Heart of the Ocean (The Equilibrium Cycle Book 2)

by Jason A. Gilbert

  Out of the trees stumbled a figure that Laila immediately recognized as an Ondine. The watery figure seemed to be running from something, its head looking back the way it had come through the forest. Just before the elemental reached Laila and Connor's hiding place, another sound broke through the jungle.

  A roar echoed from behind the Ondine, and Laila gripped her staff tightly as she saw the red of fire crash through the trees. Black skin, spines, and ember eyes launched out of the shadows toward the Ondine. The Mander's jaws snapped, trying to find purchase on the flowing form of the water elemental. Its claws raked across the Ondine's chest. Steam and a blue ichor sprayed from the wound. A terrible scream escaped the mouth of the Ondine as it crashed to the ground before Laila and Connor's hiding place.

  Watery hands reached out, trying desperately to push the fire-wolf off, but its wavering form was not strong enough. The Mander's jaws snapped again and again, sometimes catching the Ondine, sometimes catching air. Steam continued to rise from the confrontation. Laila stumbled back as the creatures rolled toward them, oblivious to the humans, caught as they were in their own struggle.

  With a final snap, the Ondine stopped struggling and the Mander stood over its prey. The Ondine's body began to dissipate, forming a puddle of water in a roughly human shape. The Mander stepped away from the water, and its claws stopped steaming. The creature's red eyes slowly turned and found Laila and Connor standing near it. Laila thought she saw a brief glimmer of intelligence behind the ember eyes, and then the creature launched itself at Laila.

  Laila called on her power, confidently, for the first time since the Straits. Her staff lit with earthlight, and she felt strength cascade through her limbs. Her sense of purpose awoken, she brought the staff in front of her, blocking the creature’s initial strike. The Mander landed, gathered itself, and struck out at her again, jaws wide, teeth glistening. This time the creature met the blue light of the Sword. Connor weaved in front of Laila, catching the Mander's head and jaws with the Sword. The elemental snarled in rage as liquid fire dripped from the gash across its face.

  Laila and Connor stood side by side, Laila following Connor's movements as he placed the Mander between themselves and the river. Batting at its injured face, the Mander eyed the humans carefully. Snarls sounded from deeper in the jungle, and a group of five more Manders emerged. However, these were not hunting as the one in front of Laila and Connor had been. These new arrivals were fleeing. Their burning claws were leaving tracks across the jungle floor. Laila stood, ready to react as her power bolstered her.

  As the fire-wolves gathered, all Laila could hear was the frantic snarling and occasional snapping of jaws. Their initial foe returned its focus to her and Connor. Connor brought the Sword up defensively, and Laila felt the staff grow warm beneath her hands as her power filled her, their small battleground lighting up with the glow of earthlight.

  A rushing sound grew behind the Manders, coming from the river. A wave of water washed downstream, headed toward the ocean and beach. Before it passed the Manders, however, it slowed. Laila watched, fascinated, as forms rose up out of the river. Ten of the Ondine, moving with the coordination of intelligence that the Manders lacked, spread out along the riverbank and enclosed the Manders in a circle of watery forms.

  Laila and Connor stepped back, their eyes fixed on the snarling Manders and the deliberate movements of the Ondine. A hand against her back stopped her. She spun, her staff swinging wide. The wavering form of Tomo danced backwards, out of the path of the staff's arc. He no longer wore the clothes of the Edonin; instead he had the same watery form as the other Ondine. His face was pale and dripping, as though he stood beneath a waterfall.

  "Magusari," he said flatly.

  She brandished her staff in front of him, ready to defend herself. Behind her, the sounds of struggle began as the Ondine overcame the Manders. She glanced back over her shoulder but could see little beneath the cloud of steam that arose from the fight.

  "The pawns of Nuriel will be dealt with," Tomo said. His voice was similar to what it had been when he was human, but there was a flat tone to it now, similar to the way Wyndam spoke. Tomo raised a hand toward her, and Laila swung her staff at him defensively. "No need for that, Magusari. I have been sent to gather you."

