Freakling Read Online Free Page B

his waist. As his breathing slowed, he looked around at this strange hidden place. Sunlight poured in from the opening and reflected off the water, throwing beams of light in various directions on the cave walls, and creating rippled rainbows.
    Taemon wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but the water was up to his chest now and he figured it was time to swim out. He concentrated on the rhythm of the waves and timed his swimming to match it. He swam toward the opening, but the ocean’s pull was deceiving. When the water’s direction changed, he found himself pinned against the wall of the cave.
    He soon realized that swimming out of the cave was going to be anything but easy. If he swam as hard as he could, he could manage to get a little way out of the cave, but the sea battered him against the rocks and eventually pushed him right back in, with several new bruises for his efforts. Taemon was exhausted. He swam to the ledge again to rest.
    The rainbow-black walls didn’t look so wonderful now. As he sat on the ledge with the water up to his shoulders, the push and pull of the ocean was much stronger now in the deeper water. He had to wedge himself into places where the rock jutted out so that the current wouldn’t toss him about. He sat there, resting as much as he dared, willing himself to relax and think.
    He was not strong enough to swim out of the cave. That much was certain. Would Yens go for help? Had anyone else seen him fall? He waited and rested.
    Was it his imagination, or was the water rising faster? It was up to his chin. He tried to stand on the ledge, but the ceiling was too low on this side. If he stood, he had to bend over, which meant his head was not any higher. He’d have to find a way out before the water was over his head. He’d have to use psi. But how?
    Was there any way out that didn’t involve swimming? Taemon looked around, but he could see nothing beyond the dark walls and rising water.
    Skies! He was going to have to do the mind wandering again.
    He closed his eyes and tried to calm his whole body. He let his awareness follow the walls and roof of the cave. He could sense every nook and cranny — there was no other way out.
    Time to change tactics. He tried to stop the rise of the water, which worked for a little while, but the effort quickly exhausted him. He tried pushing the ocean water back out of the cave, manipulating rocks to block the opening — anything he could think of to buy more time. But psi had its limitations. Everything Taemon tried to move was just too heavy. He had to find something smaller to manipulate. And he had to do it fast.
    Now he had to tilt his head backward to breathe. Salty water sloshed around his nose and mouth.
    He fought fear. Fear would only diminish his psi.
Think. Relax.
All right, so the water would soon be over his head. Could he use psi to breathe water instead of air? It seemed the only option.
    Taemon had never attempted using psi on himself. He’d heard plenty of stories of people who had done such things, and the results were always harmful, often fatal. Healers knew how to do certain things for the body, but even trained professionals would never attempt psi healing on themselves. It was much too risky. Knowledge of the human body was restricted to healers and midwives, so Taemon knew little of how breathing worked or even why it was necessary.
    But he had to try something. It had come down to a choice of risky psi or certain death.
    So Taemon let his mind wander again, only this time, he sent his awareness inside himself. Taking a big gulp of air, he focused on his breath and followed where it went. He sensed a breathing tube that ran down his neck and split into two spongy places inside his chest. The sponges rose and fell as Taemon breathed. He continued his exploration. The air passageway branched off into narrower and narrower tubes, each of which dead-ended in a tiny air sac.
    Something was happening here. He didn’t know the words