Page 168 of Quicksilver

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ANNORATH MOR!

The wind broughttears to my eyes. I fought to open them and then wished I hadn't. Eighty feet of open-air stretched out in front of me. Below: a shimmering and vast pool of black silk.

No.

Not silk.

Water.

A lake.

I opened my mouth to shout—

—and hit the surface like a meteor striking ground.

Pain.

Everywhere.

I couldn't—

PAIN.

Oh gods.

I couldn'tbreathe.

My ribs screamed. Agony rippled up and down my spine. My head pounded.

Ice cold, the water filled my ears and stung my eyes. It was so black that I couldn't tell which way was up.

My body reacted, my legs kicking and thrashing, panic immediate. Absolute.

My hands clasped, desperate to find something to grab hold of, but there was nothing. Just water. Everywhere, fucking water.

My lungs burned, desperate for oxygen. I had to breathe. I had to. I needed to get to the surface. I had to breathe. I had to—

My body was buffeted by movement in the water. I was shoved sideways. Suddenly there were hands on me. Someone had found me in the dark. I still couldn't see, but I twisted, kicking, reaching, fingers numb from the cold. I latched onto something—fabric—and held on tight. My heart was thunder in my ears as I was dragged upwards through the water.

My head breached the surface, and I dragged down a terrified breath, shock relaying around my nervous system. I wasn't safe. There was no ground beneath my feet. I was going to die.

“Shh, Saeris. It's all right. It's all right. Just breathe. Two seconds and we'll be on the shore.”

Lorreth. Lorreth had me. Facing away from him, I shook violently in his arms, my teeth chattering as he kicked like a pack of hell cats were on his heels. It took longer than two seconds to reach solid ground, but not much longer.