Chapter 37
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
-brIDA-
Drips.
That was all it had been at first, and then, the sound transformed. As if a dam had broken, a well had sprung, water came rushing in, ready to cleanse us from this world. The damp sank into us, pulling us deeper into the earth.
“Marius!” I screamed, anxiety coiling in my chest. We were too far down, there was no way we would be able to climb back up in time.
Maybe Marsh can wind-walk each of us from here? Does he have enough strength for that? Can I bolster him again?
“Shit,” I heard Marius mutter from behind Marsh. “I’m sorry,” he said, voice louder this time, “but I forgot about this part. It isn’t going to be pleasant.”
“I’m not sure any part of this has been pleasant,” I heard Marsh say.
“There you are!” I smacked his shoulder. Despite the likelihood of our imminent deaths, I was pleased that Marsh was beginning to regain his footing.
“You need to keep going, Vale,” Marius shouted over the sounds of the water.
“Keep going?” My father echoed. “Into that?”
“We need to get out of here, Marius. Dawn was just reborn. We can’t die here!”
The water rose, my chest now soaked to the bone.
“You need to keep going. Take a breath, and go.”
“Take a breath?” I repeated, unable to hide the shock from my voice.
“Yes, Brida. Repeating everything I say back to me isn’t going to help this situation. In fact, it’s only going to prolong this and make it worse. Now take a breath, and submerge your faces into the water.”
The lines crinkled around my father’s eyes as he offered me a faint smile. I heard the inhale, and before I could blink, he thrust himself beneath the water. Marsh and Marius quickly followed suit.
“Gods.” I lowered myself under the water and opened my eyes, expecting darkness, but instead found that the water was littered with color and life.
Streams of pale blues, purples, and golds swirled in the water, illuminating it. Before I could reach out to touch one of the streams of light, a force jolted the water, thrusting us forward.
The tunnel expanded, and we slid down, the water receding enough so that we could breathe. “What’s happening?” I shouted as we were thrust over rocks, down twists, and turns.
“I had forgotten about this part!”
“Some Memory Warden!” I couldn’t hide the disdain from my voice as we were thrust into the air from a rock.
The twists and turns were jagged, the walls moving apart the further down we fell.
What started as deep brown walls with rock sticking out slowly transformed to beautiful corals.
What was earth became water, held back not by glass, but by magic.
Walls were now water teeming with life. Coral, fish… Are…?
“Marius! Are those people?”
“Where do you think the sea Nymphs came from?” He shouted.
I turned to look back and found Marsh smiling. When was the last time you smiled?
“Hold on!” My father yelled, causing me to turn back towards him. The tunnel was coming to an end… But we are well off the ground.
My father fell first, each of us being pushed behind him. The water from the walls exploded forward, forming a whirlpool around us, funneling each of us into a pool.
The water was warm. Familiar. I kicked, propelling myself towards the top. Strands of light cut through the water like a blade. It’s beautiful, I thought as I swam towards it. Reaching out, I met the light with my hand, where its strength only grew, illuminating the pool even more.
As I broke the surface, I couldn’t help the laughter that escaped me. “Whatever that was, it was incredible.” I struggled to catch my breath, the thrill of what we’d just experienced continued to flow through me.
Marius's head fell back in relief, a sigh escaping him as my father and Marsh echoed my sentiment. I turned to my back, kicking myself towards my father before returning upright. “I know this isn’t what you were expecting…” I said before he raised a hand to stop me.
“Wherever you are is where I’m meant to be.” He smiled.
“Where are we?” Marsh said as we each looked around. Nothing was visible in the distance. Just water and fog.
“The Kaltarian Sea. We have a long way to go before we are within the walls of Ildira. Once there, we can form a plan.”
“Ildira…” I remarked, “How similar to Eldara.”
“Do you not know the etymology of the words?” Marius raised an eyebrow at me. Sighing, he continued, “Il is the feminine in the old tongue, El is the masculine. Two continents, two worlds. His, and hers. I think they thought it was funny.”
Marsh made his way beside me, falling into old patterns as if nothing had happened these past months. He was here to protect, to help me, to be by my side… He had to know things had changed, that things wouldn’t… couldn’t be as they’d been.
I offered him a faint smile.
“And how are we supposed to get there?” Marsh asked. “I’m not sure we all have it in us to swim the remainder of the way.” He gestured his head to my father, who was floating on his back.
“It’ll only be a moment now,” Marius said, nodding assuredly.
We treaded the water in silence until we heard a faint whisper of voices in the distance. The fog dissipated, the haze splitting. With a thunderous clap, the horizon cracked open at its center, and through it came the most beautiful ship.
I’d only ever seen ships in books. Escalia didn’t have a port, and I’d never been to the coast on a trading day.
Unlike the ships in the drawings I’d seen, I knew this one was not made of wood.
Constructed of a material I didn’t recognize, but one that’s color changed with each movement of my head as it ship glided across the water, barely forming a ripple.
Its shimmer was so reminiscent of the walls of my cells, but I knew that couldn’t be… It couldn’t, could it?
The ship loomed next to us. “Don’t say a word,” Marius said, “allow me to do the talking.” We all nodded in understanding as a small boat was lowered down to retrieve us. I swam to the smaller boat and was hoisted inside by Marsh and Marius.
The ropes made no creaks, the boat made no waves. We were pulled slowly to the top. “What kind of magic is this?” I whispered to Marius, whose expression had turned serious.
“Brida,” he said, “I promise I will answer your questions, but please, just trust me.”
The deck of the ship was vacant save for one soul behind the helm. Like the ship, they too were made of a magic that was foreign to me, but one that felt so familiar that a tingling burned in my fingertips as I stepped on board.
The figure remained unmoving, hands grasped tightly around the pegs of the helm, ready to guide us should the word be given.
Marius stepped forward and lowered his head. “Navaros.”
The man, who remained hidden by a hood, lowered his head in response. A chill crawled its way from the base of my spine to my neck as a voice slithered into my mind. “Marius,” it whispered.
I knew that voice.
“It has been a long time.” The voice, the fog, it clawed at my mind, its words seeping into the recesses of where it did not belong.
“We require passage. To Ildira.” Marius said, standing tall.
With a nod, Navaros lowered his head. All that was visible were sharp teeth that glowed in the light. Teeth that belonged not to any creature of a world I was familiar with.
“Hold onto something,” Marius said to each of us as he made his way back to the group.
The rope was coarse as I wrapped it around my hands, ensuring my balance as the boat lurched forward, making its way into the mist.