You wretch, as the squishy plant slides down your throat, alongside great lungfuls of water. You feel the liquid cold and oppressive in your chest.
For a few brief moments, you think this may be the end. But the heaviness and pain in your chest quickly subsides. The more you breathe, the easier it gets, until it comes and goes from your lungs much like air.
The mermaid draws close to your face. A soft voice pours out through razor-sharp teeth, “Follow me, Alevin. I must show you something. I have been waiting.”
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