The Key to the Warriors (completed)

Chapter 27

27Zirlic

The water had cost me all sensation in my limbs by the time I'd crawled back to shore. I'd swam almost a mile trying to get to Charlie after I saw him sink below the surf, but with the cold, wind, and waves working against me, I'd been forced to turn back. Dripping wet and frozen to my core, I had changed clothes, then gathered Zyirah and the boys and briefed them on what Charlie had done. Leo built a fire in the firepit, and I stood trembling before it until I could feel my hands again.

That was over twelve hours ago.

I paced circles around the firepit, hands looped behind my back, eyes on the trail I was wearing into the dirt. Everyone had returned to sit after dinner, their faces grim as we all pondered the same possibility.

"It'll be okay, right?" Xylem said, breaking the silence. "It'll take more than a good swim to kill Charlie. He's strong."

"Charlie can't swim." I retorted. "And even if he could, we're not talking about a few laps in the bathing pool."

Zyirah hugged her brother as he lowered his eyes, then quietly whispered for him to get to bed. He protested, arguing that he wanted to stay and wait for Charlie, but at Zyirah's insistence, eventually stood and let her take him to the sleeping dome. She returned a few minutes later, looking grim, and let out a long sigh as she dropped into the dirt.

"It's possible he made it." Leo said after a while, and my eyes flitted to him as I paced behind Zyirah.

"No, it's not. No one can hold their breath that long. Sola's domain is miles beneath the surface."

Leo shrugged. "Maybe the Immi power made a way or something..."

I appreciated his optimism, but at the moment, it was wearing on my nerves, and I let out a huff as I shook my head. "Right now, the Phoenix is below freezing. Ice has already begun forming out in the reeds. I was only in the water twenty minutes, and I came out feeling like I couldn't move or breathe." I swallowed before pausing to meet Leo's eyes. "Charlie's been in there for hours. Even if he managed to somehow hold his breath, hypothermia would set in long before he reached Sola."

Everyone went quite, and I continued my pacing as the moon rose higher above us. It was Jerry who next spoke, his tone concerned, but confident. "At least we know he's alive." He said. "If he weren't... we wouldn't be here."

He was right about that, and I let out a long breath as I continued pacing, pausing only when Leo climbed to his feet and extended a hand to pull up Jerry. "It's late. I suggest we all get some sleep. The bear alerted Zirlic when Charlie went in. I'm sure she'll tell us when he comes out."

I didn't respond, just watched as they joined hands and made their way slowly to the sleeping dome. Zyirah remained, her knees drawn up and arms wrapped around them as the chilly night huddled around us.

"Why don't you get some rest, too?" I said, and she glanced at me.

"What about you?"

"I'm going to stay up a while longer. See if anything happens."

Her eyes slid back to the fire as she tightened her arms around herself. "I'm scared for him."

I let out a breath and stopped pacing to lower onto the ground beside her. "Me too."

"It's just that I've run all the possible scenarios through my head, and I can't come up with a feasible outcome." She continued. "There's no way he could have made it, and if he did... you're right that the cold could kill him, especially as fragile as his body is. And then I imagine that he couldn't swim down at all, and Jackal could have found him and hauled him to Sevorrah, and he's being tortured right now, and we don't even know it."