He nodded. “Okay. But first, let me just check how deep this water is.”
After all, if the water was too deep, he risked drowning the pegasus and himself along with it, which hereallydidn’t want to let happen… if for no other reason than that the pegasus would never let him hear the end of it. Now that he knew an afterlife existed, he was certain that the pegasus would subject him to its bitching for all eternity.
He allowed himself to sink down toward the bottom of the river, feeling relieved when he touched solid ground after not too long. He’d thought that it couldn’t betoodeep, given how hard he’d hit the ground when he fell, but it’d been hard to tell.
What do you think?he asked the pegasus.
I can do it,it replied grimly.Iwilldo it.
That… didn’t sound quite as confident as he’d hoped. It sounded like the pegasus was trying to talk itself up, rather than actually being confident.
Is it too deep? Be honest.
It will be a challenge,the pegasus said.But it is one that I will rise to.
Still not convinced, Ethan narrowed his eyes at it.Fine. But if it ends up being too deep, we’ll go back up to the surface. We’re no use to Chloe if we’re lying at the bottom of ten feet of water.
The pegasus sniffed, which Ethan took as agreement, and he pushed himself up toward the water’s surface.
“Well?” Chloe said the moment he surfaced, and she was shivering so hard that Ethan knew they had to do this now, and he had to succeed. There was no other option.
“It’s not too bad,” he said. “I’m not sure whether or not I’ll be able to keep my head above water… but either way, I’ll be close to the surface. I’ll come up if I have to.”
“You promise?” Chloe breathed.
“I promise,” Ethan said, and he’d never meant anything more in his life.
Chloe nodded, determined. “Let’s get this show on the road. I refuse to die here today.” She let out a shaky laugh. “Especially while wearing a weird rope harness over my clothes. If someone’s going to find my body in some sort of kinky bondage get-up, I want to have at least died having fun with it!”
Ethan grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Sobering somewhat, he added, “If this works, get onto my back and grab my mane. The water could get pretty turbulent pretty quickly.”
Chloe looked dubious. “I won’t weigh you down? You won’t weighyourselfdown?”
“No. I’ll be fine,” Ethan reassured her. “I’ll be the one summoning the water. Pegasus magic wouldn’t work against me.”
He hoped, anyway. He’d never actually had much experience with it.
Oh, well. There’s only one way to find out.
With one last lingering glance at his mate, he shifted, sending water surging in all directions, and allowed himself to sink down into the water’s frigid embrace once more.
As a pegasus, it was a significantly more claustrophobic experience, his wings bending in at a tight angle to avoid getting caught on the sides of the gorge.
The urge to panic was strong – and only got stronger as he realized that he couldn’tquitekeep his nostrils above water while his feet were on the riverbed, even with his head tilted back. The pegasus was larger than a regular horse, but even it wasn’t quite tall enough in this scenario.
Giving Chloe what he hoped was a reassuring glance, he took a deep breath and lowered himself fully under the water.
Ethan let the pegasus take the reins, as it were – as much as it drove him crazy, it did have a much deeper understanding of its powers than he did. They needed to trust each other in order to make this work, especially since the pegasus didnotlike being confined in this way.
Stay calm,he told it.We will find what we’re looking for.
You don’t need to tell me that,the pegasus snarled, but itdidseem to relax a little.
Together, they searched the riverbed for what they were looking for, the pegasus rejecting several of Ethan’s suggestions. He knew it needed rock, but apparently the rocks he was seeing were no good, even though they resembled those he had summoned water from as a child.
If you wanted to summon a trickle, then these trifling pebbles would be sufficient,the pegasus sneered, its fear clear beneath the haughty attitude.But if you want to summon a torrent, you need to cleave open the very bedrock itself.
Ethan could see the issue. Much of the ground was covered in mud, plant life, and other such things. There was no obvious rock that he could open.
