Snippet #2057691

Echo turned her attention away from the group of people and her friend, as she heard a faint voice from behind her… The voice seemed somewhat close, yet not close enough for the girl to understand what was being said. Was someone spying on the group?

Just as she thought that the group might be in trouble, gravity took hold of yet another victim. The descent was much too fast for Echo to see who it might be. However, the person had been the one talking away from the group… For a brief moment, Echo wondered whether to see if the girl was okay and interrogate her or to see if someone else had been with her. If she was talking, that could mean more company... That could mean trouble.

Knowing that Knell was there and many people beside her, Echo figured they would at least check to see if the woman was okay. So, Echo checked the branches around the one where the woman fell. The young undine was baffled to see no one there… No one seemed to be… Still expecting someone to be around, Echo looked in the bushes around the tree. Still nothing. Echo hadn’t even found a listening device. The woman seemed to have been talking to herself.

Turning, Echo saw the drenched woman in the lake. Echo walked over to her, but the woman simply backed away into her tree again. She seemed very embarrassed.

Suspicion continued to creep over Echo. After all, even if Echo and Knell had left the ocean far behind them, assassins could still be hunting for her on land. If they had hired people of the land or air to do their bidding, Echo and Knell were at a huge disadvantage. It wasn’t only that they didn’t know their surroundings, but they weren’t used to the huge effects that gravity had on land.

“Well, I can say without a single doubt within my mind that I was not at all expecting to encounter so many new people all at once here. I only sought after Echo, but, I am very happy to make the acquaintance of everyone here~” Knell said with whimsy. “Ah~ If I may be allowed to ask it of everyone here . . . why is it that everyone converged into one location so suddenly?” As Echo looked at her speaking friend, she noticed a slight wobble before… She began to tumble!

Echo reached toward her, but she also needed to take a few step. Swiftly, she did so, but she was not going to make it! She was too slow on land… In the sea, she could be one of the swiftest, but on land she was probably the slowest. She wasn’t going to be able to save her friend… Their secret would be out and soon the assassins would be here.

In a flash, a big suit of armor reached for Knell and the girl was safe. Someone in such a huge hunk of armor could move so much faster than Echo on land… Even in her light cloth. At least Knell was safe. Echo was extremely grateful that Sir Crane was there to save her from disaster.

"Gravity does not seem to sit well with you, does it miss Blackburn?" The knight said. His voice seemed a little… Tense. Gravity does not sit well with many of us. Echo thought as she turned to the soaked girl and then to herself.

"Help." He pleaded.


Echo rushed over and began to pull on them. Still not understanding how gravity worked, Echo was unsure as to how to keep them from falling into the depths of the water.

"Fantastic." Spoke a man. He smiled as he waltzed up to the bridge and laughed. He seemed a little condescending… "Just hold onto her big guy," He pulled on the knight by his shoulder. Echo, now unsure of what to do, helped to secure Knell on the other side.

"Come on, I can't do all of it alone." Echo was there, but she sure wasn’t much help.

"There you go, now if you'll excuse me." He went over to the drenched girl to check on her.


Echo hadn’t noticed, but Zeph’ere had been checking on Knell too. Echo’s heart bled as she felt completely useless. She was ready to fade into the background… She couldn’t save knell now. She would never be capable of such a thing. What made her think she would even hope to help her out? Why, Echo was only weighing her down. If it weren’t for Knell waiting on Echo, she might be a few towns over by now. Echo couldn’t save her from falling off a cliff and she couldn’t save her from falling off a bridge. There was no reason for her to be there… Echo was such a useless person.

Knell blushed as the two men had saved her from falling into the stream of water below. Echo’s heart thrashed within her. If those two hadn’t been there… Echo would have been useless to save her dear friend. Thank goodness for them… Thank goodness for Knell. She was safe.


“Yes . . . I am faring well now.” Knell responded to Zeph’ere and Echo noticed his presence. “I must apologize for that scare everyone, I did not mean for that to occur. . . .” Nervousness filler her voice. “As Sir Crane asked me, gravity and I are not the best of friends I fear, I seem to always be having incidents such as this happening to me.” Nervous laughs escaped her dear friend.

"Perhaps we should retire for night then, Miss Blackburn. Before you have anymore accidents. I believe your friend hasn't had dinner either." He spoke ever so calm and considerately… But Echo wouldn’t be joining them for dinner. She certainly wasn’t hungry. She bet that Knell was angry with her… After all, her dear friend did absolutely nothing to help her. She couldn’t. She was too weak. Echo always leaned on Knell, but she felt as though Knell could never depend on her for anything. Why was Echo even there?

“Ah, yes, Sir Crane . . . it would probably indeed be for the best that we head in for the night, it is getting to be late, after all.” Disappointment echoed from Knell as she responded “But, it would be rude to suddenly part ways with those who have gone out of their way to assist another person they barely know. So, perhaps Sir Zeph’ere and the other man who helped us would like to come along?” Uncertainty shook her voice toward the end.

“Would you like to join us, I believe I owe you and the other man who helped me out more than just a verbal show of gratitude; perhaps I can pay for dinner?” Echo didn’t lift a finger to stop her dear friend. She was the suspicious type, but she was too busy wallowing in guilt to think of how bad it might be to have strangers at the table… Especially after they had saved her best friend.

Echo did her best to slip away from the crowd. Knell would surely be better off without Echo weighing her down. If it came to Knell’s life or continuing a friendship with her, Echo would have to choose Knells life… And twice in one day Echo had been in capable of helping her dearest and only friend. Echo was better off friendless if she couldn’t help them out. Knell was better off without a friend who could only sit in the sidelines. It tore Echo apart… She deeply wanted to thank the two for saving her friend, but she couldn’t. Doing so would draw unwanted attention to the undine girl. After all, she was trying to run away. She could come back some other time, after she had trained more… Then maybe she could help her friend. Maybe she wouldn’t be such a dead weight or a third wheel.


Desperately, Echo wanted to jump into the water… She wanted to hide in it. However, the water wasn’t near deep enough… Echo wanted to drown in it, but surely an undine couldn’t drown. Such was unheard of… How silly it was to think that. If only she could backtrack to the sea. Then she could be at home again… A lonely place, certainly not the same home Echo and Knell originated from… But under the water at least…

The emotionally distraught undine child backed her way off of the bridge. She was ready to free Knell from her weight, even if that meant she had to travel in the night. Echo wouldn’t say goodbye, for she knew Knell would try to stop her. Hopefully, she wouldn’t notice the one she called her friend for so long running away. She’d stop her for sure.

Echo knew running away would make her dear friend hate her and she would never trust Echo again if they were to meet… It would break her friend’s heart… Echo wished she didn’t have to, but at least Knell would be more capable of survival. One less person for Knell to worry about…

It was a flawed plan… But there could never be a perfect plan.