Page 59 of Grounded (Convergence #1)

Thax decided that he would learn how to swim.

It was time to embrace the new. Maybe it would help him get past the old.

Liria gathered the things they needed—swim clothing, a blanket, and such—and they went out to the terrace.

At one end was a gate that opened on a metal platform with stairs going down from it.

Liri led him down those stairs, alongside the northern cliff of the peninsula, and to the private cove.

It was quite a hike to get down to the cove, but well worth it. Pristine white sand awaited them in a private valley of sheer rock walls that embraced a pool of crystalline blue water. Breathtaking. And not all in a good way.

As an Aethari, Thax had been taught to be wary of large bodies of water. Most Aethari developed a deep aversion. Thax had never been afraid, but he'd never been faced with the prospect of swimming either.

Liria pulled off her shoes on the last stair and stepped onto the sand barefoot.

Thax followed her lead, leaving his boots on the step above.

Warm granules met his feet, sliding between his toes and cushioning his soles.

Not the most pleasant sensation, but not bad either.

Half of the cove was shaded at that time of day, but the stairs ended in the sunny part, and Liria stuck to that portion of the beach as if the shadows were a fence. Or a warning.

His destra laid a blanket atop the sun-warmed sand. She set her shoes on it—one on each corner. “Bring your boots. We can use them to weigh the blanket down.”

“Weigh it down?” He grabbed his boots and headed over to her.

“The corners.” She waved at the two open corners. “Otherwise, the breeze will blow the blanket away.”

“Oh, I see.” He anchored the blanket with his boots while she laid out a stack of towels. And then he just stood there, staring at the water.

Liria ignored his hesitation and went to the water's edge.

Thax could see her eagerness but didn't understand it.

What was so wonderful about splashing around in cold water?

When he bathed, he liked the water steamy-hot.

Thaxvarien frowned as she went in and sighed.

The day was rather warm. Perhaps the water was refreshing.

Thaxvarien went to stand at the edge. A line of wet sand taunted him.

One step forward. He could do that. Ugh!

The sand squished through his toes in a much thicker manner than it did when dry.

Oh no, here it comes! Water lapped at his feet—cool, but not cold.

Just enough to feel nice. Well, that's not so bad.

But then it retreated, and as it did, he sank!

His feet actually sank into the sand. Would it bury him if he remained standing there?

He looked up and down the shoreline. Were their bodies buried in the cove?

And yet Liria looked blissful as she waded through the shallows.

The water was so clear that Thax could see the bottom and the shallows went out far, dropping away so gradually that the clear view extended nearly to the natural rock wall that connected the cliffs and formed a buffer between the sea and the cove.

The depth reassured him. It would be difficult to drown in four feet of water.

Still, it seemed wrong to go in. His missing wings mocked him, pulling in tightly against his back even though they weren't there. It felt as if he was going insane.

Liria turned around.

And there stood his sanity. His courage. His everything. His destra. She smiled at him, and all the worry vanished. It was just water. It wasn't a monster trying to eat him whole. And he had no wings to drag him down. He could do this.

“Just try the shallows,” Liria suggested. “If it feels nice, I can teach you the fundamentals here. Then we can go a little deeper.”

“You can teach me to swim in four feet of water?”

“Sure. Watch.” She crouched by the edge and then lay out so that her upper body was propped on the sand, out of the water, and her lower body stretched down the subtle incline into the water.

Then Liria kicked her legs, bringing them up to the surface through the movement.

“This is the first thing you need to learn.”

“To kick?” Thax stepped into the water and then paused to sigh. It was much better when you got more of your legs in. And his feet weren't sucked under. “Oh, that's nice.”

Liria grinned up at him. “Lie down here beside me on your stomach and just relax for a bit.”

“All right.” Thax mimicked Liria's position and grinned back at her. “This is better than I expected. My legs feel weightless. The water lifts them even when I don't move. And with the sun on my back, it's the perfect temperature.”

“Yup. And we can just lie here and enjoy this as long as you want.”

Thax looked over his shoulder and, for once, didn't wince when he found a clear view. He wasn't thinking about his wings. Instead, he focused on kicking his legs.

“Try lifting your upper body until your almost horizontal.” Liria pushed up onto her hands, and the rest of her body rose to the water's surface.

Thax followed her example. “Yes, that helps. I can kick easier.” Then he lifted his brows. “The water is pulling at me.”

“That's the waves coming in and out. At least we don't have to worry about currents in the cove.”

“What do you mean? What's a current?”

“Currents are, uh, paths that ocean water flows along inside the ocean.”

“Water flows within water?”

“Yeah, it's hard to explain. I don't know exactly what creates them.

I think it's a combination of things—wind, waves, temperature. All you have to know is that they can be as strong as a river running down a mountain. They flow in streams through the seas, and if you go past the shallows at a normal beach, you might encounter one and get pulled out to really deep water. Even talented swimmers can have trouble escaping a strong current.”

“That's fucking terrifying. Thank you so much for telling me.”

Liria laughed. “But with those rocks out there, guarding the cove, we should be fine. Even if you did get caught in a current, you could grab onto the rocks and pull yourself out before you were taken out to sea.”

