3.06 - Millrush Pond

Anneleigh followed directions to Tearfall Run and easily found the Alter that stood nearby.  As before, she closed her eyes, placed one hand on the weather-worn surface and attempted to make contact.   With all her attention focused, this time, on speaking with Laria, she was rewarded quickly.

“Welcome, Anneleigh.  It is good to see you again.” Spoke the soft voice.  “After out last meeting, I began began to explore this woods again, so changed by the rifts.  In my wanderings, I found a memento of my past, a keepsake of my mother’s.   Someone hid it in Millrush Pond, and I am still too weak to recover it.”

Anneleigh looked at Laria.  “Do you think someone has done this to harm you, or was it merely time and circumstance that has landed your treasure at the bottom of the pond?”  She did not want to jump to any conclusions.

Laria bowed her head.  “I do not know, but the outcome must be the same.”

Anneleigh disagreed to a point.  Of course, she would retrieve the keepsake – of that there was no question.  But if it was placed out of Laria’s reach by someone wishing to keep her in this weakened state, well, that would call for further action.

Anneleigh smiled at Laria.  “I will retrieve your treasure, Laria.  Will I find you here when I return?”

Laria nodded and vanished.

Millrush pond, as it turned out, was not the restful place its name suggested.   The area seemed to be a meeting ground for visitors from the plane of death who wished to remain in the plane of the living.  If their thought was to somehow escape the notice of the ascended, Guardian and Defiant alike, they had succeeded.  They seemed to come and go from this place without interruption.  Although they seemed peaceful enough, Anneleigh watched as the spirits turned hostile when even a gentle dear crossed their path.  

Thinking the trial may be easier accomplished under the water Anneleigh flattened herself on the bank of the pond and peered through the gloom from the safety of the edge.   She saw the journey under water would be the same cause for concern.  Large fish with glinting jagged teeth and reavers as large as her own body fought each other for territory in the small pond.  In the distance she could just make out what looked like a door in a crumbling wall.  Confused, Anneleigh wondered if this area had once been dry land and, perhaps, the home of Laria and her mother.  There would be nothing sinister about finding her keepsake at the bottom of a pond that did not exist when the trinket was placed there.

Anneleigh decided her best course would be to attempt the journey under the water as much as possible, hoping that the gloom of the water would hide her from the reavers.  She would have to be careful with her air management, resurfacing only once or twice, but it could be done.    She slipped into the murky pond water and started towards the small house.  It was not as far as she had guessed from the bank and she easily made it in one single breath.  What she saw when she reached the broken wall segment, however, caused her to return to the surface to catch her breath.  It was not a simple house with a sidebar cupboard drawer full of knickknacks and trinkets.  This retrieval would be much harder than that.  Inside the walls of the house was an opening to a cave.   An underwater cave that Anneleigh was sure was not created until after the area was flooded.

After the surprise had passed and Anneleigh had again caught her breath, she dived down through the house and into the cave.  She was relieved to see it was empty aside from a few skeletons and harmless plants.  On and on the cave went; turning around on itself, progressing ever deeper.   The further she swam the more bodies she swam past.  She guessed others had the same idea she did, but not the same ability to hold her breath.  She began to worry her emptying lungs would not make the journey when the tunnel came to an abrupt end.  There, pilled high along the back wall, stood treasure chests and sacks of gold.  Lying neatly on the top of one of the chests was the trinket Laria had described, as if it were waiting for her to retrieve it.

Relieved, Anneleigh scooped it  up, placed it into her pocket, and turned to leave the cave.  She worried now that her painful lungs would not hold out long enough for her return.   As quickly as she could manage, she navigated the twisting cave, thankful at least she no longer had to fight against the buoyancy of her own body.  As she reached the mouth of the cave, still six to eight feet below the water, her lungs had had enough and she began to cough.   The reflex to breath was to strong and she inhaled water rather than air, causing her to cough even harder.  

Instinctively, she kicked towards the surface, fighting against the blackness that was threatening to engulf her.   Unable to hold on, she lost consciousness mere seconds from reaching the surface.  She broke the surface of the pond less than a minute later, having been propelled by her upward momentum and buoyancy.   Although unconscious, Anneleigh’s body went to work reviving her.   Floating in the murky Millrush Pond her lungs struggled to pump air though her starved organs.   A few moments later, Anneleigh regained consciousness and began to cough.   The lights popped, over bright, in her eyes as she struggled to regain focus.   When she could properly see, she began to slowly propel herself towards the nearest bank, not caring what reavers or undead came upon her.  She was only too aware that, even as Ascended, she had come dangerously close to death.    

When Anneleigh finally regained the strength to return to Laria, she could sense the concern in her voice.  Though if Laria knew of the struggle Anneleigh had faced, she did not speak of it.

“Athana’s Shard...” Laria breathed. “So many times I watched my mother use this in rituals to commune with the forest.  Holding this again fills me with a strength I feared was gone forever. “   Anneleigh smiled and waited for Laria to continue.  Instead, she vanished, leaving Anneleigh puzzled.