Convulsion

♔ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇɴ ♔

Gwendolyn

I scratch at the vines that have a hold around my neck, coughing up saliva as they squeeze my throat. I manage to get tiny breaths of air occasionally, but those only increase my desperation to breathe. My eyes feel like they're about to pop out of their sockets, and no matter what I do I can't seem to sufficiently get the air that I'm trying to get into my lungs.

"Oh, come on," I wheeze. My throat feels scratchy and the words barely escape my mouth. Everything just comes out as a coarse, unintelligible whisper. I pull harder at the vines as they wrap around more parts of my body, and I manage to break the ones around my neck before they branch out and take hold of the rest of me. I kick my boots wildly when I start to feel like I'm being lifted up from the ground. How did this situation become so intense? Am I really going to be hung from a tree by a bunch of rogue vines? My kicks start to lessen as the scenery starts to fade away along with my thoughts, and I'm about to try calling for water when someone shouts.

"Stop! This isn't wanted!" Lily's voice drifts into my ears, bringing back a taste of reality with her words. A sharp pain spreads throughout my body as my back collides with a hard surface, presumably the ground. I cough and sputter, gasping for air. I can't stop coughing as I push myself halfway up from the ground, my elbows against the dirt but my legs still dragging. I still feel as if I can't breathe, even though the vines have left my neck. I blink rapidly, trying to clear my head and fill my lungs. I can't hear any of the others, but at least the chaos has stopped.

I realize I'm mistaken when the scenery blurs again when I can hear nothing but wind around me. I'm being wrenched from the ground, the relieving air quickly leaving my lungs with more vines wrapping around my arms. I'm swinging from my feet, flying through the air faster and faster. I almost retch in my throat when the vines let me go. I'm thrown through the air, everything spinning, my limbs twisting, until I hit solid ground. I have to lie down for a few seconds to take in what just happened, staring up at the new rocky ceiling above me.

"Are you guys okay?" Lily gasps. She's somewhere nearby, although I can't tell where because of the pain that's blossomed within my head. The only way that I really respond is by sitting up, taking my head in my hands. I groan as I do so, the world partially spinning before my eyes. The uneven and rocky ground hurts much more than the smooth dirt one that I had fallen on only moments before.

I'm having trouble breathing, but I'm alive. A few other muffled groans sound around the room from, I'm assuming, the boys. I squint and rub my eyes but everything still feels a bit disoriented. We're inside of the rock wall now, maybe fifty or more feet up, looking down on the cavern through the leaves of the putras tree that just dropped us here. Through the huge opening in the rock wall in front of us is a view that's nearly above the treetops, which means that we made it to Lily's new room. I turn around, watching as Richard and Steven grunt and groan from the floor, Lily watching them nervously as she drags her fingers through her hair.

"We're fine. At least, I am." At my response to her question Lily looks relieved, and she drops her hands from her head. I'm still breathing pretty heavily, but I've had worse. I push myself up from off the ground, observing Grandcrest Cover below us.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lily asks, and I turn around to face her. The view behind her is stunning, now that I can see it properly. There are three steps on either side of the back of this spacious domed room, each side leading to a raised landing behind her which features a wide, rounded glass panel. I move past Lily, my shoulder nearly bumping against hers as I dash up the steps in order to get a better view.

Through the glass there's a breathtaking view, and one that I've missed dearly. The ocean has a tinge of pink and orange near the horizon, and the dark blue waves near the shore crash wildly against the cliff beneath the Keep. The sky is a brilliant purple, blue, and orange, and the clouds are a gray tinted with a light shade of purple because of the setting sun.