Ava’s POV
The water filled my mouth, ears, and nostrils as it joined hands with gravity to beat me down. There was no way I could let out a scream. I was busy gurgling water as I fell down the terrific height, hoping I would not be smashed to death upon a rock. The fall was agony, and all of me fought to find stable ground, but it was impossible.
Finally, I crashed into the water, diving headlong into it.
More water filled my nostrils and forced its way into my throat. The water was icy, and it felt like I had fallen under frozen winter waters.
I went further downwards into the dark abyss of the water, feeling panic come into being, threatening to devour me. I fought recklessly to swim upwards, but the cold made it hard for my fingers to find movement easily.
It forced me to give up, as the surface seemed to get farther, the higher I swam. I fought as hard as I could, but it seemed impossible.
Not until I noticed Jace, cutting through the ice-cold water to get to me. Gratitude tore through my soul, and I tried to swim to him too. All breath had been cut off from me, but he was the one who kept me going.
His arm wrapped around me, and I did the same. Then, we used our spare arms and legs to move upwards towards the brightening light.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, we burst out, breathing hard. My eyes filled up with tears, and I began to cry. I had been so scared, thinking I'd die in the cold, dark water. It had been such a miserable feeling. A feeling I never wanted to feel ever again in my life.
Jace and I swam to shore, and we fell onto the sand, breathing hard, while I cried. He squeezed my hands.
“Funny that you're the one crying, even though you once seemed like you were ready for any task.” He said, with a chuckle.
“How… how can you still laugh?”
“Because we managed to escape, okay? We managed to escape that crazy monster of a thing. Who knew what more it could do? That tongue was definitely poisonous. Look at all the black liquid that fell from it. It was planning to eat us.” He said, and I sighed.
“For dinner.” I replied, looking at the darkening sky.
“It's late. We can't just stay here. If a water creature finds us and pulls us in, it will be the worst.” He said, looking around. He got up and raised me to my feet.
Then, we began to walk.
Then, we began to see traces of light in the distance.
“Do you see those glowing things?” Jace asked, and I nodded.
“I see them. I think they're lanterns.” I replied, and as we moved closer, we discovered they were truly lanterns.
Houses were in the far distance, decorated with lanterns, making the place look alive and beautiful, and not far from us were women and children. The children laughed and played, running around and screaming in giggles.
While the women fetched water, cooked, and sat by the riverbank braiding each other's hair while laughing.
They looked like natives, and they were all beautiful. They seemed so happy and at peace.
Then, they saw us and stopped. Whispers broke out among them, and Jace and I wondered if it was right to approach them.
“What if this is where we are meant to find?” Jace asked.
“I don't know. Probably?” I said, still staring at the women. Then, two of them walked towards us. We stepped back immediately, and they stopped.
“Oh, my. Did you two come from there?” One of them asked in a silky voice, pointing in the direction of the cliff we had fallen from.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Oh my God! You two are so brave. How did… The second asked, with her hand over her mouth.
More of the women and children began to take note, and they approached us.
“I guess they're a true team. So many teams sacrificed one another to the creature of the trees. So many of them begged.”
“How did you find out that the easiest way to defeat it is a joint attack?” Another asked, with wide eyes.
“It's not like we figured anything. We just fought.” Jace said, looking at them like it was an obvious answer.
“Most of the time, it's always the male fighting while the female watches and cries.” Another said.
“Uhm… I’m not a female, but a male.” I corrected them, not wanting Jace to start suspecting anything.
Even though he was to find out, this wasn’t the right time for that to happen. I could also tell they saw me as a female because of the way I looked, and they were certain that I might not have been of much help.
Although I also never thought I would be able to act brave sometimes, I guess this place just brought out something I never realised.
“You're a sweetheart.” One of them said, not even bothering to show that they had taken to my corrections.
“I can't believe they managed to take down the creature of the trees.” They began to murmur among themselves.
Creature of the trees—Ants, the great tree climbers, buzzing like the bees, speed like the eagles, eggs like the birds.
Indeed, it was a creature of the trees.
“I'm amazed. You both managed this. How brave. This is still so surprising to me.” They said, and began to clap, which was really weird, but oddly satisfying.
“You need rest. Look at you both.” One of them said, dusting the sand off my wet shoulder.
“We are actually looking for a particular herb, and that’s the reason for our task. We need… I began.
“Our leader knows of every leaf here, and she's the only one who can help you. You should be happy you made it here. Only very few people have made it here. We rarely see people. And when we see them, we make sure they eat, drink, and have enough rest because they have tried.” The woman with the silky voice said, with a sweet smile, and gestured towards the houses.
We followed them all the way to the houses with the bright lantern lining up the walls. They didn't stop there. Rather, they took us to their Palace, and I guessed it was where their leader lived,
The Palace was quite beautiful, and it had maids bustling all around with different chores, carrying out different errands.
Lanterns lined the walls, and ceilings, making the place as beautiful as a dream. The floors were made of marble, and the maids greeted as we walked past them.
And gold was seen on almost every property. The paintings, portraits, ceramics…
Pure gold.
We were given a room to stay in, and the room was also a delight to the sight.
Water was prepared for us to bathe in, and when we were done bathing, we met a change of clothes on the bed. It was very similar to what we were wearing earlier, but we knew they weren't our clothes because our clothes were in a bin in the corner of our room.
We dressed, and sat on the bed, feeling refreshed, yet not totally relieved.
Shortly, we were served dinner by giggling maids, who stopped giggling, and bowed when they noticed us staring at them.
My stomach let out a long, deep rumble. To be honest, I didn't expect my stomach to grumble as much as that— to grow weak at the sight of food.
“Do you think it's safe to eat?” I asked Jace once the maids were gone.
“I'll eat first, and you wait.” He replied, and cut out a piece of the chicken, with the fork. He placed it into his mouth, and I saw his eyes widen for a brief second. Chewing slowly, he looked at the plates of food in his hand, then at me.
“It's awfully good.” He said, like he wished it wasn't as good as it was.
“Can I eat now?” I asked, but he stopped me.
“Wait a few more minutes.”
The minutes that followed by were agony as the smell of the food filled my nostrils. I couldn't take my eyes off it, and it seemed like time had become slower on purpose.
“I think the food is fine.” He finally said, and with a relieved sigh, I dug into my food. It seemed too bothersome to use the fork and knife, so instead I used my hand. I was so famished, and the food was too sweet.
When we were done with eating, and were ready to sleep, we barred the doors, and windows, just to be sure nothing tragic happened while we slept.
And funny enough, I thought I'd stay awake for hours, but I didn't. Barely two minutes after hitting the bed, I dozed off.
And in my dreams, I was being chased.
The ant monster had somehow found me, and its eggs had been snakes— snakes that chased me as I ran. And Jace wasn't there to rescue me.
The snakes caught up to me, and wrapped around me, giving me a really horrible feeling. It was agony, and I gasped as my eyes flew open.
Nightmares like that are the scariest, I thought to myself, blinking in the dark. And just then, my eyes began to adjust to the dark, and I saw ragged hands descending over my face.
Looking up, there was a devilish face, grinning down at me.