She almost screamed with the shock that came from the frigid water. She shrank back but knew she wouldn’t rise to the surface, because then she would be a coward. Her pride was on the line and she was going to make sure she came out on the right end.

She snapped the light on and started swimming downward. She could see the massive city below, just as she had seen it on the surface, except it was much bigger now. She was right assuming that the kingdom was the only thing seen on the surface of the water. The city was beneath it and she kept swimming toward it and it seemed just out of reach. The farther she went the closer she felt she was to it.

Then she saw people, or creatures of some sort. They were just on the other side, she kept swimming but it was no use, she almost cried out in frustration. Then she felt a shadow fall across her face and when she looked up she saw the large figure of a big fish swim by. She turned back around but there was no city and no people. She started swimming upward but then she realized that she was the stupid one. The surface was so far away and she knew she couldn’t possibly make it there in the time she had left. She kept swimming anyway and was about ten feet away when the blackness took her.

...

“Where is she?” Conner muttered as he paced back and forth watching the waters. He had removed his pants, shoes and shirt and was ready to jump in if and when the time came. He held the necklace solemnly staring at it with regret. He checked his watch for the tenth time. It had been almost two minutes since she had gone into the water. He gave a loud gasp of frustration as he scanned the waters surface for any signs of her.

He was now kneeling over the side of the boat with the lantern, waiting. Every second that ticked by made his stomach queasy. He looked at his watch for the billionth time and it was now past three minutes. Then he saw the shadow with a big mass swim by and he couldn’t take it anymore. He set the lantern and necklace down. As soon as the necklace lost contact with the moon the beam of light vanished and so did the illusion of the kingdom. He didn’t think too much of it, he was so worried.

Before anything else happened he took a deep breath and jumped over the side of the boat. As soon as he hit the water he started kicking and went downward as fast as possible.

He saw the shadow still circling above but completely blocked the fear out because he was so desperate to find Tess. A small light stared up at him through the darkness so he swam toward it knowing if this wasn’t her then there was no hope. When he reached the light he saw that it was the light attached to her goggles. He grabbed her arm and almost screamed with joy as he swam back toward the surface. As soon as they hit the surface he kicked to the boat and heaved her inside. She needed to get out of the cold water. He hefted himself into the boat with the little energy he had left.

As soon as he got into the boat he laid Tess out on her back and checked her pulse. She had a pulse but the beats were faint and far between. He then checked to see if she was breathing. She wasn’t. He needed to get her breathing now. If he didn’t get life into her, she would die.

After checking her breathing one more time he opened her mouth and prayed to God that his air would bring her back. He breathed in two breaths three times during thirty seconds trying to get her to stir. When she didn’t stir he repeated the procedure again, she was still not breathing. He checked her pulse again and by now it was a faint tick that happened only every few seconds.He was losing her and he felt a sickening pain erupt in his stomach.

“No.” he yelled and gave her another breath. This time he hit her chest with his fist. It was so forceful that he felt horrible after he did it. Then she started coughing and water came spewing out of her mouth.

“Thank God,” His relief overwhelmed him as he helped her to sit up. She was alive.