Chapter 15 -
01/01/2018
I cocked down and staggered to find myself holding a shaft. At first it struck me as a sword. But in place of a straight blade, a bundle of wires set above the cross-guard, their tips jutting out like thorns. I frowned, as my eyes swiftly moved to a large glass pommel below the rubber handle.“What is this?” I asked.
“Ears. You are holding it in your hands so you are the one who has to figure it out.” Bulkee snapped back with a smattering of grunts.
Why couldn’t he just be straight with me? I was on edge, frustrated with his precarious attitude. But I knew better than starting a standoff now. I had to act fast. I stared down at my hands. At least I had this thing –. A thought occurred to me The shaft was not a sword. A club was more like it.
In rhythmic gymnastics, a club was a type of apparatus manipulated by gymnasts during competitions. With a narrow handle it bulged at one end, just like the part below the cross-guard of the shaft.
This was right up my alley.
I felt a rush of confidence, as I tightened my grip and straightened my arms. I backed away thrashing the elongated baton of the Bionic Club. I span it as fast as I could, creating a rotation so rapid that it looked like an iron shield. When the ball of electrons drew near us, I raised up the shield.
“Bulkee. Get under!” I called out, roofing the rotation over his body, as he raced across.
My gaze locked on the Lilec globe, when it came in contact with the Club. My skin prickled, as the sphere uddered to a halt and the shield caught it like a fishnet brimming with prey.
I exhaled with relief when the Lilec globe yielded to a stop. I was glad that I trusted my instincts. I kept up with the spinning like my brain and body were on autopilot, as we backed away slowly.
My plan had worked, but I underestimated the force I was up against. The Lilec globe towered over me, pressing its dominating presence through the Bionic Club and coercing me into further retreat.
I leaned back as far as I could but the sphere of electricity cambered inches away from my nose. My arms began to jar under its power, bending into my chest inch by inch. I blinked with effort, fighting the aches, as I carried on the rotation and resisted the crush. I held my breath like it was my last gulp of air, till a sudden release of pressure caught me off guard.
I was baffled when I watched the Lilec ball hoist up, distancing itself from my shield of Bionic Club. My stomach lurched with a sinking feeling, when the giant globe, having gained enough momentum, belted down at me like a wrecking ball.
I faltered to the ground and rolled over, dodging the collision. The Bionic Club flung to my feet when I staggered to rise. I glimpsed at it as it thudded away. An arm outstretched I struggled to fetch it.
The Lilec globe bounced back and started battering streaks of electricity from above. The electric whipping was so painful that I bent my elbows and moaned out loud. I felt paralyzed and didn't know what to do.
“Here,” Bulkee sprang past me. He snatched up the Bionic Club with both hands and swiftly tossed it over to me. “Catch it!”
I reached out but missed it. Fortunately, the Bionic Club had went into the ground baton first and was left standing erect by my feet. With great difficulty, I snagged the handle and drew the Club back up.
I steadied my grip. I still wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do at this point. But when I spotted the thorny tips of the wires that made up the baton, I knew what I had to try.
I swiped my elbow, as I rose. I held the handle with both hands and uncoiled my arms. Before the globe crushed down again, I lunged at it, slicing the wire thorns into the bulge with a full swing.
Streaks of violet light flashed across the sky, segmenting the sphere in a whiff. The globe broke apart, spewing out wafts of the electrified Lilec dusts like it was sending down a shower of drones.
The clusters blew up small sandstorms all around me. I hopped around cutting away at them. When I ran, my heart raced to my chest. I was so appalled that I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. At last I managed to wangle through the attacks, leveraging on my gymnastics training.
I grew increasingly frustrated that no matter how I tried driving them away, new drones of clusters came slamming down on me. I was cornered by the onslaught.
When I veered around, I found masses affixed to the wire tips like they were glued to the Club. I could see streaks of electricity in bright light traveling from the baton down to the handle in my grip. I shuddered, almost hurling the Bionic Club to the ground, as I anticipated pain from the electric zaps.
But in a strange way, I experienced nothing, no shocks through the handle. I squeezed it, as I regarded the glass pommel that was clearly unfitting and oversized for the hilt. I wondered about why Bulkee had it designed this way.
A possible reason shot to my head the exact moment I saw the blazes of electricity move into the pommel like white snakes.
