“Do you have a game plan?“ he asked me.
“Absolutely none. This feels like something we’re just gonna have to wing,” I answered.
“I hate those kinds of plans,” he responded with a scowl.
“You and I both, but they do seem to be a little more fun,” I answered, with a small smile. He was just so cute with that scowl still on his face.
“Yeah you ending up in mortal danger sounds like a great time,” he said, still looking grumpy.
“The best,” I said, as I looked around the swamp.
I had never seen a swamp without any trees until now. There was murky water almost the color of an ocean but with more browns and greens. There was lots of foliage sticking up from the water. Occasionally I saw the splash of an animal in the water.
I wonder what kind of creatures are down there?
Don’t even get me started on the smell. I wasn’t sure which smelled worse, the dragon den or the swamp. It was like a combination of rotten eggs mixed with sulfur and body odor. I had to fight back the urge to gag constantly. A glance at Axel showed he felt the same way.
The dragon king warned us that the swamp didn’t respond well to magic. So with that in mind I would have to rely on it as a little as possible. We would need to rely on our physical strength and movements more.
“I’m going in there and I need you to stay out here,” I said to Axel.
He shot me a glance that said, you’ve got to be kidding me.
“No seriously, one of us has to stay out here. I'm going to tie a rope around me and you are going to hold the other end. If I tug hard on the rope then I need you to pull me out.”
“I can’t wait till all of this is over,” Axel said.
Tell me about it.
I created a rope out of the foliage that was growing from the swamp. I used my magic while I was out of the water to twist and knot the plants together. Then I tied the makeshift rope around my waist. I handed Axel the other end. I gave him a kiss for good luck and then I waded into the swamp.
The water felt much thicker than normal water. It was like the entire surface was just mud, and it wanted to suck me into its depths from the second I stepped into it. It took effort to lift one foot and move it forward. When I got waist deep I was sweating beneath my muddy clothes.
This would be so much easier if I could use magic.
When I got shoulder deep, I realised my feet were moving much easier. It was like the surface was a deep mud shield, with the real water beneath its surface. I just needed to push through deeper. I turned back to look at Axel one last time before I stuck my head under. He looked worried as hell, his face was twisted up in concern. He held onto the rope for dear life.
“Keep your eyes peeled,” I shouted to him. “We have no idea what else lives in this area.”
He nodded.
“You too, that swamp seems unforgiving.”
Goddess, if that wasn’t the truth.
I grabbed a big breath and then pushed my feet out in front of me, allowing myself to sink. I was able to push myself to the bottom, using the murky surface for resistance to push. When I was finally submerged, I was on my back on the bottom of the swamp, in just a small pocket of water. I dragged myself along the bottom grabbing onto rocks and plants to pull me along.
I could feel the water between me and the muddy surface getting deeper and deeper. I could also feel the pressure in my head as I got deeper. While I wasn’t actively calling on my magic to manipulate my environment, I had to hope that using it to manipulate my body wouldn’t piss off the swamp. It was either that or drown within a minute or two. I wasn’t sure what consequences the swamp could throw at me for using magic, but I wouldn’t stand a chance if I drowned.
I could feel a current in the water, like something was passing by me. There was no light that made it to this depth, the mud blocked it all. It was like swimming through the night sky with no stars. Scratch that. The stars were the eyes of creatures which seemed to glow. It sent a shiver up my spine, being watched by creatures I couldn’t even see.
The Dragon King said that the egg would likely be at the very bottom, and protected by something. That seemed obvious to me, so I kept pulling myself along the bottom sinking deeper and deeper.
Something brushed up against my leg and I had to hold onto my air, and swallowed back my scream. My mind went back to the snakes that used to be in the moat at my castle. If I was swimming with a snake I would die from fright. I could face a dragon, but its smaller relatives haunted my dreams.
Ignore it, it's probably just seaweed.
I pushed deeper. My lungs and head were screaming at the pressure, and I didn’t even have the egg yet. I'd have to resurface slowly when I finally had it, to keep myself from getting sick.
I felt the water shift again, but this time it was much stronger. Whatever caused it felt much larger than myself. The water actually pushed me backwards a few feet. I still couldn’t see anything, and I had to hope I was going in the right direction, towards the center of the swamp. If I had to guess how deep I was, I would say a hundred feet easily. It had been a long steep decline for a little while now. I had to almost be out of rope topside. I didn’t think this swamp would be this deep, another flaw in deciding to wing this plan. It was another reason I felt like the Dragon King might have wanted me to fail. He was very vague with the little info he did provide. He had dodged most of my questions.
Suddenly I felt this pull, like magic calling to magic, I knew I had to be close. Maybe this was an ability for a Dragon-kissed? The ability to sense their essence and therefore this ancient dragon artifact?
That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.
Then I saw a soft orange glow in the water, about twenty feet ahead. I knew this had been too easy and I waited for the other shoe to drop. I studied it as I got closer. Do I touch it? Do I use magic to manipulate it instead, despite the warnings about the swamp and its distaste for magic?
