“Eh?”
I threw my hand into the air. “Hiestia!” I yelled.
Darkness rose from the ground, as if the shadows had taken on lives of their own, and the black consumed us. In seconds, we’d left the village and now found ourselves in a dark world. A pathway stood before me, hardly differentiable from the black that filled the air, and everything else. Portals hovered around us, and the circular sections displayed vivid images within them, images of other places.
Now. Where are you? I focused on my memories of the images Ijyela had given me. I visualized the water shift through the sea and crash onto the beach. I imagined a fresh, salty breeze kiss my face.
A gentle mental pressure emerged at the back of my head, and I turned around. The pressure shifted as well, and slid to my forehead now.
Good. I’ve got it. I moved forward, and my eyes darted through the images in the portals before me.
Freya and Acnologia followed quietly. A few seconds in, the sensation in my head turned stronger, and my fingers tingled. There, to our right, was a portal of the exact same image I’d seen before—the sandy beach, the palm forest, and the navy-blue sea.
“There.” I pointed.
“That was fast,” Freya chuckled.
“Hey, it’s not like I take forever to use this spell.”.
“Well, you HAVE taken a long time to use your Shadow Travel spell before,” Nyx said.
That was ONE time! I complained.
“Sure,” he laughed.
I rolled my eyes. “Come on.” I stepped forward.
We all made our way through the portal, and the image around us shifted.
The salty breeze welcomed me.
It was just as I had imagined, and brushed my silver hair into my eyes. The dark sea lay before us, with the blue graced by rays of orange and red as the sun descended beyond the horizon. I walked through the winds, and headed right up to the shore of the beach. The white sand crunched beneath my feet, and the crunching loudened as Freya and Acnologia walked up to me.
“Now what?” the elf asked.
“Well, I assumed there would be an obvious way to get to the underwater kingdom,” I said.
“There isn’t.”
I watched the sun, gazing at its bottom edge dipped into the waters. “I’m not sure. Ask Ijyela?”
“Fine, I’ll send her a message,” she said, opening her Ga’em menu.
A few minutes passed in silence, and nothing happened. “Did you send a message?” I frowned.
“I did. There hasn’t been a reply.”
“That’s odd. Maybe she’s busy.”
“Probably.”
Close to half an hour had passed and the sun had almost disappeared. Wait a minute. My eyes widened. What do they say about sunsets and oceans?
I remembered hearing something, whether from Ijyela or Krof I didn’t recall.
I stared into the sunset, watching till the very last moment. A minute later the sun completely disappeared, and in that final moment, a flash of green light burst out, nearly blinding me with its brightness.
“What the hell was that?” Freya asked.
The ground rumbled, not terribly, but just enough to know that something was going on. All of a sudden, the sea split apart as the waters moved to create a pathway for us.
My hands trembled, and a smile curled on my face.
Freya on the other hand was more observant. “This is probably the way to the kingdom!” she yelled and ran down. “Come on!”
“Wait, but we—”
The elf had already run far enough for that conversation to be pointless. and so the Dragon and I followed, with my heart beating fast.
This wasn’t a good idea, was it?
“Probably not,” Nyx said.
And as if on cue, the ground rumbled once more, only this time, the waters did not part outwards.
The waves came crashing down, flooding the pathway we were in, and filling it with blue.
“Freya!” I shot forward, and grasped the elf’s wrist. I turned around, ready to run back to the beach in the distance. But there was no time left.
The sea collapsed, and the walls of water crashed into us. I held onto the elf for all I was worth, and kicked upward, but the currents took a hold of us, and pushed us deeper down, taking us further away from the skies.
Water swirled around, strangling me till I breathless, suffocating me till the blue faded away and darkness had consumed my vision.
The ocean had taken us prisoner.
***
CHAPTER FOUR
The sounds of crashing waves roared in my ears.
I sat up, and breathed heavily. My eyes adjusted to the light around me.
A cavern.
Stone walls of greyish-blue stood around us, and the cavern entrance was about ten yards ahead, with nothing but a transparent blue shade outside it.
The sounds of breathing pulsed beside me. Freya laid there, unconscious, but alive. My mind sparked with images, and I recalled everything that had happened to us—the crashing waves, the falling waters. They all came back to me, and I relived them once more.
A shiver went down my spine, and my chest clenched from the very thought of going through that again. Suffocating was not fun.
I stepped toward the entrance. How on earth did we get back to land though?
And then I realized we hadn’t.
The translucent blue I had seen was some kind of barrier. An ocean of water sat beyond it, and I looked deep into its colors, gazing into the distance till the blue turned to black.
My eyes widened. “Where are we?”
“Well, hello there,” Nyx chuckled.
DING!
Familiar Storage has been activated. ‘Acnologia: The Shadow Dragon’, has been retained within the familiar storage system. You cannot store any more familiars.
