Page 82 of Their Trials

He nodded as if reading my thoughts. Together. We would do this all together, for better or for worse. These men wouldn't abandon me. I would take them all if they would have me. Willing to spend my life trying to live up to their expectations, hoping that I could measure up.

And yet, even if I failed, they'd still be by my side, facing the world with me. I laughed in my mind, a sad smile gracing my face. It was us against the world, and I couldn't ask for anything more. The perfection of this moment struck true, hitting me in a way that words could never portray.

Taking a deep breath, inhaling through my nose, and holding the air in my lungs, I exhaled the doubt. Whatever we faced, we could overcome it as long as we faced it together. Again, Callum nodded at me, confirming the notion.

I smiled again, a truly innocent and joyous smile. This was what it felt like to come home, to be among family, those who accepted you no matter what. Such a novel idea for me, but something that I would fight tooth and nail to keep. Now that I had found my home, I wouldn't let it go.

“So, we just jump?” I asked the guys. Charity and her men gathered behind us, waiting patiently for their turn.

“Pretty much,” Lennox said.

“I can't help but think that this sounds absolutely ridiculous. Like she lives under the water?” I asked them, unable to wrap my mind around the concept.

“You heard the Gwyllion. We are to call out, and she'll hear us,” Callum said.

“And then what, we're transported to her lair?”

“That's the idea,” Baer said.

I took a deep breath, making an active decision to trust them wholly in this, despite my common sense screaming at me that this wasn't possible. “On three?” I asked them. Callum and Lennox both holding my hands with Baer and Arryn standing closely behind me.

At their nods, I started counting. “One... Two....Three...” I jumped on three, but their hands jerked from mine, leaving me soaring toward the waves alone. As I fell, I laughed at the absurdity of it. I guess they thought I meant one, two, three, jump.

Before I could think more of it, my feet broke through the surface, the water closing over my head quickly as I plunged into the depths of the lake. My eyes were closed, but as I continued sinking, I realized we hadn't called out to the Lady. Fuck. I hoped she was aware of us, that I hadn't completely screwed this up, and she'd allow us passage to wherever she was.

However, I continued to sink, slowing my descent until I pushed through some sort of barrier. It was like pushing through a bubble. One minute, I was sinking into the depths of the ocean, and the next, I was plummeting through the air. A scream escaped my lips at the feeling, so wholly unexpected. My feet touched the dry dirt, my knees collapsing from the momentum until I was a heap on the floor. Surprisingly, I wasn't hurt, considering my graceless fall.

I pushed up to my feet, expecting the guys to be behind me at any moment. When a minute passed, my brow furrowed in confusion. After a good five minutes, I was starting to get worried.

Pacing, I waited impatiently for them to join me. After what felt like hours but was most likely only several minutes, I had to accept that they wouldn't be joining me here.

Having nothing else to do while I waited, I took in the area. If I looked up, I could see the water forming a ceiling of sorts, walls of dirt formed around me to create a tunnel. Only a small area was illuminated, maybe a five-foot radius around me, leaving the rest in total darkness. I could go left or right, but it might as well have been a road to Mars for all the surety I felt for which way to go.

I should have known this wouldn't have been as easy as they made it sound. I could sense the guys vaguely through the bond, enough to know that they were okay if a little panicked at where I had gone. I guess it was up to me to find the Lady on my own.

Chapter Thirty Nine: Rhowyn

Figuring one way was just as good as another, I took off, walking down the dirt tunnel. The light coming from an undetermined source followed me and illuminated the area. I walked and walked. And walked some more, never changing directions or finding the end. Growing frustrated, my feet fell heavier and heavier until I started stirring up enough dirt to choke me, a cough falling from my lips. Where was the fucking end of this tunnel?!

As I continued walking, I considered turning around, partially convinced I had gone the wrong way. However, I had already gone so far that I was loathe to turn around. Hopefully, if I kept going, I'd eventually find the end of this fucking tunnel.

After several hours of walking, I sat down in the dirt, resting my back against the wall. I gazed up at the water above me, watching the fish dart back and forth as I wished for some of that water. I drew my knees to my chest and rested my head in my hands, my fingers digging into my hair as I fought to find the energy to get back up again. Yes, I had been walking for hours, but there was no reason I should be feeling this tired. I wished I knew the source of the drain; I'd remove it faster than you could blink. Instead, I continued to suffer the effects while trying to complete this damned trial.

An encouraging pulse was sent down the bond, pushing me to get to my feet and continue on, even when I couldn't see a way out of here. Surely, I would reach the end soon.

There was no end. Hours later, I still hadn't made progress. Frustrated, I dug my hands into my hair. “Lady of the Lake! Where the fuck are you?” I yelled out, getting pissed at this futile exercise.

Something that felt like fingers trailed along my mind in response to my yelling, which only served to anger me more. “Quit playing fucking games. Just ask me what you want to know, and I'll tell you!” I demanded, somehow knowing that the presence I felt was the Lady, testing me, searching my mind for something.

My only response was a gentle and fleeting caress, those tendrils still swirling through my mind. “Ugh!” I growled as I forced myself to keep taking steps in the way I had been heading for hours now. It didn't take long to grow bored with the same scenery. The same dirt walls, the same ocean above. Even if different fish swam above me, the only indication that I was really walking somewhere, they all bled together in the end.

I plopped down in the dirt again, my feet aching with all the walking I had been doing. I closed my eyes and fought back tears of frustration, digging deep within myself for the will to continue and coming up empty. I liked to think that I had a strong mind and that not much could faze me anymore. Having lived through what I had, along with being a fighter, I felt I could take just about everything in stride.

One of the first things you learned as a fighter was that you needed to have the mental fortitude to step into the cage and the drive to overcome any obstacle that presented itself. But here, now, in this moment? I could tell I was on that line, the one that would have me throwing in the towel. And all it took was an endless tunnel to nowhere. Alone.

The guys were nothing but a faint sense at the edges of my mind as if they were miles away from me. I guessed technically they were, the hours of walking having weakened my sense of them until they were fleeting hints of emotion. The most prevalent one that I kept getting was of concern. It came through the strongest and left me to assume that the longer I was away from them, the more their concern grew.

Despite the short amount of time with them, they had made themselves an integral part of my life. They had dug deep into my psyche, making me rely on them more than I had relied on anyone else before. As unlikely and improbable as that idea had been to me just a month ago, I was finding that I liked having them there. I liked having someone to help hold me up, to push me through when I was doubting.