Golden light sweeps over the horizon, outlining faint mountains behind us in the far distance. The warmth is beautiful, colors blurring together in a gentle painting of orange and purple.

We're soon to be covered in a shroud of bright light, pushing out all the sinking smoke and creating the perfect visibility for what I know is to come in just a few miles. The swish of cold water is closer now, I don't have to focus to hear it and my senses are still mildly preoccupied. In the last couple of hours alone I've diligently monitored and made sure the humans beside me don't fall asleep.

Remi rests comfortably on my shoulder, eyes barely peeking open to keep away from large branches that could trip her. Her skin is slowly glistening with sweat again, giving it a slightly marbled look I couldn't see before. Mixed ethnicities, though of what I'm not entirely sure.

Of the two men, Theron concerns me the most. He continues to veer off to the side with heavy eyelids and trips over bare ground on occasion. Even while it's still dark, there is nothing more fascinating to me than his stubbornness.

Daniel, however, appears unfazed. His stride never changed and though I cannot catch a glimpse of his eyes, I know they are focused on the path before him. Empty land is all that awaits us before the coast and while I used to keep our pace up, over the hours' energy has fallen significantly.

Stepping onto and beginning to follow a highway, I notice Remi's eyes shut completely and mindfully guide her around several potholes. Before long we come upon a gaping crack in the ground that the boys hardly manage to clear by jumping. At least five feet across, it's deeper than vision can follow in this dim light.

Gently swinging downwards, I scoop Remi up into my arms and adjust her slowly. She whines a little, coming to reality with a few blinks.

"Can you trust me, Remi?" I ask, a cold but soft voice tempering my mood.

She looks over my shoulder at the chasm and tenses, fingers digging into my shoulder and curling into me. Her entire body clings to me.

"Mhm..."

Taking a deep breath, I brace myself and look at her. "Close your eyes and rest into me, I don't want to scare you."

Remi nods, pushing her face into my neck and wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

I kneel down into a partial lunge when I'm sure she's secure in my arms. Pushing down against the earth, I shove off and throw us into the air. We overshoot my landing goal by twenty feet, touching down several yards away from the boys. Remi squeaked a little in the air, but instead of moving to look she hides further with her nose tucked into my jacket.

I turn around to see two parted mouths. Daniel still appears less expressive, but I have to wonder if Theron thinks he just hallucinated something.

They start jogging over to catch up.

"Was that entirely necessary?" Dan teases, looking us over with a playful stare.

I purse my lips and shrug slightly. "Honest mistake, I didn't mean to jump this far."

The fully grown woman in my arms can't possibly weigh more than one hundred and twenty pounds, however, the difference lies in her support. Once helpful, she now goes slack, head lolling to the side slightly.

A cold rush washes through me on instinct before even monitoring her heart rate. Of course, Remi is alive and well. Just sleeping. The small dose of adrenaline only works in my favor to assess the rest of our task before us and decide on a direction.

Theron groans like a young child in the background, muttering something about how much longer this could possibly take. I think I hear Daniel chid him about it, but I'm more concerned with the ocean in front of me.

Only a mile away now, worry rushes through my steely demeanor and empty's my body of any heat for the time being. My Mana shrivels up dry into the spark beneath this empty heart. The ocean is far more powerful than a tiny creek bed, whose life force did nothing to tamper with my own. It had no waves, no current, no storm. Only the silent trickle of almost lifeless water.

I feel my stomach roll.

There is absolutely no telling how sick I will get from being on the boat, let alone near the ocean. Every muscle in my body feels weak thinking of it.

"Iridian? Iridian, are you okay?" Daniel asks, waving a hand in front of my face before tugging on my shirt. He stops me from walking off the edge of another abyss with Remi in my arms. "What's going on, you're so pale..."

Shaking my head dismissively, I blink the fear out of my eyes and scan my surroundings. Taking a calculated step back, my arms curl around Remi tighter.

"Um, I think the coast is that way," Theron suggests, pointing towards the crisp blue line on the horizon.

Mindlessly, I start walking again. Even against the pain, my pace is fast and taut. Something draws me in just as much as I'm being pushed away. The boys close in on my heels, pulling to a stop on either side of me as the sand closes in on the road. Remi hardly stirs, lifting her head just enough to see the sunlight reflecting from the blue surface. Her face scrunches up in a wince and I feel her tuck her face under my jacket again.

Nausea overtakes the small shred of rest I have left.

I straighten up and search for something that resembles human life or a ship that will carry us across the large mass of liquid. Something about the way my shoes twist into the sand sickens me. The awkward weight in my arms is hard to manipulate and handle as is.

Surely she could walk by herself, even if I could take this as a compliment.

I'm about to walk straight into the shore before Theron carefully grabs my waist and pulls me out of my trance. "Iridian, we're not walking straight through the water."

The gentle tone startles me more than anything. There is no possible way threatening him would've changed his mind so quickly, I haven't done anything to serve him, and there is no one around for the moment forcing him to behave any particular way. Remi sleeps rather lifelessly in my arms and Daniel becomes progressively more distracted with his map.

Still awestruck, I stare at the ripples of water beneath me.

"It seems like all the ports are north of here," Daniel explains, rotating the map a few times to get a better look. "I'd say several miles at least, depending on where we really are."

Casting out my senses will be a waste now, the water sapping the last of my strength until Remi feels like two tons in my arms. My left-hand falls, her legs swinging down and hitting into the earth.

