Kartar: Return of the Guardians

Chapter Eight: Rhys and Tanis

Evan was hurting. 

He was bruised and in so much pain that he could hardly comprehend the fact that the source of much of it was a burning sensation in his lower stomach. He tried opening his eyes but his head felt dizzy and compressed. 

Very slowly, his senses returned to him. He tasted metallic blood in his mouth and almost gagged. His hands grasped the cold and wet dirt, fingernails digging into the soil. He smelled the deep and clarifying scent of water and dewy air.

Then, he heard splashing in the water, and muffled cries for help. 

A bell began ringing in Evan's head, not one from pain, but one signalling him to get up and help whoever was in trouble. His eyes opened heavily and he groggily lifted his head towards the voice.

"Help... help!" A dark figure waved wildly from the middle of the lake, the voice helplessly strangled. "Help—" the voice wavered, and Evan saw the hand go under the water.

"Oh shit," Evan croaked. "Sloan! Sloan!"

He stumbled to his knees and pushed himself upward. He spat on the ground to get the taste of his blood out and ran as fast as he could towards the lake. 

Soon the adrenaline jump started his tired body and Evan dived into the water, squinting to see Sloan through the dark night, where the only source of light came from the stars and the moon itself. The lake water was darker than the sky. 

Evan's brow furrowed, swimming undecidedly to and fro, looking for Sloan. His heart raced, it felt to him that with every passing second it was an hour. He flailed out his hands, praying to God that he would find his friend, not knowing what he would do if he had to leave him to die a very horrible death.

Evan grabbed through the water. Suddenly he felt strands of hair through his fingers. So excited he had found his best friend, and starting to feel starved for air, Evan felt his way to the head, the neck, the shoulders, and finally grabbed the torso of the limp body and kicked furiously to the top. The surface broke and Evan gasped for air. He heard weak sputters and realized it was coming from Sloan.

Evan waded slowly to land, finding himself tiring drastically. The fact that Sloan added dead weight didn't quite help Evan, but he somehow managed to reach the shore of the lake and as soon as he knew that they were safely on land, he collapsed. Panting, with tears of exhaustion coming out of his eyes, he forced his eyes open to look at the body beside him.

"Hey," Evan said in nothing more than a whisper. "Hey, Sloan, are you okay?" he asked in a raspy voice. He coughed out water and shook a limp shoulder. "Hey..." More coughing, a fit of it. Evan gasped for air but it didn't come.

***

Evan was only out for a few seconds before he was brought back by light rain falling on his face, waking him up. He was awake, but his eyes didn't seem to want to open.

"Oh man, wake up!" he heard a voice moan. "Wake up, man, for the love of A, wake up!"

"Ow!" Evan yelled out as the pain of a sharp slap to his cheek sprung across his face. "That hurt, you great big stupid—"

"Oh, you're alive!" 

Evan was hoisted up into a strong hug, and he realized that now for sure this person was not Sloan. In all the years Evan had known Sloan, he knew that he would never touch say or do anything affectionately, let alone give him a hug. 

In the darkness, all Evan could make out was the curly mop of the stranger and the earnest eyes peering into his own. "You've been bleeding like crazy," said the man.

Yes, Evan thought, it was a man. He had a deeper voice than a teenager, but not so deep that he was really old, like thirty.

"You're twenty-five," Evan blubbered, head lopping down involuntarily.