I rolled my eyes. Not this again.
“Unfortunately, that is the case,” the Dragon had a chuckle in his voice.
“Just get out here already, won’t you?”
“I am not sure that is such a good idea, Eternal.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“As you can tell now, we are in what seems to be an underwater cave.”
“And Dragons can’t swim,” Nyx added.
“Wait, really? You can’t swim?”
“We can swim. What the spirit meant was that I cannot breathe underwater, so it is better I remain in a spot where I am not a hindrance to your movements.”
“Well…uh…I can’t breathe underwater either.”
“Did you check? Maybe you can do it now that you’re here under the ocean.”
I doubt that’d be the case.
I pointed my index finger in the air, and dragged it down. A subtle resistance pushed against my movement and a characteristic sound popped out.
DING!
A vertical column of seven circular icons slid down and I looked at the first one. It contained a shadowy silhouette of a humanoid upper body on it, the shade contrasting against the translucent white background. I tapped on the icon and two screens slid out, expanding from behind it and taking space on either side.
The screen on the left contained a 3D full-body image of me, and the one on the right was a sub-menu. My Player sub-menu.
Stats
Items
Equipment
Skills
I tapped on Stats, and a new screen opened in front of me.
Name
Zoran Diablo
Level
783
Health
13450
Constitution
1387
Mana
16300
Intelligence
1512
Stamina
12010
Endurance
1211
Strength
1748
Dexterity
1415
Agility
2494
Wisdom
3561
Charisma
1004
Luck
34
Not what I need, I thought. I put my finger to the screen and flicked it to the side, sliding the old data away and letting a new set of information come into my vision.
Name
Zoran Diablo
Race
Eternal
Abilities
Resurrection
Spirit King
Re-animator
Resistances
All Arts
Class
N/A
Alignment
Neutral
Titles
Phantom Lord
Undead Emperor
Necromancy Demon
Master of Ikarius
Reputation
Infamy Level 10 - “The World shakes in your presence”
Yeah. See? No new abilities to help me breathe.
A moan came from behind me and I turned around. Freya slowly got up, rubbing her head as she did. Her eyes blinked open and she looked at me in a daze, her head bobbing from side to side as she kept her gaze on me.
“Where…are we?” she asked.
I grinned. “You’re not going to believe it.”
“And why is there water—” Her eyes widened, and she snapped awake. “No way.”
“Yeaaah,” I said. “We’re underwater.”
“The kingdom?”
I shook my head. “Some cave.” I pointed to the roof. There was actually moss growing on the inner walls, but it was in the darker corners of the cave, rather than closer to the mouth.
The elf stood up, and glanced around. “What the heck?”
Footsteps came from deeper within the cave. I turned and my hand reached out for Dawnbreaker. Freya did the same, grabbing her sword, and stood by my side. The footsteps grew louder, and slower as well. As if the creature coming towards us was hesitant.
Freya uttered a word, and a ball of light emerged deeper inside the cave, lighting up the whole place. I glanced ahead, and my eyes widened.
A young boy stood before us, shielding his face with his hands. Locks of teal-shaded hair fell over his forehead, and glistened in the light. He wore just a pair of brown pants, an outfit that was worn out and even torn in a few places.
He stood there for a few seconds and then slowly removed his arms from his face. He stared into the light, and blinked a few times. Freya and I stood quietly, not saying a word and not doing anything else either. I lifted my hand away from Dawnbreaker, and kept it limp at my side.
The young boy walked toward us now, and looked at me, then Freya, then me again. His eyes were a radiant teal, the very same shade as his hair, and had flecks of dark blue within them.
“What are you?” the young one asked Freya, his voice adorably squeaky.
“You don’t know?” the elf blinked.
“I have never one with pointy ears before,” he said. “Are you special?”
I chuckled. “Yes, she is.”
“You too.” He looked at me. “You seem odd, and yet I can’t tell why. You look like a normal person though.”
“That’s the first time someone’s called you normal,” Nyx chuckled.
I smiled. Leave it to the kids.
“Who are you, little one?” Freya asked.
“Alexio,” he said.
“Hello there, Alexio,” I said. “I’m Zoran. This is Freya.”
The little one nodded as I mentioned our names.
“Could you tell us where we are right now?” I asked.
“The Jal Ocean,” he said.
That would explain the gallons of water outside this cave.
“How is this place not consumed by water?” Freya asked.
“This is an air pocket,” he said. “It is not a normal occurrence. I made this for you both.”
“You made this?” I looked at the transparent barrier at the mouth of the cave. So he’s the one that put that up.
“That’s impressive,” Nyx said.
“Where did you find us, Alexio?” Freya asked.
He pointed out the cave entrance. “Floating in the ocean,” he said. “You were both asleep, and not breathing, so I brought you here. You became okay after you got some air though.”
