5 - Sinking

’I will survive..’ I thought, the words a silent scream in my head. ’I have to. For them. For revenge!!’

But how? The ropes were tight, the stones impossibly heavy. The river looked like a monster waiting to swallow me whole.

“Alright,” Valerius said, stepping closer. He crouched down in front of me, his face inches from mine. His breath smelled stale, like old blood. “Any last words, little traitor? Any pleas for mercy? Though, I assure you, none will be granted.”

I met his gaze. I thought of all the things I wanted to say. All the curses I wanted to hurl at him, at Henry, at Rhys. But my throat was closed tight. The words wouldn’t come.

My silence, which had once been a shield, now felt like another chain.

But then, a tiny sound escaped me. Not a word. Just a breath. A whisper.

“You...will pay,” I managed, my voice raspy, barely audible even to myself.

Valerius’s eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second, then he threw his head back and laughed.

A loud, booming laugh that echoed through the trees. “Pay? Oh, I think not, little wolf. It is you who is about to pay the ultimate price.”

He stood up. “Throw her in.”

The guards hauled me to my feet. The weight of the stones was immense. I could barely stand. They dragged me to the very edge of the riverbank. The water churned below, dark and forbidding. I could feel the cold spray on my face.

This was it.

Panic, cold and sharp, finally pierced through the numbness. My heart hammered against my ribs. I wanted to scream, to beg, to fight, but my body was frozen.

“Any messages for the spirits of the deep?” one of the guards jeered.

I closed my eyes. 'Mama. Papa. I’m sorry.'

Then, they shoved me.

The world tilted. For a moment, I was airborne, suspended between the bank and the water. Then, the icy shock of the Grayling engulfed me.

It was colder than I could have ever imagined. It stole my breath, a brutal punch to my lungs. The weight of the stones pulled me down instantly, like an anchor. I sank fast.

Darkness. Cold. Pressure building in my ears, in my chest.

My eyes snapped open, but all I could see was murky, swirling water. Panic clawed at me, a wild, thrashing animal. I tried to kick, to fight my way up, but the stones were too heavy. The ropes around my wrists and ankles held me fast.

My lungs were screaming for air. Burning. I twisted, turned, pulling against the ropes with all my strength. Useless.

The rough fibers cut into my skin, but they didn’t give.

I could feel the current tugging at me, pulling me further out, further down. The surface seemed a million miles away, a shimmering, unattainable dream.

’No! I won’t die! I won’t!’

I thrashed harder, a desperate, futile dance in the crushing cold. My muscles screamed in protest. Black spots started to dance in front of my eyes.

The image of Rhys’s face, cold and uncaring, flashed in my mind. Henry’s cruel smirk. Valerius’s dead eyes.

The rage returned, a final, defiant surge. It fueled me for a few more seconds. I pulled, I kicked, I fought the water, the ropes, the inevitable.

But the river was stronger. The stones were too heavy.

My movements became weaker. Slower. The burning in my lungs was unbearable. I needed to breathe. I needed air.

My body convulsed, trying to draw a breath that wasn’t there. Water flooded into my mouth, my throat, choking me. It tasted of mud and ice and despair.

The black spots grew larger, consuming my vision. The sounds of the river, the roaring in my ears, began to fade.

‘This is it,’ a distant part of my mind whispered. ’This is how it ends..’

No. It couldn’t be. My revenge… Papa… Mama…

A strange sort of peace began to settle over me, the terrifying calm of surrender. The struggle was too much. I was so tired. So cold.

My last conscious thought was not of hatred, or even of revenge. It was of my father’s hand, warm and strong, holding mine. And my mother’s voice, singing a lullaby.

Then, everything went dark.

The cold was absolute. The silence complete.

I was sinking. Sinking into nothing.

Just before the blackness claimed me entirely, a flicker. Not a thought, not a memory. More like a… presence. Far away. Unseen.

But it was too late.

I let go.

The river took me.