Could it be –
I knew that I had to test out my theory. I raised the Bionic Club over my head and slashed the wires into the Lilec clusters. Inhaling deeply, I started swinging the baton like I was reeling in a large fish.
The strips of electrified dusts coursed along the wire stems, appearing like mineral veins on rocks. After they sped through the rubber handle into the glass bulge, I began slinging the Club in bigger circles and bringing more streaks of electricity.
With so much electrons packed together, the pommel lit up like a light bulb. I had an urge to laugh, as I was now sure that my weapon of defense was in fact a tool to extract and store electricity.
As soon as I caught the last bits of the Lilec Dusts, I flipped the Club and held it like a torch. The glass pommel was so bright that it saved me from destitute of both vision and hope.
I ran a hand through my curls, as I watched Bulkee step into the light. “This is exactly what I’ve wanted, a Bionic Torch,” I said, rattling it softly. “I should have trusted you, Bulkee. And thank you,” I said at last.
Bulkee held my gaze, and for a brief moment he placed a hand on the Bionic Torch, the light flitting on his face. As we held the Torch together, a quiet understanding seemed to have been communicated through the gesture.
The search for the Lake of Tears resumed. I had a strong hunch that we were in the home stretch and the Lake was just around the corner.
I decided to follow my instincts, as I rinsed my chapped lips with my tongue. I was thirsty still, itching to suck dry the humidity in the air.
Up ahead the fog seemed to have dissipated somewhat. I raised the Torch to cast light onto the arena, as we picked up speed. We walked for about a half mile, when a glint to my left caught my attention.
I squinted to focus and spotted it in an instant. A surge of excitement coursed through me. I drew up my last bits of strength and sprang up to the Lake of Tears.
Hedged by a row of crystal rocks, the Lake seemed serene. The water surface appeared translucent almost to a degree of obsessed clarity. It captured the reflection of everything else as an unnervingly still image. The peacefulness of the scene was in sharp contrast to the spine-chilling trauma that we had experienced.
I stooped down by the shore. Holding the Bionic Torch over my head, I gazed into the water. There was a shift in my reflection, I noticed. In the water gone were the round cheeks, the puffy eyes and the sausage lips. The healthy glow around my defined cheek bones had returned. The girl in the reflection was definitely who I had been before entering AohhoA.
The changes that my body had gone through mystified me still but I was too thirsty to mull it over now. I tucked the Bionic Torch under my arm and cupped my hands together.
I reached into the Lake and a cooling sensation washed over me. Not wanting to wait any longer, I cupped my hands and brought the life-saving liquid to my chapped lips.
“What are you doing?” A shriek broke across the Lake with such anguish that it made my hair stand on end. Water spilled from my hands, when I snapped around to the sight of a scowling Enchantress. “What are you doing?” she asked again.
“I am getting water,” I replied. Even from far I could see the rage on her twisted expression.
She kept her gaze on me, as she glided over to stand between me and the Lake. “I see that you got here fine,” she uttered through clenched teeth. “Now where is the pouch?”
From the brown pupils, I recognized the Enchantress. “Crystaline,” I said. “There’s something I need to tell you.” My hands fidgeted by the sides of my shorts.
“It’d better be good, Round Girl,” she said coldly. Arms folded across her chest, her face carried nothing close to the earlier cloyingness.
I drew a deep intake of breath and began. “I had been gathering the Lilec dusts and putting them away like you had asked me to. But when the fog got worse, I thought that I was sinking or somehow the sand had collapsed and I was getting buried alive, so I ran.”
“What are you trying to say?”
I shifted uncomfortably under her cold stare. “When we took flight, I had panicked and I didn’t know what happened with the pouch. By the time I realized that we were alright, it was gone.”
“Are you telling me that you lost the pouch that I lent you?” Crystaline screamed, her eyes wide like light bulbs. “And you are making up lies about how a fog had stolen it?”
“No. I’m not saying that the fog took the pouch. Things just got really weird with the fog.” I flustered.
“You are lying! You are sloppy and selfish. And you are deliberately trying to lie your way out of trouble.” Her face scrunched up.
“I am telling exactly what happened,” I was abhorred at her quick accusation and I was desperate to fend off the indictments. “As soon as I realized that I didn’t have pouch, I went back and started looking for it.”
“Did you find it?”
“No. I couldn’t.”
“So not only you lost the pouch, you’ve lost all the Lilec dusts,” she bawled.