Thax glanced at the rocks poking up out of the water at the end of the cove. He wasn't reassured, but he still said, “All right. But I don't think I'll ever want to swim at a regular beach. Currents sound . . .”

“What is it?” Liria asked.

“It stopped.”

“Waves ebb and flow.”

“No, it's gone—agh!”

“Thax!” Liria shouted as he was jerked into the deeper part of the cove.

It felt as if a watery hand grabbed Thax's ankle and pulled.

But he didn't go under. Instead, his body was yanked along the surface without him kicking at all.

He found himself seated atop the sea, waves lapping at his thighs as they undulated past. Underneath him was something that felt both solid and liquid, but when he looked down, he saw through the water to the bottom. Nothing was there.

Lifting his wide eyes, he met Liria's stare.

“How are you doing that?” Liria called to him.

“I don't know!” Thax lifted his hands in amazement and then slapped the surface. Water splashed around him.

And then he fell under.

Thaxvarien knew enough to hold his breath, but that was all. It was colder out there, but that wasn't the horrifying part. What terrified him was being covered in stuff that he couldn't breathe. Fuck. What was he supposed to do? Kick! Right, he had to kick his legs.

Thax kicked and it worked! He shot to the surface.

Gasping for breath, he wiped water from his eyes.

Liria surfaced a few feet away. He fell under again.

Kick! Shit, he had to keep kicking to stay up.

He started to, but then his destra's arms hooked under his armpits and she brought them both to the surface.

“Lay out on your back,” Liria said. “Relax your body, and you'll float.”

“How can I relax?!” He went under again.

Liria kicked and pulled Thaxvarien back up.

But then something grabbed his legs—both of them this time—and yanked him under once more.

His destra refused to let go of him and got dragged along too.

Thax would have pushed her away to save her from this attack, whatever it was, but, just as it had happened before, the water solidified below him and pushed Thax to the surface.

This time, it brought his destra with him.

They lay upon the water and looked at each other.

“This isn't what you meant by floating, is it?” Thax asked.

“No,” she whispered.

“What the fuck is happening?”

Liria wiped water from her eyes and looked around. “Um, I think your new talent wants to get your attention.”

“This is insane! What kind of convergence is this?” Thax flopped his arms and splashed water over them.

“Maybe don't yell at your talent when it's keeping you from drowning,” Liria suggested.

He stuck his tongue out at her.

Liria giggled.

Instantly, the frustration and fear vanished, replaced by a lightness he could only liken to sunshine. “Liri, how the fuck do we get back to shore?”

Liria shrugged. “Paddle?”

“Paddle with what?”

“Our arms.” Liria rolled onto her belly. “Come on. Like this.”

Thax rolled onto his stomach and mimicked her arm movements.

Together, they paddled their converged boat to shore.

As soon as they reached the shallows, whatever was buoying them dispersed.

Thax stood up and raced out of the water before it could grab him again.

But Liria couldn't follow him. She was too busy laughing, her beautiful ass planted in the shallows.

“That was not funny!” He pointed at her. “And not fun either.”

Liria laughed harder.

“Liri, I could have died! What are you doing? Get out of that death pool!”

“That's the thing, destru. I don't think you could have died. I think the power inside you wants you to live. It tried to get you to use it, but you panicked. Instead of letting you drown, it took over. Maybe it was even trying to teach you. After all, you learned pretty quickly with the tree.” She smirked as she stood up and got out of the water.

“Still, that must have been scary for you.

I know my first swimming lesson scared me, and I didn't have to deal with the water playing tricks on me.”

“It scared you? But you're a Medean.”

“So? I wasn't born knowing how to swim, and anything new can be scary.” Liria took his hand. “How about we sit here and stick our feet in for now?”

Thax glared at the water, but then relented. “Very well. But at the first tug I feel, I'm going back up to the house.”

“Deal.”

They sat down and let the water wash over their legs.

As Thaxvarien relaxed, that feeling of knowing came to him again.

And it eased him. He knew Liri was right.

This was a lesson that he hadn't been prepared for, but it was simply a lesson.

Just as the tree had been. Although he much preferred learning through sex.

Next time, he'd know better. He would relax and trust the power inside him.

With a feeling of peace that he thought he'd never feel again, Thaxvarien put his arm around his destra, and they looked out at the water in silence. Comfortable silence.

As the sun set, Thax said, “Maybe we can try this again tomorrow.”

“Or not,” Liria said. “There's so much I want to show you in Thennis. We can always come back here after you've learned more about your talent.”

“How will I learn if I don't come back here?” He stood up and reached down to help her to her feet. “The sources obviously want me to learn how to converge water.”

“This isn't the only pool of water in Thennis.” Liria winked at him.

“What else is there?” Thax frowned, but then his expression cleared. “Well, I do need to bathe.”

“We have to get all this salt off our skin.” She squished her face at him. “If we let it dry, it could get itchy.”

He chuckled. “You must promise me that you will never tell anyone that I learned to converge water in a bathtub.”

Liria put her hand over her heart. “I so vow.”

And then they laughed together. From peace to joy. Thaxvarien's mood was headed for the sky, and it didn't need wings to soar.