Veer straightened and leaned against the stack of bolsters Chandra arranged at his back. He was bare of chest, and he noticed the red burn mark of the healing stone. A few more days and he would have had blisters from the burn.
The healing stone mended the physical injury, but its use also turned it hot. They, therefore, tried not to use it for long or for minor injuries.
“How long have I been out?” he asked.
“Two days.” Shota sat down cross-legged near the mat.
Veer raised a hand to his head. His memory seemed to take its own time coming back. “What happened?”
“A mysterious storm by a wizard caused lightning to strike the pulleys, collapsing the harness. The statue went down into the lake, and you dived in to save it. We thought you had drowned and then you showed up on the turtle’s back. How does it feel having escaped the jaws of death? Again?”
“Shota…”
“I know. I know. I just had to get it off my chest. I don’t expect it to change anything, even if you make all sorts of promises now.” He sighed. “How do you feel?”
“As you can see. I am all better now.” He spread his arms wide.
“Yeah, you can say thanks to Chandra. The healing stone doesn’t cure anything unrelated to physical injuries. You got a gash from a broken tree branch, but you stayed under the water for so long that you almost died from drowning.”
Veer glanced at Chandra, who looked floored and then bashful at Shota’s praise.
“They are just my mother’s remedies,” she muttered, turning her face away. Did he imagine that incident when she had been crying over him?
“So, what happened?” asked Shota, interrupting Veer’s train of thought, dragging him into the memories of his underwater adventure.
* * *
Cloud blue surrounded him. The sun was barely visible through the murky waters. Things moved much slower underwater, masking their destructive force—as Veer knew to his cost when a broken branch glanced off his shoulder, opening shallow wounds. The rope at his waist was the only anchor that connected him to the surface.
The murkiness of the water increased as more debris was pulled into the river. His movements were too sluggish to avoid the flotsam that swirled in the current. Veer expanded his senses, searching for an animal’s presence that would help him out in his current situation.
A turtle responded.
Its head emerged from its shell, the flappers at its side moved as it floated up from its home at the base of the pool.
Veer began to merge his senses with that of the turtle.
Instantly, his vision cleared. He was able toseeandfeelthe water more comfortably. To the turtle, this was home; it didn’t fear the water. Its instincts helped Veer avoid the danger of the large debris.
Veer swam against the current, using his augmented senses, keeping an eye out for the idol.
As luck would have it, he was able to find it quickly, drawn by the current of the whirlpool at the center of the lake. But dismay quickly replaced his elation at finding the idol.
It was caught in the eye of the whirlpool. The motion of the water had prevented it from sinking to the bottom right away, but the weight was too great, and it was sinking at a steady pace.
Veer fought against the flow, but even with his strength, it was a losing battle.
All he could do was watch, hovering in the waters above the idol, as it slowly sank inexorably to the bottom.
The idol struck the bottom with a dullclunk.
A cloud of bubbles enveloped the idol. When they cleared, the reason became apparent.
The stony bottom of the lake had cracked and collapsed under the weight of the idol in a perfect square around it. The base of the idol, up to the feet, had sunk into a pit in the stone.
Veer’s silvery-rimmed eyes widened when the cracks began to glow blue on the stony bottom. A strange but somehow familiar pattern appeared.
Veer floated over the pattern, barely registering that the whirlpool and the circular flow of water had dissipated.
