“What do you mean you don’t know how to swim?!” Maverick shouted at me and I flinched as I stepped backwards. “You grew up next to all that water!”

  “Yeah, three hours away. That’s totally next to.” I crossed my arms.

  “I’d think it would be easier to learn how to swim if you can breathe underwater.” Marge shrugged. “It takes away some of the fear.”

  “No, it does not.” Zephyr shuddered behind her.

  “Why do I have to go anyway?” I asked. “You and Aidan should be more than enough to take care of it.”

  “My light magic is unpredictable, and so is his,” Maverick explained.

  “Well, mine’s even more unpredictable than either of yours!” I raised my arms in exasperation. “Actually, no, it’s very predictable. It’s predictably bad. I haven’t been able to use it in any meaningful way."

  “I guess today’s your lucky day.” Maverick turned around and started to leave, but I grabbed him by his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

  “Please don’t make me face a giant monster underwater when I don’t even know how to swim…”

  Maverick heaved out a loud sigh, but didn’t say anything.

  Instead, Aidan approached me. “U-um, I’d like if you were there…”

  Great. Just great.

  “You’ll have time to practice before we face it,” Maverick explained. “Trust me, we’re not fighting until we can both comfortably breathe under water.”

  Maverick, Aidan, and I approached the shore as the other three watched from a distance. Both boys took their shirts off and— Okay, Maverick’s a little more built than I expected. I’ll uh, just look at that tree off in the distance! I could hear someone clearing their throat behind me, and I had no doubts that it was Finn.

  Aidan jumped in with no hesitation, and then we never saw him again… Well, at least not for a while. Maverick took a deep breath, his right leg forward and his left leg back. I watched as, right before he was going to jump in, he hesitated and leaned back on his left leg. Guess I wasn’t the only one scared of swimming. He took a deep breath and dove in. I guess I was next.

  I crouched next to the water and let my hand soak in the water. This time, there weren’t fish to scare away. I sighed and stood up. Playing with the water wouldn’t get me anywhere. Unlike Aidan and Maverick, I wasn’t brave enough to jump in, so instead I slowly walked into the water. I made it to where the water had just reached my chest, and panicked.

  I turned around to the other three, who were watching in anticipation. “One of you will come get me if I drown, right?” I frowned.

  Finn nodded at me, making direct eye contact. “I can still read your thoughts from here.”

  “That makes me feel a little better…”

  I sucked in a deep breath and allowed my head to sink in.

  And then immediately came back out of the water because my eyes stung so badly.

  I tried to wipe the water out of my eyes, but that was a stupid idea when every other part of my body was wet! If only my socks weren’t filled with sand.

  Finn ran up to the shoreline and handed me a handkerchief, which I would be forever grateful for. “You’re going to have to get used to the feeling of water in your eyes. You can’t keep them closed the whole time you’re down there.”

  “I know, I know,” I tried not to snap. Learning how to swim felt impossible when I couldn’t even get used to being underwater. I started feeling spiteful about being the one house without a pool. Any time I visited friends, I’d always stay on the shallow end. A decision I now regret.

  At this point, Maverick had resurfaced above the water and took a deep breath.

  “You were down there for quite some time,” I commented.

  “Seems we can hold our breath under water for longer.” He smirked at me before diving under again.

  Right… Time to try again. But with a different approach.

  I sucked in a deep breath, closed my eyes, and crouched under water where it was still shallow enough for me to stand. Time to test how long I could hold my breath.

  This isn’t so bad.

  I wondered if I’d be able to hold it for a minute? Two minutes? I can usually only hold it for thirty seconds— Okay, no, I need to come back up now.

  I took a gasp of air as I resurfaced. Holding longer my ass!

  “You need to trust in yourself a little more.” Finn was sitting at the shoreline. Granted, all I could make out was the vague, blurry shape of him, as water had dropped into my eyes. “Just blink.”

  I blinked, and it was slightly easier to see. “I’m never going to do this.”

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  “It’s that mindset that’s going to turn that statement into a self-fulfilling prophecy.” He pushed himself off the ground and came into the water with me. “I would trade places with you if I could, you know. But… I think this could also be a good thing for you.”

  Finn took his shirt off and… Okay, I need to stop looking at these boys shirtless. It’s doing something to me. He dove under the water, and a few moments later, I felt a splash of water on my back. I turned to see that he had resurfaced behind me.

  “You make it seem so easy,” I said, watching him gently shake some of the water away, careful not to splash any on me. I was also careful to look anywhere except at his muscular— Stop it, Ella!

  He smirked at me. “Because it is. Come on, take my hand and keep your eyes open this time.” He extended his hand to me above the water. I hesitantly took it, trusting that he wouldn’t push me too far.

  He pulled me under the water, and it took everything for me to keep my eyes open this time. Everything was a little darker under water. Thankfully, the sun still illuminated some light. I was also grateful that I wore shorts today. Didn’t need my skirt flying up in the water… My eyes burned, and I desperately wanted to close them, but Finn shook his head at me. He started swimming, and I tried kicking my legs to match his. Somehow, I felt like I was failing.

  Eventually, my head started to pound from the lack of oxygen, and Finn was quick to resurface with me. …Except I kept sinking back down because we were no longer at the shallow end.

  “You’re okay,” he said to me as I panicked. He grabbed hold of my waist and was able to hold me up. “Relax or you’ll sink.”

