhere, muted, and for a moment a lucid thought springs into my mind, that it can’t be from me because there’s no air I could release. I want it to stop, want it all to stop, want to reach the end of the drowning…and then… it does.

There’s a hand in mine that’s cold and my mind drifts towards the sensation when another touch, more distracting than the first lingers at the back of my head. It’s faint, nearly intangible, and it reminds me of the tower, of the hazy presence as I drifted in and out of consciousness.

It’s warm… and soft.

A sigh escapes my lips and the clarity of the motion startles me, accompanied by the realization that there’s no liquid constricting my breaths.

[Wake up.]

My eyes flicker open.

Swaying icy hair and a stubby rock arm hover in my vision. “Are you okay?” Lueraine’s voice is slightly strained, and I’m reminded that I’m the guardian of these children, temporary as it is. I need to be more careful. I don’t want them to end up alone…like I am.

“Yes,” I whisper. I shift up onto my elbows and take a deep breath, feeling again the blissful emptiness. “What happened?”

Wail tips back and forth on his stubby feet. “You slept.”

“He’s right,” Lueraine agrees. “You were so quiet, and then when we called you, you didn’t answer.” Her ice-cold hand releases mine and taps my forehead. She does it twice, and I squint at the feeling. “Do you feel better now?”

“Feel better?” Huh… I do. But not just the fact that I can breathe again, the fatigue is gone. My limbs are relaxed and free from the ache I expected to seize me. “Did you use the healing sap?”

The little girl shakes her head and she wiggles her fingers. “Emuzhav [cold people] …we help make people feel better.”

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That thought strikes me as odd. Was that normal?

I search my mind, trying to grab a related thought and the closest I can find is doctor. Is that what this is? And now that I’m thinking about it, is that why she keeps holding my hand, to heal me?

“Well, thank you,” I finally say. It’ll be convenient, to have a doctor in our trio of wanderers. “Wail, do the welashzhav also have something like that?”

The boulder shakes his head, but doesn’t add anything more. Instead it’s Lueraine who answers. “The welashzhav [land people] can make their own energy. That’s why the zhavleens take them.”

Them. So they’ve done it before.

“Many want to use the welashzhav for their ability to make energy. Because of that, we hadn’t been able to find Welashrepal’s family.” She becomes uncertain then. The dark blue eyebrows dipping above white eyes. “But…you’re here to help us, aren’t you?” The blue lips press into a line. “I heard Naalfemwep ask you to take care of us.”

“Yeah.” It suddenly feels heavier than it did before. “We’ll figure this out. I’ll take you both home.” But, how was I going to do that? Even if I took Wail to his mountain, or whatever it was, it sounded like his family wasn’t even there. And what about my family? Should I put finding them on hold until I take care of these kids?

I fully sit up and the two of them shift back, giving me room. Lueraine still looks concerned and she places her hand back in mine. Wail bobs back and forth on his feet, and while his geometric face is hard to read I imagine he looks happy. I need to take care of them. I need to get them home. I can’t leave them alone.

“I think our first step is to go somewhere I can become a guardian.” Especially now that I know more people could come after Wail.

“I can get us to the city,” Lueraine says.

“Good. Good.” But something could still happen between our arrival and becoming a guardian. I didn’t even know if I would qualify. I need to get the cape to work.

Well…

I should. But the memory of drowning is fresh, and I’m not eager to revisit it. “How soon can we leave?”

The little girl’s eyes flickered to the portal. “I can do it anytime.”

“And you said we’ll have to go through twice. Will there be a delay before we can take the second trip?”

Her head shakes and the icy hair flutters with the movement.

“Okay.” Okay.

I dive without a second thought, completely different than the first two times I was looking for the energy. Instead the descent is swift and direct, immediately latching on to the cool tendril. A door in my mind trembles, but I ignore it, trying to direct the feeling to the clasp at my neck. And then…it catches, and a slow pull sucks a bit of feeling from the stream.

My eyelids flutter open and I watch as the black cape ripples into a wave of white.

Wail’s reaction is first, a slight grunt leaving his mouth. Lueraine’s is second. Her eyes widen, then her hand tightens around mine and the confusion turns to curiosity.

I stand up fully and look down at the children. The top of Wail’s head is just at my waist and Lueraine is barely taller than him. Hmm… I could make this work.

I grab the edges of the cloak and step towards Wail, Lueraine naturally following. A quick tug and the white fabric is wrapped around the three of us. It’s a tight fit, and I’m not sure if it’s even working, if enclosing us will hide them too.

“Okay. We’re ready.” Maybe.

Still, I can’t stop the smile stretching my lips.

I finally got it to work.