Birthday? Who's birthday? Oh, that's me! Yep, today is my birthday. That's why I think this month is so great. And because this month and next month is when I get to see family a lot. I love seeing my family <3
So, since today is my birthday, usually there's customary gift giving, but since I'm not one to ever ask for gifts, I'm going to give you guys one. Your gift is.....another excerpt! Thought it would be a nice way to say thank you to everyone for all your support, even though this particularly picked excerpt isn't all that great of a choice for a birthday (I'm weird like that).
So here is an excerpt from Chapter 34:
The grass was soft under my feet as we traveled alongside the river Ryoko had found. The wind was a light breeze, moving the warm air and the sun was low, casting long shows over the forest. Ryoko spotted a protruding grass covered ledge and happily ran over to it.
"Ryoko, be careful," I advised. "It might me unstable."
She snorted and looked around. "It's fine. I mean there's grass growing on it."
"That doesn't mean it's safe," I muttered.
Ryoko happily looked around at the scenery. This vacation idea was a good one. She and Rylan deserved to be able to get out of that hellish place for once. Even Raikidan was enjoying himself in some way. I hadn't seen him this relaxed since we entered the city. Not even the park did this to him.
My ears pricked at the sound of crunching rock. "Ryoko, move."
She looked at me and blinked. "What?"
I sprinted over to her. "I said move!"
Suddenly the earth beneath her crumbled away. Ryoko was so surprised by the sudden break she was frozen in place. I grabbed her by the arm and tossed her back where Rylan caught her.
"Eira!" Raikidan cried.
I felt the wind rush around me as I fell. There hadn't been enough time for me to get back to the others before the ground fell away completely. Raikidan reached out to try to grab me but I was too far away. I felt the pain of the water on my back as I crashed into it.
Everything looked green and bubbles floated up all around me. The voice that spoke to me was now gone and in its place was a loud buzzing noise.
The strong current pulled me away from the others and I felt my body crash into a large bolder.
My eyes darted back and forth frantically as I struggled and my long hair seemed to move in slow motion around me.
I tried to struggle to the surface to get some air, but before I could move much a large boulder from the falling ledge crashed into me. The pressure released all the air I had in my lungs and I struggled violently. I was pinned with no hope of escape.
I couldn't breathe. Whatever was giving me the ability to breath in this liquid substance I was floating in, fell off and now I couldn't breathe or get out. I didn't know what was going on.
I pushed against the boulder with what little strength I had, using up the last ounce of oxygen reserve I had left in my lungs, but the current was too strong. It pushed the boulder harder than I was able to push back.
I flailed my arms and they hit something solid. I pressed my hands against the solid object and realized it was some sort of barrier. I pressed on the barrier in several areas. I was trapped. I struggled more and banged on the barrier. The green liquid substance was floating in flashed a pale red color repetitively and the buzzing sound got louder.
I coughed and felt water rush into my lungs, choking me up. I struggled more even though I knew it wouldn't do any good. There was no one around to open a glass tank. There was no one to wake me from this nightmare. It was happening all over again but this time, there was no one to save me.
My struggling became more violent. Why couldn't I get out of this barrier?
My vision started to go dark. I fought to stay alert but my body was shutting down. I never thought I'd end like this. I never thought my fate would change. My eyes started to close and numbness fell over my body. I could faintly hear the sound of a loud splash and see a dark figure swimming around in the water.
As a last ditch effort I forced the last of my energy into my arms. I reached out to whatever was brave enough to enter this water. The creature moved closer, but before it was close enough to see clearly my eyes shut almost completely. The creature came even closer and changed shape. I briefly saw Raikidan's blurred face before my vision failed completely and the numbness overtook me.
I wanted to be free. I wanted to breathe. I wanted the buzzing to stop. I wanted to stop feeling like I was drowning. I wanted to stop feeling like I was dying.