Wraithvine nearly drowns, is awakened to Chance giving hir CPR and Scramble retrieving hir hat and the group's belongings. Fortunately, save for some food supplies, they lose very little. -- BKF
Thunder in hir ears. Burning lungs in need of air, not the fluid currently invading them. Fading light. A confusion of things in hir sight.
Hir goddess whispered to hir, Not today, my lovely.
Small hands on hir chest. Lips on hirs. Air in hir lungs and the taste of someone else's breath. Wraithvine lurched to one side to cough up water, a few loose leaves and one small and very confused fish.
Chance, probably aged five if they were lucky, yelped and scooped up the fish. Running as fast as their little hooves could carry them to save one more creature from disaster.
The next feet to approach as Wraithvine coughed and wheezed were Bibrid's. The healing wave ebbed the pain in Wraithvine's lungs, clearing hir breath. "Sorry, sorry," Bibrid babbled. "I was seeing to Scramble first. Ze jumped in after your hat. I didn't think of using my true form. Sorry."
"She didn't make me grow gills," Wraithvine managed. "Did... Chance revive me?"
The young Hellkin trotted back, proud of themself. "Saved it," they declared. "That's two in one day! I'm a hero!"
"Thank you," Wraithvine struggled to sit up, looking for hir prentice.
Scramble was shaking, sopping wet, and holding a sad, saggy patchwork shape that, because of the angry fly-dragon, Wraithvine had to identify as hir hat.
"Did they jump in after my hat?"
"Only after they dragged you out. A Wizard is not a Wizard without their hat. I tried to tell them not to, but..."
"Ze had a new water-breathing spell ze wanted to test," Wraithvine rolled hir eyes. One small coughing fit and ze called out, "Did it work?"
"I didn't drown," Scramble reported. "It felt thicker than Bibrid's porridge, but at least I didn't drown."
"Pity the spell requires forethought." More coughing."Can you put up the tower? I think we all need a rest with security... and ready potions."
As ever, the prentice was enthusiastic to practice hir spells.
[Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash]
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