Chapter 17

Darkness surrounded Aiden beyond his tightly closed eyelids. His consciousness teetered on a fine line that seemed to fade away by the second. He could no longer feel himself or his body. He felt light. He felt distant. He felt the world disappear. 

As he felt himself slipping away, beginning to drift off in a slumber he feared he would never wake from, a warm sensation against his lips sparked an awakening warmth within him. His body and spirit lifted as he felt life being breathed into him. The warmth spread throughout all of his limbs, bringing feeling back into them. As his strength returned to him, he opened his eyes and found the source of his saving. 

A bright golden light surrounding her, Aurelia's lips were pressed against his as she breathed air into him. But the air replenishing his lungs was not the only thing that surged through him. With it she gave him a searing warmth that spread from his lips to his chest and from there reached every other part of his body. 

He was woken up and brought back to alertness. It felt like an essence of her was being transferred into him. He felt her closer than he had ever felt before. 

When she parted, she gazed into his eyes with a look of warmth and relief. Her hands gripped the ropes around him, trying to break him free of them, but to no avail. Eyebrows furrowing in frustration, she tried harder to untie it. 

After several long seconds of failing at untying the intricate knots, she gazed into his eyes and caressed his cheek with her soft hand, silently telling him that it was going to be alright. Before his breath could run out again, she pressed her lips against his and breathed more air into him. Aiden happily accepted it, reveling in the relief it gave his lungs. 

Unable to untie the ropes, Aurelia grabbed onto him and began to drag him towards the surface. A splash sounded in the water and they looked up to see Gale quickly diving towards them. When he reached his master, he bit and teared at the ropes, releasing Aiden from his restraints. 

Now free, Aiden swam to the surface with the aid of Aurelia. Guiding him to his boat which she had been able to free from the pirate ship, she helped him on board. Aiden choked on a fit of coughing as he breathed in a gasp of fresh air. As his lungs replenished, a refreshing wave of relief flowed through him. 

It felt amazing to breathe fresh air. For a moment he had thought that he was never going to breathe again. The sensation was so abundantly pleasurable that it felt like it was his very first time ever experiencing the intake of air. 

His head now completely out of its fuzzy daze, he was brought back into the moment, realizing the situation at hand. After pulling Gale onboard- the wet dog shaking out his coat, soaking Aiden even more- he turned around. There, only about four meters away, was the pirate ship they had just narrowly escaped. Its weathered wood loomed over them, sharply watching them like a predator watching its prey.

Over the railing of the ship a head looked down at him, shouting and pointing. They had spotted him. 

Aiden quickly unfurled the sails and took off as fast as he could. The pirate ship was bigger and definitely faster. He did not think that he had much of a shot at escaping, but he had to try. There was no way that he was going to let himself get captured again. Not after he had just narrowly escaped a watery death by their hands. 

Aurelia popped her head out of the water next to his sailboat. "They are weighing anchor." She warned him. 

"I'm going to try to outrun them." He said. His sailboat was picking up speed, but Aurelia easily kept up with him. He knew that she, being a mermaid, was swift in the water, but if she was able to rival the speed of his boat, the odds were the pirate ship could too. 

He wanted to put Gale below deck to keep him safe and out of the way but did not have the time to do so. He had to focus on steering the boat. He did not have a second to spare doing anything other than that. 

Just as the sailboat was starting to make some good distance, Aiden looked over his shoulder to see the pirate ship already beginning to catch up. His jaw clenched as he refocused his attention ahead of him. He tried everything he could to make the sailboat go faster but it still was not fast enough. 

Soon it became overwhelmingly obvious that he could not get away. The pirate ship was already beginning to overtake him. "I can't outrun them!" He yelled to Aurelia. She slowed down as she appeared to be deep in thought. 

"Your boat, it has one of those underground compartments, yes?" She asked. 

"Yes, the hold." He answered.

"Go down there now, you and your furry beast." She told him. 

"Why? What are you planning?" He asked.

"You will see." Was her only response. He was reluctant to do as she said. With the pirate ship practically upon him, he did not want to take a step back and blindly put the fate of his life into someone else's hands. 

But she had already saved him once just several minutes prior, that he could not deny. He could trust her to help him, that he was sure of. By the sound of her voice, by the fact that she was still there, and by the golden light that connected them, he could tell that she had something planned. She was not going to let him down. 

Giving her a short nod, signaling that his trust was in her, he took Gale and went below deck. As he waited in the dimly lit hold, his eyes struggled to adjust to the lack of sunlight. He could hear the water harshly striking the sides of the boat like it was an angry mob and the boat was in its way. But other than that, he heard nothing. 

Several minutes passed and still there was nothing. 

What was going on? He could not help but worry about what was happening outside where he was unable to see. Had the pirates caught up yet? Had they caught Aurelia again? What was her plan and when was she going to do it?

Just as he was considering peeking his head above deck, an unusual noise caught his attention. It sounded like water receding, but where it was going, he had not a clue. Whatever the water was doing, it continued for almost a full minute. As that happened, the angry water lapping against the boat lost its force. Now it sounded as if it was rushing past his boat instead of striking against it. 

Slowly the boat began to go down as if the water level around it was being lowered. Now Aiden was even more confused. He could no longer help himself. He had to look. 

Pushing Gale back to ensure that the dog did not try to jump out at the first opportunity he saw, Aiden peaked above deck. The brightness of the sun momentarily blinded him. He was forced to blink several times before his vision was clear enough to see. 

When he was finally able to see what was happening, he blinked several more times, not sure if he was even seeing clearly. It could not have been real, but somehow it was. Eyes closed and focused, Aurelia had her arms raised, stretched out towards the sky with strenuous force like she was trying to grab the sun. Behind her, water gathered into a giant wave that grew larger by the moment. 

Once the wave stopped growing, she snapped her eyes open, and Aiden took that as his sign to get down. The second he was back in the safety of the hold, the large wave came in contact with his sailboat. The wooden planks beneath his feet suddenly shifted as the boat abruptly shot forward with tremendous speed, knocking him off balance. He and Gale tumbled to the floor and were pushed against the back wall of the hold. 

After several minutes, the boat started to slow down slightly, but it still took another five or so minutes for it to slow down enough for Aiden to be able to push himself back onto his feet. With wobbly steps, he stumbled above deck, Gale running out after him to happily lap up the light of the sun. Aiden checked his surroundings to find that the pirate ship was no longer in sight. 

He let out a sigh of relief, but tensed back up with worry when he realized that Aurelia was not with him. Where was she? Did she decide to part ways without telling him? 

Closing his eyes and focusing on the connection between him and the golden maiden, he tried to find anything that would tell him what happened to her but could not. Somehow their connection felt extremely weak. The warmth he usually felt was on the verge of feeling cold. That was all he could feel from her. 

What did that mean? Did something happen? Should he be concerned for her?

He was not sure what to think or how to feel about it. His feelings toward Aurelia were complicated. She had tried to drown him, then she saved his life. He helped her escape the pirates, then she helped him outrun them. He was not sure what he had expected to happen next, but he did not expect her to just disappear. 

The more he thought about it the more confused he was. What was he doing? What should he do? He had gone on an adventure to see the world, but got sidetracked with the goal of finding the golden maiden. He found her, ran away from her, ran after her, and now was separated from her once again. 

Where was he going to go from there? Where did he want to go from there? Should he leave or wait? He was not sure what to do, but it was now his time to decide.