“No, I, I didn’t.” I stuttered. A lump lodged at my throat, as I grew terrified of her reaction.
“You are lying again. You’ve lost the pouch. How can you still have the Lilec dusts?”
“I didn’t lose the Lilec dusts,” I said. “I just lost the pouch.”
“Be straight with me,” she hissed and brought a hand to my cheek. “Where are the Lilec dusts?”
“I have them in here,” I finally managed to tell her, as I raised the Bionic Torch.
“What is this thing?” she reached forward.
I leaped back on reflex. But she charged at me and yanked it off my hand.
The next thing I knew, the Bionic Torch made a sound of explosion and evaporated just like the Bionic Boat had done. All we got left was the Lilec dusts in a pile on her open palm.
Crystaline gaped at the stack with a mien of shock, as if the cognitive mechanism in her head had malfunctioned on her. Slowly she shifted her gaze from the pile to me. “What did you just do?”
I shook my head. “Crystaline, I can’t really explain. But I got all the Lilec dusts right here.” I said, pointing at her hand. “That’s what you wanted, right?”
“No,” she spat. “What did you do? How did you manage to gather the Lilec dusts? Did someone help you?” She growled.
I held her gaze but pressed my lips together, not admitting nor denying. Something told me that I shouldn’t expose Bulkee and that I’d better stay quiet about the BionicShape.
It was possible that my silence had further infuriated Crystaline. She launched another tirade at me. “You are not supposed to find your way here,” she screeched. “What happened? Tell me. Did someone help you? Tell me!” Her look of rage rained daggers on me and her voice cut into my ears like a blade.
I was debating how to respond, when without warning, she reached down and grabbed Bulkee by his neck. She clamped her fingers around his throat and began throttling him violently. “It’s him. Isn’t it? You had asked for his help, didn’t you? I specifically told you not to let anyone get a hold of the Lilec dusts. But you went ahead, discarded the pouch and let this puny little thing take care of everything for you.”
The attack happened so fast that my mind and body froze into a state of shock. I stood muted, like I was watching a scene from a scary movie.
I saw Bulkee struggle to pry off Crystaline’s fingers. His mouth was ajar and his eyes rolled back. He uttered through a wheeze. “She did…did it on her own.”
“Stop it. Please,” I finally snapped to focus. “Crystaline, leave Bulkee alone. You are hurting him,” I implored, my quivering hands curled into fists.
But the Enchantress ignored my plea and continued shouting. “You tell me, Round Girl. Are you a liar?”
“No. I’m not a liar,” I shook my head.
“Yes. Yes, you are. You’ve lied to me. You are full of deceptions. Even your breaths are nothing but lies,” she tightened her grip and pressed her thumb against Bulkee’s nose.
Blood drained from my head, as Bulkee gave a quick jolt. I watched him twist in a seizure, his breath coming in gasps. The prod against his nostrils had stopped air to his lungs.
“Please stop,” I burst out.
But Crystaline thrusted with ever more violence. “You little liar,” she said. “Tell me that you are.”
Tears began spilling from my eyes, as I noticed Bulkee’s arms go limp.
“Say it!” she hissed.
“I am. I’m a liar and I’ve lied to you,” I said, feeling a part of me slip away. “Now, please, Crystaline, let him go,” I begged.
Raising her chin in a triumphant glow, Crystaline rolled her wrist. I cringed when she tossed over Bulkee like a rag, and I moved just quickly enough to catch him. Worry filled my chest, as I held him in one arm. I gently stroked his back, till the rise and fall of his chest regulated.
“Bulkee, you are okay now,” I said, after the light in his eyes returned. His lips parted, like he wanted to say something, but it was void of sound. “Why don’t you rest?” I told him as I carefully laid him on the sand.
When I looked back up at Crystaline, I was startled by the sight of the other Enchantress next to me, in the middle of delving her hand into the Lake.
Krystaline seemed to have come out of nowhere. She straightened, when our eyes met. “The Round Girl is here, isn’t she,” she said with a smile wide enough to erase half of her face. “I say that we let her get her drink. That’s only fair.”
A slight head nod exchanged between the two Enchantresses. The gesture made me grow ill at ease. Instinctively I nudged back, but Crystaline stepped forth and grabbed my arm. I tightened against the sweltering clench, when she pulled me down to the Lake. “Jump in and drink up,” she demanded.
