Elysia felt her body hit the water, her eyes widening as she realized what had happened. Her breath quickened, becoming erratic. She tried kicking, trying to push herself towards the shore, but her body betrayed her. Each movement sent waves of pain coursing through her.
Her heart pounded, each beat a deafening thud in her chest. The shoreline, once so visible, now seemed impossibly distant. The realization hit her like a weight sinking in her stomach, she was in trouble. Real trouble.
The water around her seemed to darken further, as if it sensed her fear. Her head bobbed above the surface, but only for a moment. Her arms began to tire. She felt the cold water pulling at her, coaxing her down, deeper into it. Her legs weakened and could barely move, she began to sink.
A strangled gasp escaped her lips as her head went under. The world above disappeared, replaced by an eerie, muffled silence. The water pressed in from all sides, wrapping around her. Her eyes stung as she forced them open. She thrashed wildly, her hands clawing at the water, seeking something, anything to hold onto.
Her lungs screamed for air, something she couldn't ignore. She kicked harder, willing herself to the surface. Just as her strength began to falter, her head broke through the water, and she gulped in a shaky breath. But the relief was brief as water filled her mouth. She coughed, spluttered, and went under again.
Fear gripped her now, every thought she had was consumed by a single, terrifying reality. she was drowning and she was going to die if she did not come out of the lake. The word echoed in her mind, drowning. She was drowning!
Her arms flailed, but they felt heavy, so heavy. It pulled at her, dragged her down into its depths, offering no mercy. She fought it, her instincts screaming at her to survive, but each movement felt slower than the last, her strength ebbing away with every second.
As she sank deeper, a different kind of fear began to set in. It was quieter, more insidious. It whispered to her that she was alone, truly alone. No one was coming. No one would see her in these vast, dark waters. She wanted to cry out, but her voice was swallowed by the water. There was no one to hear her even if she successfully managed to cry out.
Her chest burned now, a relentless fire that clawed at her lungs. She needed air, but all that surrounded her was water. She opened her mouth in a final, desperate attempt to scream, but water rushed in, filling her throat, her lungs. The burn intensified, becoming an unbearable pressure.
She couldn't think anymore. Panic had taken over, flooding her mind with fear. Her thoughts were jumbled, incoherent. She thought about Azreal and Sevastian and her good'o maid, Helena.
Her arms slowed, her legs barely moved. Her body, once full of life and determination, was betraying her, succumbing to the cold, to the exhaustion. She felt herself sinking, felt the water closing over her head once more. This time, she wasn't sure if she had the strength to fight it.
In the eerie quiet beneath the surface, she could hear her heart beating, slower now. The fire in her chest had dulled to an ache, and a strange numbness began to creep through her limbs. Her vision blurred, the murky water around her becoming darker the deeper she sank.
A strange calm washed over her, a sense of detachment from the world above. She wasn't struggling anymore. She couldn't. It was as if her body had accepted its fate, surrendering to the inevitable. The fight was gone, replaced by an overwhelming weariness.
Her vision darkened, she could feel herself slipping away, her consciousness fading.
Just as she was about to close her eyes and give into her fate, she heard voices, not the depressing voices of the lake, but voices of people coming from the surface. A glimmer of hope filled her as she managed to open her eyes to see figures looking into the water.
She tried to keep her eyes opened, but she struggled to do so as they were heavy and tired. As she closed them once again, she felt herself move a bit. Something wrapped around her waist and pulled her to the surface.
The cool breeze from the surface hit her face and Elysia could not be more grateful for it. Her eyes were still shut close and the heavy burning of her chest made it difficult for her to take in air.
She felt her back touch the hard floor as the voices got louder, warmth engulfed her body and she could only guess it was because of the blanket placed on her.
Pressure was applied on her chest by someone's hands who was trying to resuscitate her, after a few push, Elysia felt the tightness of her chest reduce little by little. She opened her mouth to draw in a deep breath, which made her cough out the water that had made it's way to her lungs.
She coughed so hard that her throat burned. It was only then, she could breath properly. Her eyes opened and she could finally see her savior. There were two women who held her trying to keep her warm and a man who appeared wet, he sat on the ground panting and wiping the water off his face.
Elysia could see the women's mouth move as if they were saying something to her. She tried to pay attention to catch what they were saying, but her concentration was far from hers.
Fatigue was beginning to take over her body, a deep need to close her eyes and sleep overcame her. She tried to fight it, fruitlessly, her eyes closed as she gave in, perhaps it was for the best, now that she was out of the water, she was safe. She said to herself before falling unconscious.