  I quickly nodded and willed myself to calm down. Finn is right here; he’s not going to let you drown. If anything, he’ll just swim you back to shore.

  “Take a deep breath and fill your lungs. Take smaller breaths once your lungs are full.”

  I did as he said, not knowing what the purpose was.

  “See?” He pulled his hands away from me, which caused me to panic, but instead of sinking, I stayed floating thanks to the fact that half my body was encased in ice now. Of course, this made him laugh.

  “Stop laughing at me! I’m scared!” I shouted, splashing water at his face.

  “I’m sorry! I just didn’t expect that to happen!” He moved his arms to block his face. The ice dissolved, and I grabbed onto his arm for dear life. “Here,” he said. A ring of ice formed around my waist, and I shivered from the cold.

  “Why is your ice colder than my ice?” I asked.

  “Probably because you’re not thinking about the temperature when you panic.”

  That made sense… As much as I hated to admit it, this ice floaty was helping me stay above water. “How did you learn how to swim?” I asked.

  “My sister taught me. There was a lake—much smaller than this one—near where I lived. She threw me into the water and ended up rescuing me when she realized I couldn’t save myself.”

  “Well, thank you for not doing that with me.”

  “Try creating ice around your forearms. That should help keep you above water while you practice swimming.”

  I nodded and did as he said. Brrr, it was cold having ice directly against my skin. Once the ice was around my arms, he removed his ice. I startled momentarily as my body briefly sank, but my head didn’t go under. I decided to try to swim to shore.

  The ice felt like weights around my arms. Was it supposed to take this much effort to swim? Nevertheless, I made it to the shore and called it a day.

  Or tried to. Maverick noticed this about ten minutes later and swam up to me. “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “I’m done. I’m not going to get any further—” I tried to explain.

  “Like hell you’re done. Get back in the water.”

  “No.”

  He shut his eyes, and I could tell he was trying to control his anger. My stomach sank, worried he was about to go off on me. Instead, his eyes opened, and he spoke softly. “You haven’t even been in the water for an hour. You have so much left to learn. We can’t fight the Falor Ghula until you learn. The longer it takes you to learn how to swim, the longer we’re stuck in Avaline’s prison.

  Now I felt guilty… It wasn’t just my problem anymore; it was everyone’s problem. But still… I couldn’t bring myself to go back in the water.

  “Tomorrow,” I promised. “I just want to rest for the day….if that’s okay with everyone else.” I turned to the other three who were still waiting.

  “Take as much time as you need, girl.” Marge smiled at me before her expression changed to humorous and pained. “But uh, maybe not too much time, please.”

  “Agreed. You made progress today, however small.” Zephyr smiled at me. I could’ve done without the last part.

  It was silent for a moment. I imagined everyone was contemplating what to do next. Maverick finally broke the silence. “The three of you should go back to the inn.”

  “Huh?” Marge asked.

  “None of you can breathe under water, and there isn’t much point in you standing around here.”

  “But... But emotional support!” Finn exclaimed.

  “The last Falor Ghula is north. Only problem is, it’s in the sky. Your time would be better spent learning how we can get up there.”

  “You’re sure you’re going to be okay?” Finn looked at me, concern written all over his face.”

  “I’ll be fine, sweetie.” Maverick smirked, causing Finn to roll his eyes.

  “I’ll be okay, too. Aidan will be here.” I smiled, but I knew it was pointless. Finn had made me feel safe in the water today, and I kind of wanted him to stick around. But Maverick did have a point. Please respect my wishes.

  “Am I not support enough?” Maverick asked.

  “You’re more like attack.” I shrugged.

  “All right,” Finn said, speaking to me. “I’ll support your wishes.”

  The three set off towards the capital, while Maverick, Aidan, and I remained here. I watched the two practice for hours. Each time Maverick entered the water, he hesitated. Aidan, on the other han,d came back much sooner, mumbling something about being bored.

  “The water doesn’t hurt your eyes?” I asked from my spot on the beach. At some point, Finn had returned with towels for us.

  “It did at first,” Aidan replied while drying himself off with a towel. “T-then I kind of just got used to it.”

  “How did you learn how to swim?” I patted the seat next to me. I figured sitting on sand was a bad idea, so I moved to the grass.

  “Um, I was pushed into a lake at some point as a kid. I didn’t really have any other choice.”

  “What’s with everyone being pushed into water?” I shook my head. “I wonder what’s Maverick’s story.” He did say he didn’t like water…

  “S-Sylvis probably threw him in at some point…” Aidan chuckled.

  I laughed. “What’s it like being able to breathe under water?”

  “Not much different than breathing here, except you don’t use your nose. I-it’s like your skin is absorbing… something? I-I don’t really know how to explain…”

  A few minutes later, Finn came by again. This time, with food. Aidan looked into the basket he brought, and his face lit up. Judging by the smell, there was bread, fruit, and something with a lot of spices.

  “D-didn’t you just come by earlier?” Aidan asked as he took the basket.

  “Yeah, but I figured you guys were hungry and didn’t think there was anything around here to eat,” Finn explained.

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re doing it on purpose to see me.” I chuckled.

  His face went bright red, and I instantly stopped laughing. “W-what? No! I-I just— You’re hungry and wet, right? You need dry food and towels to eat! Uh, if there’s anything else you need, let me know. I-I’ll be back tomorrow with breakfast.” He darted off.

  What just happened?