I glanced at the two Enchantresses who stood by each side of my shoulders like prison guards. My stomach was in knots, when I leaned forward and reached into the water.
“Do not go in!” A thunderous roar shot to my ears.
“Ears. You are holding it in your hands so you are the one who has to figure it out.” Bulkee snapped back with a smattering of grunts.
Why couldn’t he just be straight with me? I was on edge, frustrated with his precarious attitude. But I knew better than starting a standoff now. I had to act fast. I stared down at my hands. At least I had this thing –. A thought occurred to me The shaft was not a sword. A club was more like it.
In rhythmic gymnastics, a club was a type of apparatus manipulated by gymnasts during competitions. With a narrow handle it bulged at one end, just like the part below the cross-guard of the shaft.
This was right up my alley.
I felt a rush of confidence, as I tightened my grip and straightened my arms. I backed away thrashing the elongated baton of the Bionic Club. I span it as fast as I could, creating a rotation so rapid that it looked like an iron shield. When the ball of electrons drew near us, I raised up the shield.
“Bulkee. Get under!” I called out, roofing the rotation over his body, as he raced across.
My gaze locked on the Lilec globe, when it came in contact with the Club. My skin prickled, as the sphere uddered to a halt and the shield caught it like a fishnet brimming with prey.
I exhaled with relief when the Lilec globe yielded to a stop. I was glad that I trusted my instincts. I kept up with the spinning like my brain and body were on autopilot, as we backed away slowly.
My plan had worked, but I underestimated the force I was up against. The Lilec globe towered over me, pressing its dominating presence through the Bionic Club and coercing me into further retreat.
I leaned back as far as I could but the sphere of electricity cambered inches away from my nose. My arms began to jar under its power, bending into my chest inch by inch. I blinked with effort, fighting the aches, as I carried on the rotation and resisted the crush. I held my breath like it was my last gulp of air, till a sudden release of pressure caught me off guard.
I was baffled when I watched the Lilec ball hoist up, distancing itself from my shield of Bionic Club. My stomach lurched with a sinking feeling, when the giant globe, having gained enough momentum, belted down at me like a wrecking ball.
I faltered to the ground and rolled over, dodging the collision. The Bionic Club flung to my feet when I staggered to rise. I glimpsed at it as it thudded away. An arm outstretched I struggled to fetch it.
The Lilec globe bounced back and started battering streaks of electricity from above. The electric whipping was so painful that I bent my elbows and moaned out loud. I felt paralyzed and didn't know what to do.
“Here,” Bulkee sprang past me. He snatched up the Bionic Club with both hands and swiftly tossed it over to me. “Catch it!”
I reached out but missed it. Fortunately, the Bionic Club had went into the ground baton first and was left standing erect by my feet. With great difficulty, I snagged the handle and drew the Club back up.
I steadied my grip. I still wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do at this point. But when I spotted the thorny tips of the wires that made up the baton, I knew what I had to try.
I swiped my elbow, as I rose. I held the handle with both hands and uncoiled my arms. Before the globe crushed down again, I lunged at it, slicing the wire thorns into the bulge with a full swing.
Streaks of violet light flashed across the sky, segmenting the sphere in a whiff. The globe broke apart, spewing out wafts of the electrified Lilec dusts like it was sending down a shower of drones.
The clusters blew up small sandstorms all around me. I hopped around cutting away at them. When I ran, my heart raced to my chest. I was so appalled that I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. At last I managed to wangle through the attacks, leveraging on my gymnastics training.
I grew increasingly frustrated that no matter how I tried driving them away, new drones of clusters came slamming down on me. I was cornered by the onslaught.
When I veered around, I found masses affixed to the wire tips like they were glued to the Club. I could see streaks of electricity in bright light traveling from the baton down to the handle in my grip. I shuddered, almost hurling the Bionic Club to the ground, as I anticipated pain from the electric zaps.
But in a strange way, I experienced nothing, no shocks through the handle. I squeezed it, as I regarded the glass pommel that was clearly unfitting and oversized for the hilt. I wondered about why Bulkee had it designed this way.
A possible reason shot to my head the exact moment I saw the blazes of electricity move into the pommel like white snakes.
Could it be –
I knew that I had to test out my theory. I raised the Bionic Club over my head and slashed the wires into the Lilec clusters. Inhaling deeply, I started swinging the baton like I was reeling in a large fish.
