Page 46 of Heiress of Fire

“Yes, of course.”

Davina grabbed his sword then he began to unlace his boots. Meanwhile, Davina observed his sword. The hilt was easy to grip and despite the thick blade, it was light as she moved it back and forth between her hands. Ron walked down the steps, the water of Cryogen Lake already enveloping his shins.

“I’ll be out in a minute, don’t you worry,” he said, then winked. Davina could see the grin on his face as he plunged gracefully into the water. She scoffed and shook her head at his shameless flirting.

She examined the carvings above the hilt of the sword which held designs of clouds, leaves, water, and what seemed to be flame sparks. The four designs over the hilt surely represented the four elemental islands of Bellatorm.

Davina counted down the seconds. A minute passed yet she couldn’t find a glimpse of his figure nearing the surface. He wouldn’t survive any longer down there.

She had promised him that everything was fine, but now she wasn’t so sure. Davina didn’t find herself prepared to face her fear of lakes.

“Ron?” she called.

He didn’t appear. She couldn’t do it. She wouldn’t do it.

But Ron was inside the lake for over a minute and he wouldn’t live much longer if he remained there. So, she found herself with no choice but to throw his sword over the soil and untie the laces of her boots.

“Ron,” she groaned, throwing her black boots near his sword.

Davina grabbed onto her dark violet skirt and stomped down the gray steps, the water coldly biting into her skin. She sighed before emerging into the lake.

A large tree trunk was planted underneath the surface, interrupting the sunrays from reflecting into the water. How deep was the lake?

Softly flapping her hands as she squinted, scanning the reef until she found flashes of blue and yellow striking inside of a cave. Davina moved her hands outward as she kicked herself closer to the rocky cavern.

She leaned against the mouth of the cave, the rock so sharp that if her hand were to slip, her blood would be drawn. Then she noticed Ron floating inside of the dark cave with metal attaching itself across his figure. His eyes began to close as his body began to slouch. She screamed, immediately feeling a burning sensation in her throat. Another reason why she hated water and ice. Whenever she was near the Neptulan elements, she’d feel the heat in extremity.

Immediately, as soon as the piece of the armor finished growing over his chest, he passed out. Water rushed down her throat as she yelled for him, bubbles surrounding her. Hot, burning pressure tightened her lungs. Then her eardrums clogged, she had to get out of there soon.

Davina kicked her way into the cave, pushing herself deeper into the darkness of the rock that surrounded him, and grabbed his arm, which was wrapped in cold metal.

She pushed against the water, but her chest had begun to burn. It wasn’t the same pleasant warmth she usually felt from her fire. It was an icy burning sentiment in her lungs that traveled deep into her throat. She used her left arm to scramble toward the surface while she held onto Ron with her right.

She cursed the waters whose weight struggled against her efforts to swim to the top. She would be able to breathe, Ron would live, they were both going to live. Her eyes stung with joy at the near future of being able to breathe oxygen again.

But then, Ron jerked out of her grasp. Davina felt her lungs burn with more violence as she struggled to swim after him, dark seaweed vines wrapping themselves around his body quickly.

Davina panicked. A jolt ran down her leg, pulling her away from Ron. The same sticky seaweed began to entangle itself around her arms. She immediately began to rip off the vines from her skin as more collected around her waist and ankles.

Ron was under the water longer than her, she had to get him out of there. Rage ripped through her as she forced herself to heat her body. The fire would not be able to conjure under the water, but she could pull enough heat toward her skin to burn off the seaweed. The vines that wrapped around her body began to snap off of her.

She pushed closer to Ron as she burned the life of the vines that stuck to her clothes. Davina’s hands trembled as she grabbed onto the shrub of black vines that wrapped around him, burning them with all her might.

Fatigue had grown so heavy above her eyes, but she pushed through it because he had to make it out alive. He had to fulfill his dream of activating his powers, and she was going to make sure he would do just that. She wasn’t going to let anything stop him from achieving his abilities. Davina pulled against the vines’ strength while simultaneously pushing to the surface once again.

Quicker this time, to not give any other lake creature a chance to attack them again.

Davina gasped for air, pulling Ron closer to herself. “Ron? Ron, wake up.”

She tapped his wet cheek as they floated above the water. She sighed, “Come on. Wake up.”

Davina dragged herself and Ron onto the shore, away from the staircase where they once stood, and soil immediately coated her dark violet kirtle. Exhaustion strained her muscles, she fell next to him. Breathing hard, allowing her lungs to be overwhelmed with fresh air, she stared at the clear blue sky above them. Her wet hair itched with sand.

“Ron, please wake up.” She turned to him who had his eyes closed with eyelashes kissing his cheeks. She sat up and began to search for an opening in the armor, frantic to try and open the metal. She trembled, not knowing whether it was from fear, or the water, or both.

“Ron, please, please, wake up.”

She couldn’t find a way to open his armor. She cried and slammed her fists into his chest. If she burned the metal, she’d hurt him even more. Tears began to sting her eyes. A cry escaped her lips. She couldn’t believe that this was his moment. This couldn’t be the moment that he parted.

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