Shadows Chapter II: The Sea
Sometimes when I push through a tear I rend in the veil between worlds, I bring some small bit of the laws of the previous universe(s) with me. Sometimes something else follows me through.
The great blue expanse in which I now found myself immersed seemed unbroken from horizon to horizon. No swells, no whitecaps, not so much as a breeze licking spray marred the azure blanket that appeared the whole of this world. Well, at least this part of it.
Reluctant to do aught else until I learned more of this world’s physical and magical laws, I swam. Alternating styles as I tired of one after another, I swam for what felt like ages with no apparent change in my scenery. I swam until the weight of fatigue burned in every muscle and sinew, threatening to drag me to the very depths of the deep blue nothing. And when I felt I could no longer will myself above the surface, I gave in, and dredged my memories for the most harmless enchantment I knew, and used it. A minor one, it was intended solely to bolster my energy reserves and to give my exhausted muscles a much needed reprieve. Without knowing how this world’s laws worked, it could be quite dangerous, especially in my current predicament, to try much more.
It did the trick, and I soon felt life returning to my limbs and the unseen anchor fading to nothing. But that was only a temporary respite, and I knew it. I had to find dry ground fast. Or a boat - anything to get out of the water.
But my reprieve seemed like it was going to end. I slogged on through the water, and on, feeling the magic fading, my muscles growing heavier ever so slowly. Minute, by minute I grew wearier. And still the sea seemed endless. Soon, I could feel the cramping begin. I rolled over then and splayed myself on my back as flat as I could, just hoping to float for some time, hoping that this would be enough much-needed rest to get some more life back in my overworked limbs. I dared let myself slip into a semi-sleep, my vision fading, relying on my subconscious to keep my head above water.
I awoke to a great roar, as though I were beneath the engine of one of your world’s great jetliners. My eyes snapped open, and, in my momentary startling, I slipped beneath the waves once, then burst above the surface again gasping for air, regaining control of my flotation. Waves? Yes, there were waves! The sky had darkened, and I was buffeted not online by these newly arisen crests, but by a gale of a wind which seemed to have sprung from nowhere. I tried to look up above and about me, but the tossing of the waves, the spray mist in the air, it obscured my vision and made it impossible to really assess what was going on – it seemed to me, I must have been overtaken by a storm.
But that roar was no storm. The wind came from no natural source, as I was soon to discover. As I did my best to tread this suddenly treacherous sea, it seemed as though I begin to spin – my sense of direction failing me, though I could tell I was whirling about. The water raised as a well all about me, and soon it felt as though I had gone under again. I struggled to reach the surface, felt like I was climbing, climbing, but never breaking to air. My buffeting became greater, my lungs began to strain as the water surrounded me. It wasn’t long before I found myself right back in the realm of slumber from which I had been awakened.
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