  "Gather us? How did you even get here? What happened at the Tomb?" The questions tumbled out of Laila's mouth.

  "Much will be explained, Magusari. Our initial release was...unsettling." Tomo's features wavered. "Now we have returned to the Waters. Our home. Even in our crisis, we knew that you were the key. That is why you were brought."

  The sounds of battle behind them finally died down, leaving a lingering cloud of steam. A group of Ondine emerged from the steam, and Laila and Connor could see the familiar scorch marks on the ground where the Manders had been defeated.

  "I don't understand..." Laila said.

  Tomo nodded. "Come."

  Tomo turned and made his way deeper into the jungle, and the rest of the Ondine formed a semi-circle around Laila and Connor, leaving them no choice in which direction they were to go.

  They followed the Ondine, moving along the course of the river. As they walked, Laila could hear the sounds of struggles echo through the jungle on either side of them. A low fog began to gather around their feet as they walked. Laila could not determine if it arose due to their penetration into the jungle or from the fight that apparently raged in the jungle around them.

  "How did the Manders get here?" Laila finally asked of Tomo, walking up next to the elemental.

  "To the Waters? Nuriel and his ilk are drawn to great power. Our awakening and return home likely sent ripples across the world. Any being attuned to those fluctuations would have felt it. Nuriel is one such being, much as Pontus is. As soon as he became aware that his antithesis had returned to the waking world, he acted. Are you not aware of these things, Magusari?"

  Laila hung her head. She was not. There were so many things that she wished she could be aware of. Things that impacted her path and Connor's. Things that would or could—or even had—come to harm them in the past, and she was not aware of them, despite her supposed ability. She felt the stone of her staff dig into her hands as she gripped it tighter.

  "Why does Nuriel attack the Waters?" Connor asked, moving up closer to Laila.

  Tomo glanced back at the two humans, his face reflecting confusion. "Might as well ask why water runs downhill. Or why rain falls from the sky as opposed to rising up from the ground. Fire is the opposition of water. The Ondine and the Manders have never had peace, merely avoidance. Long ago, long before humans existed as a force on our world, we drew our lines. The Sacred Waters were our home, and we did not often stray far from them. The Manders, when they had their intelligence, respected that, and stayed in their own homelands, what humans have called the Dragonlands. But when the Manders were stripped of their intelligence and turned into nothing more than base animals, with little more than instinct to guide them, that peace was broken. Only the Magi kept the balance..."

  Tomo fell silent. Laila wondered at what he meant. Icarus had told them a brief history of the elementals on their journey through the tunnel that led to Grimmere, but so little was known of the history of the elementals during human history. As her mind wandered, a realization sprang into her mind. Without hesitating, she voiced it to Tomo.

  "If the Magi preserved that balance, so long ago, what happened to the Volos, the Earth elementals?" They had so far encountered all of the elementals but the Volos in their journeys, but there was no hint as to what might have happened to the final member of the four elemental races.

  Tomo did not respond immediately. The river they had been following turned northwards, and Tomo directed them along its path. A rumbling sound began to register on Laila's awareness, something other than the continued sounds of struggle echoing through the jungle. This was a deeper, more persistent sound. The flow of the river seemed to grow in strength in time with the increase in the volu
me of the rumbling. Laila waited patiently for Tomo to respond, wondering both at the answer to her inquiry and the source of the rumbling sound.

  "The Volos are a question best left to Pontus..." Tomo finally responded as he pushed a large grouping of branches out of their way. The branches moved to the side, dripping from the liquid consistency of Tomo's arm.

  As the branches opened, Laila saw the source of the rumbling sound. Sunlight brightened their faces as they entered a giant clearing in the center of the jungle. Dense undergrowth covered the ground as they moved into the clearing, grabbing at their feet and slowing their progress, but Laila ignored it as she stared at the source of the sound.

