Sienna and The Heart Of Aislei

Chapter 29: Aislei's Heart

His voice is getting louder until it's right in my ears.

"Sienna! Sienna! Can you hear me? C'mon! I need you to breathe right now!" He half dragged my limp body out of the river. I felt him shake me hard. His fingers trailed up along my neck searching for a pulse.

I saw myself through his eyes: dark wet strands of hair stuck to my cheeks, skin paler than the bright moon's light, lips and fingertips a dusky blue. Tallis was shaking from the cold but his panic kept him from feeling it.

I watched mortified as he suddenly pressed down on my chest, a popping sound splinted the air as my ribs cracked under the pressure.

My vision began darkening. Am I losing consciousness in my own conscious? Is that even possible?

Then just as I thought I would never be again, a light blue light shined in the darkness. I heard a chorus of voices chanting in unison in a twisted language. The omniscient light healed me, and my chest was no longer hurting.

I opened my eyes. The water droplets that clung to the tips of his hair looked like little diamonds. His gray eyes widened. I turned my head to find that the moss I was lying on was glowing like the night flowers and on my chest was the blue amulet I distinctly remember throwing away. Zeph who stood behind Tallis had the same stupefied look on his face.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We thought... I thought you were..." Tallis's voice broke and he hid it in a cough before stumbling back on the ground flinging the diamonds to the ground. He rested his elbow on a raised knee and his face in his palm.

"Aislei has saved you," Zeph said lowering himself to the ground, bowing his head and whispering his thanks.

"Really? But how--why? Tallis?" I looked to him and realize he was avoiding looking in my direction. "Tallis, I'm okay..."

I felt more than okay. I felt like I could run for miles.

"Yeah... I mean I know. But just a minute ago... you were... you looked dead. You were cold, blue, and there was no pulse! And now you are 'okay'." I reached out to him instinctively, but he jumped to his feet. "It just doesn't make sense. Sorry... I just need a minute. And we need to build a fire, or we are going to get sick. I'll get some wood to burn." He stalked off taking a whole lot of anxiety with him.

I cautiously got up on my feet testing out my legs. Looking back towards the river, reality suddenly felt more dream-like than whatever world I had just left.

"Zeph, what happened after I fell in the river? It feels so surreal as if years have passed..."

"No, Princess, just a few moments that felt like so. We pulled at the rope as Master Gray had commanded. But only he came out. You must have let go. Honestly, it was surprising he held on at all. It takes a great deal of strength and will power to resist YromėmFoRėvir's pull that humans typically just don't have."

"And then what?"

"Tallis jumped back in after you. You were both carried down the river a ways. I followed and threw rope in once the current steadied long enough for Gray to get his bearings and drag you out. He tried to bring you back, but you were... as he said. I placed the amulet on you..."

"So, this amulet is magic?"

"No! I do not have the power to bring one back from the bridge of death! The amulet itself has no power. It is a talisman meant to bring its wearer luck and good fortune. No more, no less. I presented it to you because... I thought you had died saving my people and I wanted to honor you... and perhaps, if you saw that amulet in your afterlife, you may know how sorry I was. It is a pitiful gesture. And does not make up for what I did. I see that." He used his hat he had clenched in his fist to wipe at his eyes and sniffed. "Only Aislei herself would bless you so."