I looked around for something I could use to grab onto the egg. I decided not to push my luck with the swamp. I kept my senses open while I grabbed onto as much underwater foliage as I could. I wrapped it around my hands in layers, to protect it from touching my skin. When I was close enough I could reach out and touch the egg, something plowed into my side, and I felt a rib break at the impact. I could hear the snapping sound, even underwater. It was as if the water trapped the sound, amplifying it. I grabbed my side in pain, looking around for the source of the impact.
With the soft light being cast from the dragon egg I could see a large figure moving through the water, coming towards me. I could only see its silhouette and that was enough to trigger my instincts. “Get the hell out of here,” they seemed to scream at me. I planned to do that, right after I grabbed that damn egg. I did not come all the way down here to go back to the surface and the den, empty handed.
I pulled my sword from the sheath on my side. The murky water would end up rusting the blade I was sure, but as long as it helped me here and now, that didn’t matter. I swam toward the egg with the blade pointed in front of me. When the unknown but terrifying creature swam around to change directions, I pointed my sword at it. It would circle me, much like a shark would circle its prey, but it didn’t make a move to attack me.
I laid my hand on the egg, and then the creature went wild. I grabbed the egg and cradled it against my shirt, so that my covered hand held the egg against my body. I looked like a football player with the ball tucked into my arm. Instead of running with the ball up the field, I was trying to swim with it. The egg was dense, and heavy, making it even harder to move quickly. With my other hand I pointed my sword at the creature again, which was moving in a frenzy and letting out screeching sounds. It knew I had taken the egg and it was furious.
It darted towards me, just dodging my blade as it got close. I didn’t want to turn my back to the creature, that seemed like a very bad idea, but I need to get out of here. Its movements were faster underwater than mine, and
I couldn’t stay down here forever. I stood up on the bottom of the swamp still holding the egg against my body and the sword in my other hand. I began to walk backwards back the way I came.
Now that I was holding the glowing egg and the creature kept swimming towards me, I could make more of it out, and it was a creature from nightmares. It had long sharp teeth and a large mouth. It resembled a shark, but the teeth were much longer, and they slanted outwards. I didn’t think this thing was capable of closing its mouth all the way because of the positioning of its teeth. Its eyes glowed red, and its fins looked razor sharp. It had scales much like a dragon or a snake. Its gills stuck way out from its body, almost like another set of fins. The creature was ugly, terrifying, and still looking for a way to murder me.
I took slow steps backward, feeling the bottom of the swamp carefully. I couldn’t afford to turn my head around to make sure I was going in the right direction, or that I didn’t trip over anything, or run into another monster.
The creature lunged at me again and I lost my footing. I lashed out with my sword, and I caught its side with the tip as it’s teeth caught my arm. It burned, and I knew instantly it was more than just the sting of a scratch or a cut. It felt like something was bleeding into my skin. It had to have venomous teeth or this water was toxic to the bloodstream. Either way, I was screwed.
The creature bled a little from its side before twisting its body around and lashing out again. I was more prepared and got it in what I assume is its face, right below its teeth. It let out an ear piercing cry, and the sound only amplified through the water. I had to resist the urge to drop the egg and my sword to cover my ears. I would have trouble hearing when I returned to the surface, I just knew it.
I kept moving backwards as I defended its advances by strategically swishing my sword through the water in front of me. It was taking more effort than a normal fight because of the resistance of the water. My arm was hurting, and the water around me was becoming lighter, that had to mean I was getting closer where I had entered the swamp and stirred up the shell of surface level mud. I picked up my pace a little and the creature got more desperate, sensing how close I was to escaping with the egg.
It lunged again, but instead of going for my face or my arms it lunged downward, for my leg. It locked onto my shin and I brought my sword through it in response. Blood quickly escaped from the creature while it wiggled on the blade. I struggled to hold onto it, if the creature stayed impaled like this, it couldn’t attack me. The blood however, could attract something bigger, if there was anything bigger in this massive swamp. I only had the one sword with me, but it was a risk worth taking to leave the sword here. If there was something bigger that came along, I’d have to figure something out.
I kept walking backwards. I was now stepping over the long rope. Axel had no idea I was on my way up, and therefore he wasn’t pulling out the slack. The creature continued to wiggle on the blade, making its wounds larger, and filling the water with more blood. When my head finally hit the muddy substance that took over the surface of the swamp, I felt relieved. I stabbed the sword with the creature still attached into the dirt. It stopped moving and watched as I used my now free hand to start pushing my way through the mucky barrier. The surface tension it created was crazy.
I poked my head out of the mud and took my first few breaths in what felt like hours. I released my body from the magic assistance I had created, and I felt lethargic from all my effort.
“Did you get it?” Axel asked me, when he saw my head poke through.
“You tell me,” I said as I pushed my upper body through the muck and continued to walk forward. It took a lot of effort. Axel quickly pulled on the rope picking up all the slack and creating a tight line to help pull me out. When I was finally out of the swamp and on dry land, I looked like I had brought the swamp with me.
Axel was doing his best to hold back a chuckle at my appearance, and he was failing at it. I shot him a dirty look as he pulled some foliage from my hair.
Then he looked down at the muddy dragon egg in my arms.
“Wow,” he said, his eyes not leaving the egg for a long time.