Ah. That’s how we got into the cave, I realized.
“It has been a while since I saw surface-dwellers,” Alexio said.
I smiled. “You are a mermaid, aren’t you?”
The little one huffed. “I’m a boy! A merman!”
“Oh,” I blinked. There was a distinction like that?
“You’re really quite harsh sometimes, Diablo,” Nyx said. “Being so rude to a child, have you no heart?”
But I didn’t know!
The spirit chuckled.
“So, Alexio,” Freya said. “Is there a kingdom that you are a part of?”
He nodded. “If you are looking for the kingdom though there is much travel you will need to do,” he said. “It is many more miles under the water. Normal people cannot usually go there.”
“But like you said,” I grinned, “we’re not a bunch of normal people.”
He stared at me. “What do you wish to go to the kingdom for?”
“We are searching for someone,” I said.
“Who?”
“A Mermaid Priestess. Voora.”
“Priestess Voora.” The little one frowned. “Why?’
He knows her? I wondered. “There is something we need to ask of her.”
“That is all?”
“Yes,” I said. What is he worried about?
“Very well, I will take you to her then. Do not worry.”
“Wait, you know where she lives?”
He nodded. “I do. You can depend on me.”
I bowed down, respectfully. “Thank you.”
“Can you both breathe underwater?”
We shook our heads.
“I thought so.” The young one slid open his Ga’em menu, and a few seconds later an object glowed in his hands. When the light died down there were two pieces of seaweed sitting in his palm, wet and sloppy. He handed them to us. “Eat.”
“This?” I held up the soggy plant. My appetite had given up on me in the last five seconds.
DING!
My Herb Lore skill activated, and gave me a screen with the details about this plant.
Name
Underwater Merweed
Rarity
Common
Special effect
Consuming one plant enables breathing underwater for one hour
My eyes widened. “Whoa.”
Alexio giggled. “Works every time.”
“This lets me breathe underwater?”
“Indeed.” He nodded. “All you have to do is eat and we can swim away together.”
I quickly put the plant in my mouth and chewed it up. A bitter-sour taste cut into me, but I crunched through it and swallowed the whole thing. The thought of breathing underwater was enough to help me bear the taste.
DING!
You have consumed:
Underwater Merweed!
You are now able to breathe underwater. Effects last only one hour.
“Nice.”
Freya gulped down her plant as well, and the notification screen emerged before her.
“Are you ready?” Alexio asked.
We nodded.
The little one walked to the cave entrance and put his hand through the barrier, sinking into the water outside. He leapt forward a second later, leaving the cave and entering the ocean. His legs glowed a bright white the moment he hit the water, and then morphed. In seconds, the light died down, and in the place of lower limbs, Alexio now had a full mermaid tail, with his scales of purple, blue, and green glistening in the light.
“Better call it a Merman tail before the kid gets flustered again,” Nyx chuckled.
“That’s beautiful,” Freya whispered.
“It is.” I looked at her. “Ready?”
She nodded.
We both ran for it, and dived into the water. I have to confess, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope to get a mermaid—or merman—tail as well, but I was left with my normal, human legs. At the start, I held my breath on instinct, but an instant later I drew in water, and to my surprise air filled my lungs. I looked around, breathing in, and floating through the cold streams.
“Whoa,” I said.
Freya’s eyes widened. “I heard you,” she blinked. “How?”
“Ah,” Alexio said. “When one can breathe underwater, they can also talk underwater. Makes sense, doesn’t it?”
I frowned. Not really. But I’m not complaining.
“Must work in mermaid logic or something,” Nyx said.
“Shall we go?” the young one asked, and we nodded.
He swam through the water, thankfully not at top speed, because I did not want to have to swim like a mermaid.
“Wait, can you not swim well?” Nyx chuckled.
Of course I can. It’s just been a while.
“How long?”
I don’t know. A couple of thousand years?
We pushed downwards, and headed deeper into the ocean. There were no currents around us, but the water turned colder, and fast. Freya shivered, but kept going, while the little kid twirled and twisted, dancing through the water. We kept swimming, and I took in the sights around me. The land sloped downwards from the cave we had been in, and a few seconds later we came upon a deep trench within the land.
The young merman quickly dived in. “This way!” He squeaked and disappeared from view. Freya and I scrambled to keep up with him and headed into the trench as well.
The colors of blue around us now darkened. I kept my eyes on the mermaid, watching his form and nothing else. A few minutes had passed, and the image before us suddenly brightened, as if someone had turned on a massive fire torch down here.
Before I even knew it, we had exited the trench, and had entered another section of the ocean. Shoals of colorful fish swam underneath us, tucking and turning between the coral reefs that stood on the sandy floor.
The Eternal: A Boxed Set (World of Ga'em Book 6) Page 77
