Holding her breath, she pushed hard against the water with her arms. Deeper and deeper she went, keeping her eyes on the faint glow. It was indeed rather purplish and as she kicked in the water she began to feel her eyes sting with the salt water. Almost there… With one more sweep of her high and mid arms, she made a grab for a couple of the purple slugs. One slipped into her hand with ease, but the other gripped the surface of the rock. Trying not to squish it, she made a more forceful grab and it relinquished its hold.
Oh right, the seaweed. Bubbles spewed out of her mouth as she found herself running out of air, and she aimed her feet at one of the rocks to kick off towards the surface. On her way up, she grabbed a hunk of seaweed growing near the rocks and wrenched it from the ocean floor with a hard tug.
When she reached the surface she gasped for breath, triumphant. With seaweed in her low hands along with the sea slugs, and one long piece of seaweed in her mid hand, Sayana swam to shore. As she reached the shallows and stood up out of the water, the cold seemed to hit her harder than before. Goosebumps rippled up her arms and the otherwise warm air seemed frigid after her swim in the cold water.
“Safe? Of course I’m safe. That’s what the knighthood is for. To keep people safe.” Sayana responded sharply to Devi’s question. There was almost an accusing tone to her voice as if the Order was doing too good a job.
Her teeth were beginning to chatter and she made a dash for her clothes. At least the sand was warm. As she put on her clothes, she was quickly reminded of her injured finger when she attempted to use that hand to pull down her shirt. The bandage still held, but only just, after the bout of swimming and being immersed in the salty water.
“I have several leaves from the seaweed farther out, plus the entire stalk of this other kind growing by the sea slugs, and two of those glowing sea slugs,” Sayana spoke as she presented her findings to the doctor. “…Or one actually,” she amended. One of the slugs was crawly slowly along her hand but the other was somewhat squished in her other hand.
“But look Devi,” she spoke excitedly as she covered up one slug with her hands so that the faint purple glow could be seen in the semi-darkness.
“My campsite is not too far, and if we hurry we might be able to get back before the coals of the fire burn out completely. Then all we have to do is burn some of the seaweed and see which ones make brown ash.” She spoke rather quickly, clearly eager to see if their efforts would produce the right results. However, she had also inadvertently let it slip that she knew more about the poison they were trying to identify than she had first let on.
Oh right, the seaweed. Bubbles spewed out of her mouth as she found herself running out of air, and she aimed her feet at one of the rocks to kick off towards the surface. On her way up, she grabbed a hunk of seaweed growing near the rocks and wrenched it from the ocean floor with a hard tug.
When she reached the surface she gasped for breath, triumphant. With seaweed in her low hands along with the sea slugs, and one long piece of seaweed in her mid hand, Sayana swam to shore. As she reached the shallows and stood up out of the water, the cold seemed to hit her harder than before. Goosebumps rippled up her arms and the otherwise warm air seemed frigid after her swim in the cold water.
“Safe? Of course I’m safe. That’s what the knighthood is for. To keep people safe.” Sayana responded sharply to Devi’s question. There was almost an accusing tone to her voice as if the Order was doing too good a job.
Her teeth were beginning to chatter and she made a dash for her clothes. At least the sand was warm. As she put on her clothes, she was quickly reminded of her injured finger when she attempted to use that hand to pull down her shirt. The bandage still held, but only just, after the bout of swimming and being immersed in the salty water.
“I have several leaves from the seaweed farther out, plus the entire stalk of this other kind growing by the sea slugs, and two of those glowing sea slugs,” Sayana spoke as she presented her findings to the doctor. “…Or one actually,” she amended. One of the slugs was crawly slowly along her hand but the other was somewhat squished in her other hand.
“But look Devi,” she spoke excitedly as she covered up one slug with her hands so that the faint purple glow could be seen in the semi-darkness.
“My campsite is not too far, and if we hurry we might be able to get back before the coals of the fire burn out completely. Then all we have to do is burn some of the seaweed and see which ones make brown ash.” She spoke rather quickly, clearly eager to see if their efforts would produce the right results. However, she had also inadvertently let it slip that she knew more about the poison they were trying to identify than she had first let on.