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Their hearts raged in their chests with each beat. Their lungs heaved with effort to move through the cold water. The only light the pale moonlight that broke open the ominous dark clouds above. The four men swam with life saving desperation, each one knowing that the king's guards would not rest until they were hunted down. The rough hands that tied them together in couples had done their best to bring them to despair, but they did not know that blood ran thicker than water.



"We must hurry!" one of the men called back over his shoulder to resounding grunts of agreement.

The group of five had been forced to hide by the shore until the guards had stopped searching for them. The search had been underway for nearly a week and the guards' frustration was growing. They had just begun to give up and start searching for them on land again when the patrol boat caught sight of them. The patrol boat was awfully close then and time was against them. They had to escape or they would be doomed. The men had fought the ropes that tied them together and made a break for it, swimming for hours with no light to guide them.

"We must get out of the water!" the only woman in the group of five called back to them. Her voice quaked, her body shuddered. She had been captured once before and wouldn't be again. She was long out of practice, but she would fight until there was no more breath in her body.

"They're gaining on us!"

The line of swimmers slowed, each taking in they cue from Lana, refusing to give up.

"I don't know how much longer I can go on," one of the men said, his shivering breaths making him sound exhausted.

"We'll make it," Lana said, her voice approaching the shore they swam for.

The guards were getting closer.

"The king will finally get what's coming to him," the third man said, giving Lana a moment of hope.

Lana smiled, not thinking that the king would be able to live that long. The king's guards would probably catch up to them in a few hours.

"We'll make it," Lana said, a touch of pride in her voice.

"Deal," the second man said, giving a nod before turning to swim.

"I'll make it," the fourth man said, his arm around his shy friend. A few minutes later, the fourth man's body gave way, floating dead. A splash was heard moments later by Lana's friend. The king had heard the sounds of the men fighting the ropes and sent out an order for his guards to immediately search for the four escapees.

For a moment, Lana wondered why the king was so cruel, but the king had no control over her. She had to make it, or she would never make it home alive.

The three swimmers continued to swim toward the shore, and they were able to see the outline of the hills and the sandy beach.

"Make it," Lana said, her voice full of hope.

With no words spoken between them, the three swimmers continued to swim, but the patrol boat passed them, taking off toward the shore. They heard the commander of the patrol boat yell to them to turn around and return to the boat, but they didn't hear him. They kept going, swimming as hard as they could to make it to the shore.

"Lana!"

The sharp sound of Lana's name rolling off her old friend's tongue made the hairs on the back of Lana's neck stand on end. Lana's eyes shot up to see a dark figure spring from the water and grab hold of her back. The hands of her attacker clasped around Lana's throat, dragging her down into the water. Lana couldn't choke out a sound as she continued to struggle. The energy of her struggle quickly faded as her lungs began to hurt from lack of air. Hypoxia overcame her and the world faded from sight as blackness engulfed her.