  Laila's eyes were drawn upward. The river they had been following was one of several winding outlets from a large lake in the center of the clearing. But the most magnificent part of the view, the structure that drew her eyes into the sky, was what stood at the center of the lake. A giant waterfall fell from the heavens, and its echoes were the rumblings she had heard growing as they moved deeper into the jungle. Initially she thought the waterfall was suspended in the air above the lake by some magic, hanging over the flowing waters and rumbling along to infinity. But, as she stared at it longer, she saw glimpses of the stone that rose up beneath it, the wide plateau that rose from the lake and stood as the source of the waterfall.

  Without thinking, Laila reached out and grasped Connor's hand. The sight staggered her. She gripped his hand tightly, unable to express her amazement in words, but trying to convey her feelings to Connor through simple touch. Connor stood next to her, silent, staring up at the waterfall also, he returned the pressure in her grasp, squeezing in return, as though to say, I understand.

  "Behold," Tomo said, his wavering voice echoing through the clearing, briefly overpowering the consistent rumble of the waterfall. "The Sacred Waters."

  Laila stood silent. She could do nothing in the face of such magnificence. Never before had she experienced something like this. Then she remembered. The temple at the peak of Mount Obrussa had conveyed a similar feeling, though on a more subtle level. Perhaps it was the presence of the Ondine, the natural keepers of the Waters that intensified the experience. Or, perhaps, Laila was simply more attuned to what she was experiencing now.

  "Come," Tomo said, finally breaking the spell that hung over the two humans.

  Tomo led them toward the lakeshore. As he approached, the water of lake began to boil, rising up and taking shape. A long prow and hull formed from the water, the stern of the watery boat reaching to the shore itself. Tomo motioned for them to board. Laila hesitated a moment, looking at the dripping form of the boat.

  "It is safe, I assure you," Tomo insisted.

  Laila reached a foot out, unsure of what to expect. Her purpose filled her, however, just as it had on the beach. She finally felt assured in her path, sure that she was moving in the right direction, wherever it may lead. She placed her foot on the back of the boat and put her weight on it. For a moment the water gave way, causing her to gasp. Then it solidified, allowing her to step up into the boat and remain above the water. A brief sigh of relief escaped her and she stepped toward the bow of the small boat. She turned back and motioned for Connor to follow.

  She watched him hesitate as she had, placing his foot down uncertainly. As the water solidified beneath him, he stumbled forward, not expecting the sensation. She caught him before he fell to the watery deck. A reassuring smile crossed her face as she struggled to pull him up by his shoulders. He was able to get his feet underneath him and steady himself on his own. Tomo followed behind them. He turned back toward their escort of Ondine, and a series of odd sounds left his mouth. They were somewhat similar to the language of the Edonin, but more fluid, lacking the harsh endings that had been exaggerated in the Edonin language. The remaining Ondine turned and moved back into the forest, likely joining their brethren in the fight against the Manders.

  Tomo turned back and placed his hand down. A tiller formed from the stern of the boat, flowing toward Tomo's hand. Laila felt only a twinge of exertion from the indication of his use of magic. She had felt the elementals’ adeptness at magic before, during the battle in Terus and with Wyndam in the Straits, but the ease with which Tomo manipulated the natural power of the water was impressive.

  The boat moved away from the shore of the lake, toward the massive waterfall. Tomo was silent as they moved, the look on his wavering face reverent. Laila considered the situation. The Ondine had been imprisoned, whether it was in the Tomb itself or within the façade of the Edonin, for two millennia. Tomo was now home, at the source of his very race. She did not know if she could draw a parallel in her own experience.

  The boat turned before it breached the roaring waters of the waterfall, banking to one side and skirting along the mists that surrounded the base. Laila felt the cool mist brush against her face, felt the stiffness in her robes release slightly with the influx of fresh water. She breathed deeply, feeling the cold air surrounding the waterfall fill her lungs. There was power here. It lurked at the edge of her awareness. There had been power surrounding the temple on Mount Obrussa, but back then she had only been dimly aware of such things. Her capacity had increased since then, and now she could sense the energy surrounding the waterfall. The magic that permeated the whole area. She pulled at her own magic through the staff, warming herself with the magic of the Earth and letting the confidence that stemmed from that action course through her. She did not know what was going to happen, but for the first time in a long while, she felt up to the task.

