Chapter 167: 167
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With Kal long gone from sight, and the slowly dawning realisation that the dread in my stomach will never fully boil over, I steel my nerves for the dive below, mentally preparing myself for what I might find. From the surface, the depths below appear almost bottomless, and endless mirage of rippling waves and murky pitch darkness. But the growth of plant life stemming up from far beneath tells me this place has a bottom to it- however far down that might be.
Biting my cheeks to reduce the shivering quiver of fearful anticipation that gnaws at my gut, I sink myself lower into the water. Well, I think reluctantly to myself, might as well make myself useful.
Sucking in a breath, I submerge myself under, dragging my body down into the water, letting myself once again sink beneath the icy blanket of waves.
Underneath the water is just as terrifying as it is on top. The water coils with murky apparitions, flicking in and out of sight like ghosts flitting in and out of the corner of your vision, mixing in with particles of debris and making it more and more difficult by the second to tell what is fake from real. Diving down further into the inky abyss, I feel my chest begin to tighten with the pressure on my lungs, the effort of holding my breath no longer easy, but manageable. Thank the heavens my body is more efficient than it was, else this trip might have ended in my own watery grave.
Wriggling green slivers of algae and waterweed reach up from a place far below, shifting with the current of the water, and the occasional apparition that shifts in and out of its premise, all fins and scales, though the precise details of their shapes I have yet to decipher. Had it not been for the slightly distorted quality and the shifting nature of the figure of these creatures, I might have thought them real, might have found myself terrified. But a peculiar instinct in my gut tells that those creatures are little more than figments of my own fear and the red pendant around my neck continues to throb against my chest, grounding me to reality.
These are Azrael's illusions. They will do me no harm.
Calming myself, I run my hands over the the climbing tendrils of water reeds, over water plants, all bushy and ginormous in size, the product of thousands of years of growth. Those things are real, they have texture, and a tepid warmth that comes with simply being alive. Not illusion.
As things past, I repeat this cycle in my head: testing appearance, and warmth, determining precisely what in here I need to fear.
But in the inky confines of the water, it would be enough to make anyone's mind go haywire, to start imagining shapes and forms that are never really there. That is the true danger of this place- not Azrael, but the extent of your own, chaotic imagination.
Perhaps that is why it is so efficient.
I try not to let myself think of the darkness as I float down to the bottom of the watery expanse, met by a bed of sand and thick, rocky lumps of granite. There is nothing out of the ordinary here, just a few crustaceans and several inches of crystal debris from the ceiling of the cavern. Occasionally, however, I come across something else littered in the sand- signs of wealth and life. Fragments of gold, discarded jewellery, and tatters of silken fabric. Something lives down here, but what?
For a moment I pause, treading the water to listen to the tug of the bond inside me. Holding my breath, I wait.
A tug pulls at my heart, down, down, but also... I swim one way, and then the other, attempting to define whereabouts the bond is leading me. After a few seconds of doing this, I determine it must be north of me, and much, much further down. The bond feels stronger than it did before, tugging at my heart, my soul, my consciousness, calling me towards my mate and my destiny. But that fact doesn't make it any easier to find. This place is huge, and even if I do get closer to it, there is no guarantee it will be in plain sight.
Not to mention the fact that the entrance the the final lair will almost certainly be guarded. And if the clothes and jewellery are anything to go by, the creatures that live down here will be both much more smart, and far more greatly guarded.
Deciding not to stray to far, after a bit more searching I kick back towards the surface, exasperated. Whatever is down here certainly isn't very near- but not that I expected it to be. After all, this place isn't designed to be a walk in the park. Perhaps Kal has had better luck than I have.
All those hopes are quickly dashes as I emerge to the surface, wiping the wet hair from my face, only to be met with screams of sheer, unadulterated terror.
"Serena!" Kal screams at the top of his lungs, followed by a crash and a distinctly magical zap bolting across the cavern above my head.
A warning signal, I think inwardly. Shit.
Black balls of flame come shooting across the cavern faster than I can spot them, bounding off anything they come into contact with until they finally fizzle out. Screams continue to echo around the cavern in a terrifying array of high pitched shrieks.
I guess the scouting didn't go so well after all.