“I know. It feels wrong just holding it, and I’m Dragon Kissed. Let’s just get this back to the dragon’s den, before it can get us into any more trouble,” I said.
“Agreed. Do you think you can touch it, without a barrier?” he asked.
“I have no clue, and I’m too scared of it frying me to even try. I have too much to lose right now to take such a risk.”
“You’re right. Maybe they’ll let you come back and try after we dispose of Kennan and his family,” Axel said, sounding optimistic for the first time in a while.
I liked his hope, but I wasn’t optimistic I’d ever see this egg again. The Dragon King would never let it out of his sight, not after it’s been missing for a thousand years. He’d likely sit on it like a hen on an egg.
I chuckled at the mental image.
“Maybe,” I said, to answer Axel's statement, and then I pulled my wings out to fly us back the way we came.
My leg and my arm were burning, but I did my best to ignore it as I carried Axel back with my good arm, while I held onto the egg with the other. He was dangling from one hand, and I only dared to fly several feet above the ground in fear of accidentally dropping him. I was still covered in mud, and caution seemed like the best idea here.
When we got to the magical smoke that protected the dragon's den, I wasn’t affected by it. While it looked enchanting, my head remained clear. I dragged Axel behind me with my good arm. Our roles had reversed and now he was transfixed by the dancing magical smoke.
“I have your egg,” I called out as I approached the cave.
“Almighty Dragon-Kissed, you look like you’ve been to the bottom of the swamp and back,” the Dragon King said.
It sounded like he was trying to make a joke, but his deep voice and the delivery didn’t make the statement funny at all.
“I have, and for what I went through, I hope you will do more than just listen to our request for help,” I said, picking up an authoritative tone. I did not get attacked by a swamp monster just for a chance for him to listen to my request.
“Bring it here,” the Dragon King said, ignoring my words.
I stepped forward and placed the egg in front of him. I backed up a few steps, and then the Dragon King placed a large foot on the egg, touching it lightly. It exploded into an array of light, in multiple shades of yellow, gold, and orange. The light bounced off the walls of the den, illuminating even the deepest darkest corners. What I saw back there made me want to gag, but I held it back. Rotting bodies in various states of decay made me absolutely sick. It was a reminder that these creatures killed all the time, and didn’t think twice about it. I had just helped them, and I hoped now that I served my purpose, Axel and I wouldn’t be the new additions to the dark decor.
The light grew even brighter until it sounded like glass had shattered and the light went out. We were plunged into near darkness again, except for an orange mist that quickly emerged from the egg, circled it a few times, and then surrounded the Dragon King. It spread out to touch each of the dragons in the den, who were watching silently, and I assumed in awe. Their large jaws hung open at the show the orange mist had created. The mist even expanded to touch my skin, wrapping around my arm, my middle and my leg, before my body absorbed it, and then the mist disappeared altogether.
The Dragon King shot me a look, looking at my arm and leg.
“Were you injured in the swamp?” he asked.
I nodded, not trusting my voice after that mesmerizing show of magic.
“The swamp poisons anything injured in its depth, if not from poison, then from its toxic waters. As the Dragon-Kissed, you are considered part dragon. You have our magic in you. I believe the magic of the egg recognized that, and just healed you,” the King told me.
Toxic water? Now he tells me. If I didn’t need his help so badly, I would have told him
just what I thought about the swamp and his cryptic information.
I took stock of my injuries. He was right, they felt much better. There were still nasty looking wounds, but whatever was making them pulse in pain, was gone. My side just felt like a dull ache as opposed to the sharp breathtaking pain I had been experiencing. I hoped that the healing meant I would be safe from infection. The swamp and the creature were anything but sanitary. When I left the dragon’s den I would put some healing energy to them and put the swamp behind me for good.
I nodded at the dragon, wanting to change the topic. I didn’t dive into that cesspool of grossness to walk away from this empty handed. I may be a kind person, but my time was too precious to waste on a sidequest that didn’t pan out.
“You promised you would listen to my request,” I told the Dragon King.
“I did, share with me your problem and how you think I can solve it,” he said in his deep commanding voice.
“I am the Queen of the Morthlands and Ubrem Glacies. The second was not intentional, my friends King Thanian and Queen Clarrissa left me their Kingdom when they were assassinated by the Prince of Tate and his family. I almost died in the same attempt, but my life was spared. The Prince of Tate, and his family, wish one of two things, for me to marry the prince, and then for me to die, so that he can rule everything. That can’t happen, as I have bonded to my soul mate,” I said, nodding my head in Axel’s direction.
The King spared Axel a quick glance, before his eyes returned to me.
“Since that option is out of the cards, he just wants me dead. With the Kingdom in chaos after the assasination of their ruler, he thinks he will be able to step right in and take over. I suppose now he would have to kill Axel too. In response we had to declare war, he killed my friends and I sunk his naval fleet. He and I keep playing games, but this has to come to an end, the sooner the better. In what is two days' time we will be on our way to Tate in our naval fleet to engage in battle on Tate’s soil. I believe he may have requested your assistance in this matter.”
Emerald Wars (The Dream Traveler Book 3) Page 13
