The storm above clashed with the turbulent waves below. The seas, darkened by the clouds above, boiled as though some ancient being that had been slumbering at the seabed was now waking up. While, droplets of rain fell upon its surface like the tears of an enraged deity.
And in the middle of it all was a young man who was over the age of 18 years.
Liam, half blinded by the rain that entered his eyes let out a silent scream as he fell towards the raging waters. The loud mumble of thunder filled his eardrums. It crackled above him.
The salty smell of the sea grew stronger in his nostrils. He only had time to changed his body's position to a cannonball before the dark waters swallowed him whole.
Liam sank into the water, the sea doing its best to pull him further down. A silent scream tore through his lungs but it only came out as a gambled mass of air bubbles. And even worse, the water threatened to fill his lungs.
'Shit'
Liam closed his mouth.
He swung his arms and legs, pushing back against the currents pulling him in. His eyes were half-closed and there were nothing but dark waters all around him so he could only swim in the one direction he knew.
Up
Swing his arms and legs, he swam upwards. But it was difficult. His body felt twice as heavy in the violent currents so much so that he moved up several meters before he felt his muscles ache.
'Come on. Come on' he urged himself.
It felt as though he was fighting against the sea itself. His movements grew sluggish. His vision dimmed ever more slightly with each passing second and his lungs burned with a need for air. Still, Liam was nothing if not persistent.
Despite his entire body protesting against him. Despite the weight of the seas opposing his ascent, he refused to give up.
Various images flashed through his mind. His mother, father and sister. Emily's face and most of all the last sight of Aragon standing amid his collapsing realm. A fire burned in his belly and it spread to the rest of his body.
And in the dark his green eyes glimmered with a slight glow while his pupils turned into narrow slits.
A sense of ethereal strength flowed throughout his body and he continued to push himself. He swam and swam and swam until…
His head broke through the surface.
Liam gasped, and his lungs pulled in the air that deprived him. The water that had been in his eyes cleared and he could see once more.
The storm still raged. A wave hit from behind pushing him forward. Liam jaw tightened. His arms still hurt and they felt heavy. He shivered. Only now did he realize just how cold these waters were.
There wasn't much he could do in this situation though. He just had to hold on.
Lightning flashed illuminating a raging wave that rose behind him. Liam felt the water pull him up before he was dunked underwater once again.
Water filled his lungs and his eyes burned with the pain of feeling himself practically suffocating. This time though he didn't let the water pull him down like before he fought to the surface once more. He hacked out water from his lungs. He barely got a moment of respite before a new wave threatened to bring him down once more.
Liam struggled and struggled again while the waves of the sea continued to pull him down.
It became a battle of attrition and Liam wasn't going to last very long.
'Dammit I'm not going to last long at this rate'
His muscles ached all over and his arms felt as heavy as lead. Worse than that his toes were going numb from all the cold…that wasn't a good sign.
Still there was nothing he could do but fight and fight on. Time moved in the blur, his thoughts barely thinking of anything else other than struggle to keep himself above the surface.
It wasn't until the storm suddenly calmed and the skies cleared that his mind finally clocked in his surroundings. Sun light broke through the veil of clouds. The waves grew timid and the waters became clear.
'What…' he looked around more closed. He turned his head to take a peek behind him and sure enough he could hear the distant rumble of thunder.
The storm hadn't ended. Instead he had managed to reach the eye of the storm.
Liam blinked tiredly as he struggled with his thoughts
There in the distance he saw a metallic vessel. A ship. It stood in the middle of it all like a monument.
With the last of his strength he swam towards it. He didn't think about who that vessel belonged. Frankly it could belong to the devil for all he cared and he'd still approach it. Pushing himself he swam forward.
However the closer the vessel appeared in his field of vision the heavier his eyelids became.
Liam clenched his jaw.
'I just have to make it!' water splashed all around him. His eyelids becoming the weight of bricks. He could hardly open his eyes. 'Please…just a little further…'
Unfortunately, his eyelids completely shut and his body went limp. He became akin to a log merely carried by the current. Weakly, he forced his eyelids open just enough to discern that he was within the shadow of the metal ship.
He managed to catch a few shapes moving about its deck frantically before he passed out.