"Dear god, Serena, there is a literal harpy trying to kill me."
As soon as Kal comes into view, his membranous wings straining to keep up in the air, muscles of his back tense, poised to fight, I immediately realise what is going on. Kal aims at something, black magic swirling at his finger tips, his eyes tracking the movements of something that I cannot see nor hear. But apparently to Kal, it is as real as anything. Darting downwards, he gives another frightful scream, launching more black magic in the same direction that his eyes follow.
As I watch this spectacularly confusing array of events, marvelling over this one sided battle, I feel the pendant at my neck begin to throb, and look swiftly down. A harpy, huh?
"Serena," Kal screams shrilly. "A little help?"
Despite his words, I do not move. Of course, Kal mentioned a harpy was trying to kill him. But unless harpies have suddenly got incredibly good at becoming invisible, I would say there isn't one there at all.
You see here is the thing.
Harpies are large, 7 foot tall bird women who live anywhere from the icy tundras of the fair east, to the forests and deserts of the north and south of Faey. Depending on the region, they can range from being amicable and caring women who delight in hording shiny gems and bartering trade offers, to vicious and vengeful monsters intent on wiping out any opposition from the face of the earth and chewing up their remains. There really is no in-between. So if there really is a harpy on our tail- and by the sound of it there might be one- then we are completely and utterly screwed.
Expect I cannot see it. The skies are completely and utterly empty.
Peering up at the cavernous expanse to where Kal is dodging and weaving, sweat pouring of his face as he continues to throw great heaving flames of black fire in this direction and that, a thought suddenly hits me like a ton of bricks.
Clutching the pendant tighter at my chest, I almost smack myself its so obvious.
"Kal!" I yell up towards the heavens, doing my very best to stay afloat as I tread the murky depths beneath me. The young dragon boy barely registers my voice, continuing to swoop and dive after something I cannot seem to see. But that is the point, after all. It was never really there to begin with.
"Kal, it's not going to hurt you- its not real!"
Frantically, Kal dive bombs towards me, strafing out of the way of some invisible projectile that causes him to wince as it trails its invisible path, his teeth bared in pain. Breathlessly, he hovers next to me, pushing strands of hair back from his face as he jabs a pale finger out towards nothingness.
"You mean to say you can't see that… that monster? It's literally trying to eat me, Serena!" he cries, shaking a hand at empty air once more, his voice peaking at a point of exasperation. Clenching my jaw, I steel my nerves.
I sincerely hope to the heavens I am right about this one, I think to myself desperately, or I am about to have a very dead Kal on my hands. Hurriedly, I snap my fingers to grab his attention.
I don't have much time. If it is like Fangorn said, the realer Kal believes this is, the more real it will become. And I really, really don't want to be dealing with a full grown harpy with a taste for blood right now.
"Alright, look at me, Kal. Look," I say, trying my best to make as much racket as possible to distract him from whatever the heck he is facing. It surely can't be good- especially if a dragon like him is absolutely terrified, which gives me even more incentive to get this over with. At long last Kal faces me, swamped in the aura of terror and sheer dread.
Silently, I beg in my head. Please let Fangorn be right about this, please, please, please…
"Kal I want you to close your eyes."
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With Kal long gone from sight, and the slowly dawning realisation that the dread in my stomach will never fully boil over, I steel my nerves for the dive below, mentally preparing myself for what I might find. From the surface, the depths below appear almost bottomless, and endless mirage of rippling waves and murky pitch darkness. But the growth of plant life stemming up from far beneath tells me this place has a bottom to it- however far down that might be.
Biting my cheeks to reduce the shivering quiver of fearful anticipation that gnaws at my gut, I sink myself lower into the water. Well, I think reluctantly to myself, might as well make myself useful.
Sucking in a breath, I submerge myself under, dragging my body down into the water, letting myself once again sink beneath the icy blanket of waves.
Underneath the water is just as terrifying as it is on top. The water coils with murky apparitions, flicking in and out of sight like ghosts flitting in and out of the corner of your vision, mixing in with particles of debris and making it more and more difficult by the second to tell what is fake from real. Diving down further into the inky abyss, I feel my chest begin to tighten with the pressure on my lungs, the effort of holding my breath no longer easy, but manageable. Thank the heavens my body is more efficient than it was, else this trip might have ended in my own watery grave.
