The portal split apart with a violent shimmer of light.

  Aeyona and Lillyth were flung through the air, weightless for the briefest heartbeat before gravity seized them. The sound of tearing wind filled their ears, and below, a ribbon of silver water flashed through the forest canopy. There was no time to breathe, no time to brace.

  They hit the river hard.

  The impact knocked every breath from Aeyona’s chest. She sank into freezing darkness, limbs flailing in the current. The roar of water filled her skull. The world became a blur of rushing pressure and colorless noise. Her lungs screamed for air. She fought to reach the surface but the current spun her like a leaf, dragging her beneath again and again.

  Lillyth’s hand caught her for an instant, then slipped away.

  Aeyona tried to reach back, but the river pulled her under.

  Her chest burned. The light above grew faint. Panic twisted through her. She struck something solid, a rock, and pain flared in her side. Everything began to fade.

  Then, through the blur, a shadow moved toward her. Arms encircled her waist and hauled upward with desperate strength. They broke the surface together in an explosion of air and spray. Aeyona gasped, choking, eyes wide and glassy. Lillyth’s voice broke over the thunder of the river.

  “Hold on to me!”

  They crashed into the shallows, dragged by the current until Lillyth’s feet found the riverbed. She half-stumbled, half-crawled toward the bank, clutching Aeyona’s limp body. Mud sucked at her boots as she fought free of the water.

  When they reached dry ground, Lillyth dropped to her knees, pulling Aeyona close. Her own chest heaved, her hair plastered to her face.

  “Aeyona, please,” she whispered. “Please wake up.”

  There was no response.

  The forest around them pressed close, a wall of dripping leaves and whispering mist. The river hissed behind them, relentless. Lillyth’s tears mixed with rain and river water as she pressed her ear to Aeyona’s chest. Nothing. Or was there? She listened harder, trembling. There it was. Faint. Fragile. A heartbeat.

  “Come on,” she begged. “Breathe for me.”

  Aeyona jerked suddenly, coughing up a mouthful of water. Her body convulsed with the effort. Lillyth gasped out a broken laugh and held her tighter.

  “That’s it. You’re here. You’re here.”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Aeyona’s voice came in shivers. “Lillyth?”

  Relief collapsed the rest of Lillyth’s strength. She sank back, pulling Aeyona into her lap, sobbing with the release of it all. “I thought you were gone.”

  Aeyona’s head rested weakly against her shoulder. The air was cold and heavy with mist, but the sound of the river was softer now. She drew in a trembling breath, trying to orient herself. Trees towered around them, thick with moss and shadow. Small glowing beetles drifted lazily in the undergrowth, faint points of light against the green.

  Lillyth brushed wet hair from Aeyona’s forehead, her fingers gentle but shaking. “Easy. Don’t move too fast.”

  Aeyona sat up anyway, dizzy and disoriented. Her ribs ached from the fall. “The others. Where are they?” She scanned the forest wildly, eyes wide with worry. “Marvel, Horren, Al. They were right behind us.”

  “I don’t see anyone,” Lillyth said softly.

  “They must have fallen through before us. Or after. I should have stabilized it, I should have…”

  Lillyth caught her face in both hands. “Stop. Please. You can’t keep blaming yourself.”

  Aeyona’s lips trembled, but the weight in her chest slowly began to ease. There was something about Lillyth’s presence that quieted the panic. It was a quiet hum of calm that seemed to seep into the air itself. The way her voice steadied, the warmth of her touch. The world stopped spinning quite so fast.

  They stayed like that for a while, listening to the forest breathe. Then Lillyth said, “We should find somewhere dry before nightfall.”

  Aeyona nodded faintly. Together they rose, unsteady but determined, following the faint slope upward away from the river. The forest floor was slick with moss and roots, their boots squelching in the mud. Mist wove through the trees in slow curls. Every distant sound made them flinch: the snap of a branch, the call of some unseen bird.

  By the time the sky began to fade from grey to blue, they found a small clearing beside a fallen log. The air there was less damp, sheltered by the curve of old roots and an overhang of stone. Lillyth gathered what branches she could find while Aeyona worked to summon light. Her hands trembled as she coaxed a spark of gold from her palm, guiding it toward the kindling until the fire caught.

  The flame flickered weakly at first, smoke curling upward into the dim canopy. Aeyona fed it more magic until it grew steady. Lillyth knelt close, rubbing her hands near the warmth, her soaked clothes steaming faintly.

  “It feels almost warm,” she murmured.

  Aeyona smiled wearily. “Almost.”

  The sun vanished completely, replaced by violet and shadow. They sat close to the fire, their bodies weary beyond measure. The heat dried their skin and hair, and the sound of the river below became a distant whisper.

  Lillyth watched Aeyona in silence for a long time. Her face was pale in the firelight, lashes still wet, lips trembling slightly each time she breathed. Aeyona noticed and gave a small, tired laugh. “You’re staring.”

  “I’m just… making sure you’re still real.”

  Aeyona’s heart gave a strange little twist. “I could say the same.”

  Silence fell again, thicker this time, full of things unspoken. Aeyona shifted closer. The warmth between them deepened, not only from the fire but from proximity, from shared survival and relief.

  “I was so scared,” Lillyth said softly. “When you went under, I thought…” Her voice broke.

  Aeyona reached for her hand, lacing their fingers together. “You saved me.”

  Lillyth’s eyes glistened. “You make that sound easy.”

  Aeyona hesitated, then said quietly, “No one’s ever cared enough to try before.”

  Lillyth looked at her for a long moment. Her lips parted as if to speak, but nothing came. Instead she leaned in, just slightly, enough for their foreheads to touch.

  Aeyona’s breath caught. The closeness was dizzying. Her skin still smelled faintly of river and rain, and the warmth of Lillyth’s cheek brushed hers.

  Lillyth whispered, “You’re not alone anymore.”

  The words shattered whatever restraint remained. Aeyona tilted her chin, closing the distance between them. Their first kiss was tentative, testing, lips barely grazing. The second was surer. The third carried every shiver of fear and relief that had built since the river.

  Lillyth made a small sound in her throat and drew Aeyona closer, her hands tangling in damp hair. The kiss deepened, slow at first, then raw and searching, all breath and trembling hands and unspoken need. The fire crackled beside them, throwing shifting gold across their faces.

  Aeyona pulled Lillyth into her, laying down on the grass. Their arms curled around each other's bodies. Legs tangled as their lips danced together. Raw and passionately they embraced the warmth under the starlit sky.

  When they finally parted, both were breathing hard. Their foreheads rested together, eyes half-lidded. The air between them was charged, alive.

  Neither spoke. Words would have felt too small.

  They lay down beneath Aeyona’s cloak, pressed close for warmth. The fire burned low, a dim ember glow. Outside, the forest murmured softly. Aeyona listened to the steady rhythm of Lillyth’s heartbeat beneath her ear until sleep began to claim her.

  For the first time since the fall, the darkness felt safe.