Chapter 24

Chapter 24

          “Nixie!” I screamed, lunging myself into the water, not even thinking what could be down there.  I held my breath and opened my eyes as I saw Nixie being dragged deeper and deeper by that blur.  I struggled to swim deeper until I could finally make out what that blur was, and I couldn’t believe it! It was a Crognard!  I was screaming with fear on the inside, but I knew I had to face my fears of the Crognard in order to save Nixie. 

          The Crognards all looked the same as this one did.  They all were about two inches tall with a slouch and covered in warts.  Their teeth were razor sharp and covered in a greenish slime which oozed down their hideous scale covered faces.  They were a light grey color, with keen, vicious eyes which were completely black except for a small corner in their eye which was a light gray but not white.  They had three toes and four dagger like claws which came in quite handy when gripping onto the soggy grass under the water.  They didn’t have much for clothing but an old, cracked turtle shell.  They also held giant clubs with oozing rocks at the tops of them as their backup weapon if their teeth and claws failed.

          My lungs began to sting as I had been under water for about a minute at that point.  I reached as far as I could and finally I grabbed hold of Nixie’s dangling hand.  She looked back at me with panic in her eyes, and at that moment I could tell…she was giving up on me.  My eyes welled up with tears even though I was under water as I yanked on Nixie’s hand, pulling her free of the Crognard’s piercing claws.  I swam as fast as I could up to the surface, my lungs were throbbing, my chest felt like a boulder, and things were starting to go black and blurry.  I knew I was hallucinating and needed to get to the surface and fast!  It took another long, painful, and agonizing minute before both Nixie and I broke through the surface of the water like a popping bubble.  I threw Nixie’s limp body to the shore before I gagged, gasping for as much of the sweet stinging air I could.  I swam over to the side of the stream where I finally heaved myself out of the water.  I looked back thinking we were in the clear, but we weren’t.  The Crognard’s snarling teeth pierced out of the water snapping and screeching as it began to swim towards us.  I looked over at Nixie who was lying motionless on the grass with her eyes closed and her body limp.  I knew she wouldn’t be able to move in this condition so I picked her up from under her legs and back, then I ran for all I was worth. 

          I ran for what felt like forever until I finally reached a small walnut hut with a bright pink orchid on the door and a sign that said “Nixie residence” spelled in pink glitter. 

“Thank goodness,” I sighed a sigh of relief before entering the home and placing Nixie down on her bed made of pink rose petals and pulled a petal blanket over her.  As Nixie slept I made my way out to the small living room where I wrote a letter to Gwen and sent it out on a ladybug as soon as I could.