Chapter the Eighteenth

A day turned into another day. Then another. Then another.
“Are we getting close yet?” Iraella often asked Mabon with exasperation. They hardly stopped and neither one had thought of packing food. Usually Mabon answered with a casual “No, not really.”
But by around the fiftieth time on the sixth day, he snapped. “No! Would you stop asking me that! We won’ be there till tomorrow!” he shouted. At first Iraella was merely shocked, but then she got irritated.
“Well fine then!” she snapped. “I’m sorry that my feet are tired of walking, that I’m trapped in a bubble, I’ve only been able to have a little sleep and a little food, and that my best friend is in mortal danger!”
Mabon threw is hands in the air and started walking. Preferring not to be left in the ocean, Iraella followed. She folded her arms and stuck her chin in the air as she walked. When she thought about what she had said, she realized how selfish she had sounded. She almost felt sorry.
“No,” she thought. She had always been the rather stubborn, ‘I’m right’ type.
The two traveled in this tense silence until nighttime.
“Should we stop and rest?” Mabon grunted.
“Um-hm,” Iraella mumbled. Mabon walked towards a rock and they sat on it, every once and a while sneaking a glance at each other. “You wan’ food?” asked Mabon.
Iraella nodded, not looking at him.
“Come on then, we have to get food,” Mabon said, rising. Iraella stubbornly rose and followed him.
“Hold your breath,” Mabon warned when he saw a fish. Iraella nearly felt bad for the pretty little thing, with its silvery scales and bright green eyes. Then she looked away.
Iraella held her breath and plugged her nose. Mabon leapt out of the bubble and lunged for the fish. The fish tried to dart away, but Mabon was barely able to grasp it. Iraella was about to burst when Mabon made a bubble around them again. She gasped for air, then wanted to cry when she saw that Mabon had stabbed the fish with a dagger from his luggage (Which he had made a mini air bubble for).
“Alright, ready?” he asked, holding out the bleeding fish. Iraella shook her head. She felt sick. Mabon frowned. “Wha’ tis wrong now?” he asked exasperatedly.
Iraella held her hand at her mouth. “Ugh,” she said.
Mabon slapped a blood-splattered hand to his forehead. “We’ve done this before!” he cried.
Iraella nodded. “But I never had to watch,” she said in a weak voice.
Mabon sighed. “You’ll have t’ deal with it someday,” he said. He cut off a piece and ate it. Iraella looked away, groaning. She heard Mabon bite into his piece of the fish. She couldn’t hold it anymore, and she threw up.
“Ugh! Why’d you do that?” Mabon sighed. Iraella wiped her mouth with her shirt collar.
“It’s disgusting!” she said, facing Mabon.
Mabon sighed again. “Iraella, eat. You’ll be starving otherwise. You can look away.” Iraella followed his instruction. “You can look now,” he said.
Iraella turned around and Mabon handed her a piece. Iraella grimaced at the scales, but then closed her eyes and ate it anyway. It tasted rather salty since it was uncooked, but she was hungry.
They finished up the fish and started moving again.
After walking for a while, for once Iraella was the one to first speak. “Ummm, I’m sorry I was so selfish,” she said uncomfortably. Mabon laced his fingers behind his head and smiled smugly.
“It’s alright,” he said, chuckling a little. Iraella clenched her teeth. What was this nonsense?
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, a little bit irritated. Mabon unlaced his fingers from behind his head, but was still grinning. “Nothing! Wha’ tis wrong?”
“That little ‘it’s alright’ thing. It was awful cocky,” Iraella replied.
Mabon chuckled again and shook his head. Iraella folded her arms and walked. “Thank goodness it’ll only be a day longer,” she thought.

Night came along, and Iraella felt as if she would collapse. “It is too dark to keep moving, Mabon,” she said at last. “We have to sleep.”
Mabon nodded, or at least Iraella thought he did. It was hard to tell in ocean darkness. Mabon spotted a large rock that they could curl up under for the night.
Once they were comfortable on their separate sides of the bubble, a thought stuck Iraella. “Like I said when we left your home, I thought Bellord was surrounded by a lake. How come it is an ocean? And the forest was on the other side of the lake at Neygren,” she said.
“I don’ know why so many people think tha’ Bellord tis lakeside. It tis an island, surrounded by ocean!” Mabon said.
“But how could you get me there, lakes and oceans don’t connect,” Iraella said skeptically.
“Once again, only the islands know better. All the Niaequeins are so naïve.”
Iraella sighed. “That makes no sense. And I am most certainly not naïve!” she said. Mabon laughed.
“If you say so,” he said.
“But we’re still in the ocean, we’re supposed to reach the forest by tomorrow,” Iraella said, ignoring his first comment.
“Soon enough, just be patient.”
“How am I supposed to be patient when my best friend is in danger?” Iraella thought. She didn’t really feel like getting into an argument. All she wanted to do was sleep…….

Iraella awoke to Mabon shouting her name. She shot up, bonking her head on the rock above her. “What? What is it?” she asked. Mabon’s eyes were wide when he faced her. “There is a storm,” he said.
Iraella thought her heart stopped. An ocean storm? That would be awful! “How bad is it?” she asked, her hand clutching her heart. Mabon grimaced.
“Pretty bad,” he told her grimly.
Iraella groaned. They needed to keep traveling. “Can we make it through?” she asked. Mabon looked at her as if she had gone mad. “My guess is no,” he said.
Iraella dared to peek out her side of the cave. Water swirled and swooshed all about, twirling every which way. It didn’t affect the pair with their cave and air bubble put together. Iraella thought hard.
“Come on, we can make it,” she said.
Mabon arched his eyebrows. “Have you gone mad? Iraella, we can’t do that. We must wait,” he said.
Iraella glared at him. “We have to go,” she said.
Mabon folded his arms. “I guess you can swim then,” he said. Iraella growled and clenched her teeth, just barely resisting the urge to punch him. She took a deep breath. “Please, Mabon. Please,” she begged.
Mabon looked at her skeptically. “Iraella…..”
“I will never argue with you or complain to you again,” Iraella bribed. Mabon considered this. “No! It tis too dangerous,” he said.
Iraella scooted in closer. “Mabon! This is urgent. We have to get to that forest as soon as possible,” she pleaded.
Mabon looked at her with pity. “Fine, but if it gets too crazy, we are finding the nearest rock and staying there,” he said. Iraella grinned and hugged him quickly. “Let’s go then,” she said.
They stepped out into the storm, and immediately regretted it.
The water threw them all around, they had no control. Iraella felt herself scream, but couldn’t hear it. She couldn’t see anything either. She barely heard Mabon say something, but she couldn’t make out what he said. Water picked them up towards the surface, then threw them far to the right.
Then everything went black.