  The boat followed the curve of the waterfall, moving westward and then northward. As they rounded the curve on the western side, Laila saw that the water broke over an outcropping. Tomo guided the boat toward the outcropping. As they reached it, Laila could see a small swath of ground that stretched out into the lake. At the far end of the outlet, positioned behind the waterfall itself, stood a large set of stone doors, deeply engraved.

  Tomo guided the boat toward the outcropping. A slight jolt ran through the watery boat as it struck ground, causing Laila and Connor to stumble forward a step. Without a word, Tomo passed by the two humans and stepped off the prow of the boat. He moved toward the stone doors at the base of the waterfall, clearly expecting Laila and Connor to follow him.

  Laila followed his movements and Connor followed her example. As soon as they were both clear of the boat, the water that had held together to form their vessel flowed back into the lake, disappearing without a trace. Laila once again marveled at the ease with which Tomo had manipulated the water. Laila approached the Ondine as he stood before the stone doors.

  "Are you prepared?" the elemental said as Laila faced him.

  "Prepared for what?" she asked.

  "For what lies behind these doors. You are the Magusari. It is your right to enter this place. But know that the Ondine hold no love for your position. Pontus tried to warn your predecessor of the coming cataclysm once before, and she did not heed her words. Will you make the same mistake?"

  Laila considered her response, letting herself feel her sense of purpose and pulling at her power through the staff, letting it course through her.

  "I am the Magusari," she said, confidence filling her voice. "But I am not my predecessor. I know little of the mistakes made in that long ago time. But I..." She hesitated for a moment. "I hope to right what wrongs may have been committed. I seek only balance."

  She was not sure where the last had come from, but it felt right in the moment. Icarus had spoken of the balance often enough, and she felt it at the core of her being that a balance among the forces of the world was necessary. She was simply unsure of how to achieve that desire.

  Tomo nodded and did not offer further discussion, her response apparently enough for the elemental. He turned toward the stone doors, placing his hand at their center. Water flowed from his hand, filling tiny crevices that were etched within the stone. In moments, the entire stone face of the door was flowing with water. Laila
looked closely at the etching within the stone and realized that it represented the Earth as it once had been.

  Water and power flowed from Tomo's hand, weaving its way along the crevices of the map. His hand was centered on a large body of water with three rivers branching out: east, south, and west. A singular mountain stood out to the southwest of the lake. That must have been Mount Obrussa and Lake Artus, positioned at what had once been the center of their world. That was where Terus now stood, though the Collapse had Splintered the unity of that world. She noticed that the lands of the Confederacy and Connor's homeland were not separated on this map, there was no range of mountains to the south of the lake, only the one mountain. As the waters continued to expand, she saw them gather to the west, near the coastline of the ancient map. That would be the Sacred Waters, where they now stood, here shown to be a part of the ancient continent. Northeast of the Waters was another landmark, not as big as Mount Obrussa, but similarly shaped. She wondered if that was the strange black building they had seen on the island, the structure that had been a part of her vision. Further east were lands she did not recognize.

  As the magic from Tomo's water filled the map and spread out amongst the carvings, there was a creak in the stone of the door. With a burst of stale air, the doors swung open and the darkness behind made itself known. Tomo stepped forward, leading them into that darkness.

  Twenty-Eight

  The Source

  The doors slid shut behind them, leaving the three of them in utter darkness.

  "Magusari?" Tomo said expectantly. "I do not require the light, but it may be helpful for you two."

  Connor felt the soft, warm light of Laila's staff coat his damp clothes and skin. The light spread out, illuminating the hallway they now stood in. The floor rose slightly and the path itself curved ahead of them. The walls were carved in the same fashion as the tunnel near Grimmere. As the light surrounded them, Tomo moved deeper through the hall. Laila and Connor followed slowly, studying the walls as they passed.