River went into a frenzy, seething and frothing - creating waves that pushed water with tremendous strength.
Obsidian wall kept on it's rose to heaven, revealing more and more of itself while inching closer to Arthur.
It was like a cyclopean monolith was rising above the water, it's wet obsidian surface ridden by fissures, jagged protruding stone spikes and grotesque looking coral mounds all bathed in crimson light of moon hanging above everything.
Cliff lay somewhere far from them and was now not even visible but not any of it mattered to Arthur at this moment.
After the collision, Arthur had no time to process the situation as Adrien cursed and began swimming in direction away from the cyclopean monolith as if life depended on it, Bael did the same while dragging Iris.
Arthur did not get to question as to why but he also began swimming at a pace that caught up Bael and soon left him behind, he did not overtake Adrien consciously following him closely but still maintaining some distance so if something happened behind or infront him he'll be able maneuver himself away from them.
'What if something happens in middle?'
Cursing internally, he kept cut through water in long powerful strokes, each pull driving him away from obsidian wall chasing them from behind.
Before not to long, he was out of breath and felt like he was about to collapse from the exhaustion, muscle burned and breath tore in gasps.
'Damn I hate this! Fuck this!,'
Arthur bit his cheek as to not lose to his consciousness, closing his eyes he kept on tear water away from him... everything just overwhelmed him at once.
Fatigue was catching up after what felt like eternity but had only been a dozen minutes of this torture, limbs stiffened due to cold and heart beating at an extreme pace as if it was about to break out of his rib cage.
Arthur's movements became clumsy and feeling numbness followed shortly after, then one by one he lost control of his body.
It was impossible to keep his head out of water, his body did not listen to him no matter how much he willed it to move.
'I don't wanna die like this, not in water! Anywhere but here!'
Arthur was no fatalist nor did he romanticise death, he wanted to live...to a degree he craved for life- even when didn't have anyone to go back to in real world but that did not mean he would let go, cause that would mean he lost.
'And who wants a pathetic death like this,'
Death by drowning was the last way he'd want his miserable life to end, it was like putting salt over wounds.
Arthur was having a hard time forming coherent thoughts and he sank, bone chilling cold took over him and body was giving up as it sank deeper into the dark abyss.
Cold hit his skin like knives made out of ice, breath was stolen as darkness of rive wrapped itself around him, shrouding him in itself as he rapidly began sinking.
'Pathetic-'
Arthur couldn't even curse himself as he let go of hope- and something hit his back.
Uneven surface of stone cushioned him and stopped his descent, Arthur lay flat on his back as water pressure on his body increased dramatically - water was now coming onto him like a seige ram from the above and kept crushing him till he broke out of water, hit by sudden wave of air filling his collapsing lungs.
For few seconds, Arthur was in no condition to register change in his situation, body in rebellion against suffocation.
'W-what...is happening?'
Lying flat over a stone platform, he stared at semicircle arching obsidian platform hanging hundred of feet above him, shielding infinite expanse of sky from Arthur's vision, sound of surging waves was present but growing distant and bleak which made Arthur restless.
Trembling, he tried to keep himself from losing focus - Arthur's thoughts stabilized to a degree but his body was still far from being in a condition where he could will it to move.
He loosened his neck and let it fall to side and infront of him ever present river sprawled like a inky shawl spread over world...just the horizon was low.
Arthur lay near edge of the platform from where he could see water under him and if he rolled then he'd be able to see what was happening under him as it was clear that this platform similar to one above him was connected to cyclopean monolith that was still rising from depths of the river.
Each second that passed without Arthur doing anything felt like him wasting his own chance of survival for some reason reason, he desperately wanted to roll over and look down the platform - atleast to know how up he was or where others were, was he left behind or managed to come farther than three of them.
And then, he calmed down.
Gazing at slab of darkness above him, he let his body do what it was supposed to do...sooner or later he'll feel his limbs.
'Patience...be Patient Arthur,'
It was just that time felt like it was slipping through his fingers...
"Huh?"
Arthur's hand twitched, fingers bending stiffy as if learning to move again, soon he could move his right hand and then numbness wilted a bit.
He rolled to his right, took a breath and then did the same a few times till he reached the edge of platform and threw his head off the edge.
Hundreds of feet Under him was another slab of dark stone rising above seething water, a bit further he saw a sole silhouette of someone cutting through water distancing themselves away from whatever choas was happening behind them.
It was Adrien, Arthur clicked his tongue knowing that it meant he was in wrong position.
'Maybe...'
He was not sure if it, on the other hand unlike him three of the other individuals knew where they wanted to go, there was a sense of urgency and determination in their each movement so he felt compelled to follow them.
Arthur felt like an ant.
'Following people around mindlessly,'
It was then that something whistled past him, moving from above and going down fast extremely crashing into the water, missing colliding into the platform below him by hairs breadth and sinking in, only to break out of the surface of water next moment.
It was Bael, his hands wrapped around Iris - he jumped from platform above Arthur to water and kept swimming.
Arthur was last in the race.