The War Against Aberon (Rough Draft #1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

    Zaffre had no choice but to start calling out for help as her torso started to go under. The sand was almost at her waist as she desperately screamed for anyone to hear her. Her hands almost flung out of her control to claw at the ground and dig into the sand to give her some sort of leverage on staying above ground, on staying alive. Nothing was working as the sand was surrounding her ribs and taking the air out of her. Her injuries were far louder than any audible noise.

    The Felipara felt as if her heart was not even beating as its rhythm was so fast. Blood was rushing in her ears tearing away any possibility of hearing anything else. Her distress wasn't letting up any as she was finally pulled down to her chest. The sand compresses her torso and gives her a lightheaded feeling. The pain from her broken ribs increased tenfold. Her arms were losing strength as he fingers were simply dragged along the sand as she still tried to keep her body out of the sand.

    Blinded by her pain and the life-threatening situation, Zaffre couldn't tell where Freya was or how she was fending off the crabs. The Pumeon for her part was feeling so much panic over what was happening to her bond, that she could barely concentrate on her fight. Whining roars continuously left her as she tore through the metal flesh of the copper monsters. She fended them off with reflex, leaving her focus on the pale purple form of Zaffre who was rapidly disappearing under the sand.

    In a break in the fight, Freya ran forward toward Zaffre. Her paws dug into the ground as she propelled herself as fast as she could to try and help her bond. The Felipara was almost completely submerged, the sand around her upper chest starting to consume her shoulders that continuously thrashed as Zaffre flailed her arms around. Trying to find anything to grab onto to get her out of the ground. Freya felt like her heart was giving out as she pushed forward, covering more distance, trying to get to her bond before it was too late.

    Zaffre could barely breathe as it felt like she was being crushed by the weight of the moon. She could barely move as her hands were dragged along as her shoulders continued to move under the sand. The grainy sediment was all she could see or feel and it sent pangs of panic, heart-wrenching panic zinging all over her. Her neck was falling victim to the sand now as her arms were more and more consumed. She knew soon she'd have to prepare to hold her breath and hold onto life for as long as she could. Praying for a miracle she wasn't sure would come.

    As her chin touched the heated grains her eyes glimpsed something that brought a touch of hope. Freya's large form bound toward her with a determination unparalleled to anything any other living creature had felt. By force of will, Zaffre got her hands moving more fiercely, feeling the sand slipping through her fingers as she dug them in. She finally got a decent grip and for a small moment, she was stuck, straining her arms as she waited for Freya to reach her. Freya was almost to her and put on a burst of speed to get to the other half of her soul.

    Any hopes that Zaffre built came crashing down when a crab creature seemed to come out of nowhere. Its large round form crashes into Freya with a ferocity and mercilessness that neither knew was possible. One of its massive closed pinchers stabbed partway into Freya's side and shoulder. While the other extended more out of the side of its body and wrapped around the Pumeon's body as it swiftly brought the big cat to the ground, just as Zaffre lost her grip.

    Zaffre was barely able to get a lungful of air in before whatever was dragging her under used some more strength and she was submerged. Her eyes closed as all of her was completely covered by the sand. She was being crushed in from all sides and couldn't move a muscle. It was a feeling Zaffre had never felt before, one she never wanted to feel. Somehow she was still moving down, that much she could tell. Where she didn't know and didn't care much to know. She was running out of air.

    Her crushed ribs made intaking air nearly impossible, and holding on to any she had left seemed even more of an impossibility. Her lungs ached and her body was forcefully trying to get her to open her mouth and try and get any life-saving air she could. Zaffre knew it was futile. She was surrounded and covered by sand. If she opened her mouth she'd simply suffocate and die even more painfully. It was getting more and more difficult to fight her body's will. The ingrained survival instincts pushed her logic farther to the side as her thinking slowed down.

    Her mind and thoughts were slowed by the lack of air. Her pain started to fade with the growing black encroaching on everything inside her head. Zaffre was quickly getting closer and closer to passing out from not breathing for so long. In only moments her body would take over and force her mouth open as she'd drown in the sand and slowly lose her heartbeat. Time seemed to pass swiftly, yet slowly, all simultaneously. Part of Zaffre was almost eager for her body to take over, for everything to get put into motion, for her death to be swift.

    Every other part of her was still waiting on a miracle. She couldn't tell if when her feet reached ope air whether it was indeed the grace of some higher power or luck. Either way, she was grateful. As soon as her feet were dangling, time sped up to what felt like the speed of light. All at once, she was out from the compressing sand and landing harshly on some flat surface. Just as her lungs and subconscious took her in their arms and forced her mouth open to breathe.

    Thankfully there was air to take in and for a long, she was coughing and drinking in air and feeling life flood back into her system. Tears slipped down her face in rapid succession as all the feelings overwhelmed her. She could barely even feel her pained ribs now as there was so much adrenaline flooding all her systems. For minutes or seconds, she couldn't tell which, sitting wherever she was just sucking in as much air as her lungs could take.

    As soon as part of her started to calm down inside her body she started trying to take in her surroundings. It was very dark wherever she was, just some dim lights somewhere ahead of her. The place seemed to be some sort of underground hallway where she lay on a seemingly raised platform. Zaffre'd barely noticed those facts before some shadowy figures were in front of her, one gripped her limp wrists and chained them, and the other swung something over their head and hit Zaffre square on her temple. Her vision went fuzzy as her head banged against the floor of her platform. She noticed the figures moving around her for a few seconds before everything went black. She was lost to the world of oblivion. 

Word Count-1253

A/N:

Another chapter! We're on the tail end of the book people! Only four chapters and an epilogue left! Isn't that exciting? Even with this latest cliffhanger? (Which is also not the last, cue evil laughter). It's so weird to think that I'll have finished a book! So crazy! I'm majorly excited though! I'll see you next chapter, hope you enjoyed it!

Comment, vote, if you'd like of course. See you soon!

S