The strips of electrified dusts coursed along the wire stems, appearing like mineral veins on rocks. After they sped through the rubber handle into the glass bulge, I began slinging the Club in bigger circles and bringing more streaks of electricity.
With so much electrons packed together, the pommel lit up like a light bulb. I had an urge to laugh, as I was now sure that my weapon of defense was in fact a tool to extract and store electricity.
As soon as I caught the last bits of the Lilec Dusts, I flipped the Club and held it like a torch. The glass pommel was so bright that it saved me from destitute of both vision and hope.
I ran a hand through my curls, as I watched Bulkee step into the light. “This is exactly what I’ve wanted, a Bionic Torch,” I said, rattling it softly. “I should have trusted you, Bulkee. And thank you,” I said at last.
Bulkee held my gaze, and for a brief moment he placed a hand on the Bionic Torch, the light flitting on his face. As we held the Torch together, a quiet understanding seemed to have been communicated through the gesture.
The search for the Lake of Tears resumed. I had a strong hunch that we were in the home stretch and the Lake was just around the corner.
I decided to follow my instincts, as I rinsed my chapped lips with my tongue. I was thirsty still, itching to suck dry the humidity in the air.
Up ahead the fog seemed to have dissipated somewhat. I raised the Torch to cast light onto the arena, as we picked up speed. We walked for about a half mile, when a glint to my left caught my attention.
I squinted to focus and spotted it in an instant. A surge of excitement coursed through me. I drew up my last bits of strength and sprang up to the Lake of Tears.
Hedged by a row of crystal rocks, the Lake seemed serene. The water surface appeared translucent almost to a degree of obsessed clarity. It captured the reflection of everything else as an unnervingly still image. The peacefulness of the scene was in sharp contrast to the spine-chilling trauma that we had experienced.
I stooped down by the shore. Holding the Bionic Torch over my head, I gazed into the water. There was a shift in my reflection, I noticed. In the water gone were the round cheeks, the puffy eyes and the sausage lips. The healthy glow around my defined cheek bones had returned. The girl in the reflection was definitely who I had been before entering AohhoA.
The changes that my body had gone through mystified me still but I was too thirsty to mull it over now. I tucked the Bionic Torch under my arm and cupped my hands together.
I reached into the Lake and a cooling sensation washed over me. Not wanting to wait any longer, I cupped my hands and brought the life-saving liquid to my chapped lips.
“What are you doing?” A shriek broke across the Lake with such anguish that it made my hair stand on end. Water spilled from my hands, when I snapped around to the sight of a scowling Enchantress. “What are you doing?” she asked again.
“I am getting water,” I replied. Even from far I could see the rage on her twisted expression.
She kept her gaze on me, as she glided over to stand between me and the Lake. “I see that you got here fine,” she uttered through clenched teeth. “Now where is the pouch?”
From the brown pupils, I recognized the Enchantress. “Crystaline,” I said. “There’s something I need to tell you.” My hands fidgeted by the sides of my shorts.
“It’d better be good, Round Girl,” she said coldly. Arms folded across her chest, her face carried nothing close to the earlier cloyingness.
I drew a deep intake of breath and began. “I had been gathering the Lilec dusts and putting them away like you had asked me to. But when the fog got worse, I thought that I was sinking or somehow the sand had collapsed and I was getting buried alive, so I ran.”
“What are you trying to say?”
I shifted uncomfortably under her cold stare. “When we took flight, I had panicked and I didn’t know what happened with the pouch. By the time I realized that we were alright, it was gone.”
“Are you telling me that you lost the pouch that I lent you?” Crystaline screamed, her eyes wide like light bulbs. “And you are making up lies about how a fog had stolen it?”
“No. I’m not saying that the fog took the pouch. Things just got really weird with the fog.” I flustered.
“You are lying! You are sloppy and selfish. And you are deliberately trying to lie your way out of trouble.” Her face scrunched up.
“I am telling exactly what happened,” I was abhorred at her quick accusation and I was desperate to fend off the indictments. “As soon as I realized that I didn’t have pouch, I went back and started looking for it.”
“Did you find it?”
“No. I couldn’t.”
“So not only you lost the pouch, you’ve lost all the Lilec dusts,” she bawled.
“No, I, I didn’t.” I stuttered. A lump lodged at my throat, as I grew terrified of her reaction.
“You are lying again. You’ve lost the pouch. How can you still have the Lilec dusts?”