Remi screams and the boys look terrified as she stumbles away from me. Her eyes widen in panic as I start coughing again, fingers pressing against my lips only to find a small source of blood.

"I'm sorry, Remi," I mutter faintly, trying to get a grip.

Seeing the blood turns the fear into concern in seconds, though she doesn't approach. He finger lifts, shaking. "What's wrong with your eyes?" She asks.

I look down at the water and see them gleaming a bright silver.

Of course...

Squeezing my eyes shut, I whisper a small incantation under my breath and scrub my face with my hands. The shine subsides and her hands drop back down against her hip.

"What's going on Iridian?" Daniel asks for what seems like the third time in the last hour alone. It begins to pester and grind away at my tolerance.

No one ever listens. If you explain yourself, then just like a puppy the human will forget and ask again. Taking a deep breath, I sigh. "I'm dying Daniel. My ethereal spirit wants to vacate this vessel before it destroys a part of my spark."

"Your spark?" Theron asks, uneasy.

"Yes. Each God is blessed with a spark, our soul if you will and the source of our power. It's fueled by the Mana we collect from doing our duties or the lives of other beings."

They stay quiet for a minute so I kneel down and brush my fingers through the ocean. A gentle static appears before creating a bolt of lightning that dances on the surface and then jolts off south-east of here. Towards Greece.

Watching with fascination, I give them credit for not bombarding me with questions every five seconds. Let alone every time I manage something out of the ordinary.

"I'll die if we don't follow that electrical current."

Remi tilts her head to the side and I feel the word fall from her lips more than hear it. "Why?"

"Lindon is that way. The longer I'm away from him - the longer I'm starved for Mana and balance - the quicker I'll leave my vessel. And heaven forbid he come back to your world where I don't exist..."

I've explained this endlessly.

Without another being to support me, I'll be dead in weeks. An hourglass of stardust and I'm trapped on the other side of the planet.

The silver is a warning sign, similar to a machine going into failure and flashing with obnoxious noise. However, this burns and leaves me emptier than when it began. A hollow shell being left behind over the course of time.

I'm curious to know if Lindon's symptoms are coming to life.

Remi takes my hand in her own and starts walking me away from the water and up after the boys who decided it will be best to try and make more work of the sun.

At this rate, I couldn't condone setting sail until another soul entered my veins. I'll be weak enough to be a liability instead of an asset otherwise.

"Only about a mile left until we get to the first port," Daniel calls cheerfully over his shoulder, a new-found energy working into his posture. This boys tank for exhaustion ran even longer than my own.

The ocean baits my emotional side, taunting me with tears and giving me a headache.

The sea is haunting me.

"We shouldn't leave tonight," I say, swiping the blood off my lips. "I need to rest in order to go over the ocean."

Though skeptical, Dan nods and starts looking for what I can only imagine is a safe place to rest. "We can stop here if you want..."

"No, let's get to the port. I'm just not well enough for sailing tonight. It wouldn't be safe."

The beaches sands are charred, roasted under the pressure of the sun and lit ablaze with several fires, almost condensing the material down into hot glass. Without shoes, this would've been problematic. If there had once been trash, it dissolved or melted a long time ago. Everything has shown brightly in the rising sun, whether it be rocks glistening or metal blending into the sheets of hard sand below. This provides enough stability for me to stop stumbling.

The port comes into view, a dock stretching out from an abandoned harbor. Depending on how rough the waves became, most of these ships will surely be uninhabitable.

Coming close to this small seaside village, I witness an uncomfortable sight. Vines, moss, and mold wreak havoc over the buildings. Seaweed is washed up on the streets and certain creatures have found ways to dwell within large puddles, making them their homes.

"I doubt anyone lives here," Theron mumbles, kicking away wet plastic and leaves. "And I thought the fires were bad..."

Remi wanders forward and peaks into a window. "If I didn't know better, I'd say we found Atlantis..."

I snort in disdain and their attention pulls to me.

Crossing my arms, I shrug off their intense gazes. "I mean, technically you don't know better and honestly I'd be grateful you didn't just waltz right into Atlantis."

"Why?" Dan asks, leaning again the only dry sign in sight.

I pick at my nails, an eyebrow slowly quirking up. A sneer pulls on my lips but I fight it. "Their arrogant and superior, most beings actually acknowledge each other, but the reason the Atlanteans disappeared at all is because your race didn't want to be ruled. I imagine if we'd walked straight into Atlantis there would be tridents in our faces and angry guppies nibbling on your skin."

I groan at the thought of dealing with oily fish tails and purple flesh.

Daniel begins sizing up a couple of the wrecked ships, checking their bodies for strenuous damage and seeing how close to collapse they were. Theron and Remi start scavenging for food and other items.

Knowing the likelihood of everything being destroyed, I try to find a map or a sign with legibility. Where we are will determine how fast a boat could manage to get to China. Then with fuel and batteries... My headache growing against my skull only worsens as I overthink into oblivion.

Peeking into one of the many stores, I find something that looks like a map on the ground. With minimal decay and some pages still intact, I bend over.

Multiple mistakes and a lack of awareness.

Something sharp collides with my neck, screaming agony tearing through my brain as I try to roll and catch a glimpse of my attacker. A flash of blonde is all I see before darkness and pain overpower my senses.

Without the voice to yell, I collapse into the floor.

So sorry for the delay guys... I'm having a hard time. Anyways! Here's the next update! The Watty's longlist is about to be posted so fingers crossed! Thank you to anyone who helped get me this far. I love each and every one of you. 

Don't forget to vote and comment and have a lovely day!