Wriggling green slivers of algae and waterweed reach up from a place far below, shifting with the current of the water, and the occasional apparition that shifts in and out of its premise, all fins and scales, though the precise details of their shapes I have yet to decipher. Had it not been for the slightly distorted quality and the shifting nature of the figure of these creatures, I might have thought them real, might have found myself terrified. But a peculiar instinct in my gut tells that those creatures are little more than figments of my own fear and the red pendant around my neck continues to throb against my chest, grounding me to reality.
These are Azrael's illusions. They will do me no harm.
Calming myself, I run my hands over the the climbing tendrils of water reeds, over water plants, all bushy and ginormous in size, the product of thousands of years of growth. Those things are real, they have texture, and a tepid warmth that comes with simply being alive. Not illusion.
As things past, I repeat this cycle in my head: testing appearance, and warmth, determining precisely what in here I need to fear.
But in the inky confines of the water, it would be enough to make anyone's mind go haywire, to start imagining shapes and forms that are never really there. That is the true danger of this place- not Azrael, but the extent of your own, chaotic imagination.
Perhaps that is why it is so efficient.
I try not to let myself think of the darkness as I float down to the bottom of the watery expanse, met by a bed of sand and thick, rocky lumps of granite. There is nothing out of the ordinary here, just a few crustaceans and several inches of crystal debris from the ceiling of the cavern. Occasionally, however, I come across something else littered in the sand- signs of wealth and life. Fragments of gold, discarded jewellery, and tatters of silken fabric. Something lives down here, but what?
For a moment I pause, treading the water to listen to the tug of the bond inside me. Holding my breath, I wait.
A tug pulls at my heart, down, down, but also... I swim one way, and then the other, attempting to define whereabouts the bond is leading me. After a few seconds of doing this, I determine it must be north of me, and much, much further down. The bond feels stronger than it did before, tugging at my heart, my soul, my consciousness, calling me towards my mate and my destiny. But that fact doesn't make it any easier to find. This place is huge, and even if I do get closer to it, there is no guarantee it will be in plain sight.
Not to mention the fact that the entrance the the final lair will almost certainly be guarded. And if the clothes and jewellery are anything to go by, the creatures that live down here will be both much more smart, and far more greatly guarded.
Deciding not to stray to far, after a bit more searching I kick back towards the surface, exasperated. Whatever is down here certainly isn't very near- but not that I expected it to be. After all, this place isn't designed to be a walk in the park. Perhaps Kal has had better luck than I have.
All those hopes are quickly dashes as I emerge to the surface, wiping the wet hair from my face, only to be met with screams of sheer, unadulterated terror.
"Serena!" Kal screams at the top of his lungs, followed by a crash and a distinctly magical zap bolting across the cavern above my head.
A warning signal, I think inwardly. Shit.
Black balls of flame come shooting across the cavern faster than I can spot them, bounding off anything they come into contact with until they finally fizzle out. Screams continue to echo around the cavern in a terrifying array of high pitched shrieks.
I guess the scouting didn't go so well after all.
"Dear god, Serena, there is a literal harpy trying to kill me."
As soon as Kal comes into view, his membranous wings straining to keep up in the air, muscles of his back tense, poised to fight, I immediately realise what is going on. Kal aims at something, black magic swirling at his finger tips, his eyes tracking the movements of something that I cannot see nor hear. But apparently to Kal, it is as real as anything. Darting downwards, he gives another frightful scream, launching more black magic in the same direction that his eyes follow.
As I watch this spectacularly confusing array of events, marvelling over this one sided battle, I feel the pendant at my neck begin to throb, and look swiftly down. A harpy, huh?
"Serena," Kal screams shrilly. "A little help?"
Despite his words, I do not move. Of course, Kal mentioned a harpy was trying to kill him. But unless harpies have suddenly got incredibly good at becoming invisible, I would say there isn't one there at all.
You see here is the thing.
Harpies are large, 7 foot tall bird women who live anywhere from the icy tundras of the fair east, to the forests and deserts of the north and south of Faey. Depending on the region, they can range from being amicable and caring women who delight in hording shiny gems and bartering trade offers, to vicious and vengeful monsters intent on wiping out any opposition from the face of the earth and chewing up their remains. There really is no in-between. So if there really is a harpy on our tail- and by the sound of it there might be one- then we are completely and utterly screwed.