“I didn’t lose the Lilec dusts,” I said. “I just lost the pouch.”
“Be straight with me,” she hissed and brought a hand to my cheek. “Where are the Lilec dusts?”
“I have them in here,” I finally managed to tell her, as I raised the Bionic Torch.
“What is this thing?” she reached forward.
I leaped back on reflex. But she charged at me and yanked it off my hand.
The next thing I knew, the Bionic Torch made a sound of explosion and evaporated just like the Bionic Boat had done. All we got left was the Lilec dusts in a pile on her open palm.
Crystaline gaped at the stack with a mien of shock, as if the cognitive mechanism in her head had malfunctioned on her. Slowly she shifted her gaze from the pile to me. “What did you just do?”
I shook my head. “Crystaline, I can’t really explain. But I got all the Lilec dusts right here.” I said, pointing at her hand. “That’s what you wanted, right?”
“No,” she spat. “What did you do? How did you manage to gather the Lilec dusts? Did someone help you?” She growled.
I held her gaze but pressed my lips together, not admitting nor denying. Something told me that I shouldn’t expose Bulkee and that I’d better stay quiet about the BionicShape.
It was possible that my silence had further infuriated Crystaline. She launched another tirade at me. “You are not supposed to find your way here,” she screeched. “What happened? Tell me. Did someone help you? Tell me!” Her look of rage rained daggers on me and her voice cut into my ears like a blade.
I was debating how to respond, when without warning, she reached down and grabbed Bulkee by his neck. She clamped her fingers around his throat and began throttling him violently. “It’s him. Isn’t it? You had asked for his help, didn’t you? I specifically told you not to let anyone get a hold of the Lilec dusts. But you went ahead, discarded the pouch and let this puny little thing take care of everything for you.”
The attack happened so fast that my mind and body froze into a state of shock. I stood muted, like I was watching a scene from a scary movie.
I saw Bulkee struggle to pry off Crystaline’s fingers. His mouth was ajar and his eyes rolled back. He uttered through a wheeze. “She did…did it on her own.”
“Stop it. Please,” I finally snapped to focus. “Crystaline, leave Bulkee alone. You are hurting him,” I implored, my quivering hands curled into fists.
But the Enchantress ignored my plea and continued shouting. “You tell me, Round Girl. Are you a liar?”
“No. I’m not a liar,” I shook my head.
“Yes. Yes, you are. You’ve lied to me. You are full of deceptions. Even your breaths are nothing but lies,” she tightened her grip and pressed her thumb against Bulkee’s nose.
Blood drained from my head, as Bulkee gave a quick jolt. I watched him twist in a seizure, his breath coming in gasps. The prod against his nostrils had stopped air to his lungs.
“Please stop,” I burst out.
But Crystaline thrusted with ever more violence. “You little liar,” she said. “Tell me that you are.”
Tears began spilling from my eyes, as I noticed Bulkee’s arms go limp.
“Say it!” she hissed.
“I am. I’m a liar and I’ve lied to you,” I said, feeling a part of me slip away. “Now, please, Crystaline, let him go,” I begged.
Raising her chin in a triumphant glow, Crystaline rolled her wrist. I cringed when she tossed over Bulkee like a rag, and I moved just quickly enough to catch him. Worry filled my chest, as I held him in one arm. I gently stroked his back, till the rise and fall of his chest regulated.
“Bulkee, you are okay now,” I said, after the light in his eyes returned. His lips parted, like he wanted to say something, but it was void of sound. “Why don’t you rest?” I told him as I carefully laid him on the sand.
When I looked back up at Crystaline, I was startled by the sight of the other Enchantress next to me, in the middle of delving her hand into the Lake.
Krystaline seemed to have come out of nowhere. She straightened, when our eyes met. “The Round Girl is here, isn’t she,” she said with a smile wide enough to erase half of her face. “I say that we let her get her drink. That’s only fair.”
A slight head nod exchanged between the two Enchantresses. The gesture made me grow ill at ease. Instinctively I nudged back, but Crystaline stepped forth and grabbed my arm. I tightened against the sweltering clench, when she pulled me down to the Lake. “Jump in and drink up,” she demanded.
I glanced at the two Enchantresses who stood by each side of my shoulders like prison guards. My stomach was in knots, when I leaned forward and reached into the water.
“Do not go in!” A thunderous roar shot to my ears.