Expect I cannot see it. The skies are completely and utterly empty.
Peering up at the cavernous expanse to where Kal is dodging and weaving, sweat pouring of his face as he continues to throw great heaving flames of black fire in this direction and that, a thought suddenly hits me like a ton of bricks.
Clutching the pendant tighter at my chest, I almost smack myself its so obvious.
"Kal!" I yell up towards the heavens, doing my very best to stay afloat as I tread the murky depths beneath me. The young dragon boy barely registers my voice, continuing to swoop and dive after something I cannot seem to see. But that is the point, after all. It was never really there to begin with.
"Kal, it's not going to hurt you- its not real!"
Frantically, Kal dive bombs towards me, strafing out of the way of some invisible projectile that causes him to wince as it trails its invisible path, his teeth bared in pain. Breathlessly, he hovers next to me, pushing strands of hair back from his face as he jabs a pale finger out towards nothingness.
"You mean to say you can't see that… that monster? It's literally trying to eat me, Serena!" he cries, shaking a hand at empty air once more, his voice peaking at a point of exasperation. Clenching my jaw, I steel my nerves.
I sincerely hope to the heavens I am right about this one, I think to myself desperately, or I am about to have a very dead Kal on my hands. Hurriedly, I snap my fingers to grab his attention.
I don't have much time. If it is like Fangorn said, the realer Kal believes this is, the more real it will become. And I really, really don't want to be dealing with a full grown harpy with a taste for blood right now.
"Alright, look at me, Kal. Look," I say, trying my best to make as much racket as possible to distract him from whatever the heck he is facing. It surely can't be good- especially if a dragon like him is absolutely terrified, which gives me even more incentive to get this over with. At long last Kal faces me, swamped in the aura of terror and sheer dread.
Silently, I beg in my head. Please let Fangorn be right about this, please, please, please…
"Kal I want you to close your eyes."
With Kal long gone from sight, and the slowly dawning realisation that the dread in my stomach will never fully boil over, I steel my nerves for the dive below, mentally preparing myself for what I might find. From the surface, the depths below appear almost bottomless, and endless mirage of rippling waves and murky pitch darkness. But the growth of plant life stemming up from far beneath tells me this place has a bottom to it- however far down that might be.Biting my cheeks to reduce the shivering quiver of fearful anticipation that gnaws at my gut, I sink myself lower into the water. Well, I think reluctantly to myself, might as well make myself useful.Sucking in a breath, I submerge myself under, dragging my body down into the water, letting myself once again sink beneath the icy blanket of waves.Underneath the water is just as terrifying as it is on top. The water coils with murky apparitions, flicking in and out of sight like ghosts flitting in and out of the corner of your vision, mixing in with particles of debris and making it more and more difficult by the second to tell what is fake from real. Diving down further into the inky abyss, I feel my chest begin to tighten with the pressure on my lungs, the effort of holding my breath no longer easy, but manageable. Thank the heavens my body is more efficient than it was, else this trip might have ended in my own watery grave.Wriggling green slivers of algae and waterweed reach up from a place far below, shifting with the current of the water, and the occasional apparition that shifts in and out of its premise, all fins and scales, though the precise details of their shapes I have yet to decipher. Had it not been for the slightly distorted quality and the shifting nature of the figure of these creatures, I might have thought them real, might have found myself terrified. But a peculiar instinct in my gut tells that those creatures are little more than figments of my own fear and the red pendant around my neck continues to throb against my chest, grounding me to reality.These are Azrael's illusions. They will do me no harm.Calming myself, I run my hands over the the climbing tendrils of water reeds, over water plants, all bushy and ginormous in size, the product of thousands of years of growth. Those things are real, they have texture, and a tepid warmth that comes with simply being alive. Not illusion.As things past, I repeat this cycle in my head: testing appearance, and warmth, determining precisely what in here I need to fear.But in the inky confines of the water, it would be enough to make anyone's mind go haywire, to start imagining shapes and forms that are never really there. That is the true danger of this place- not Azrael, but the extent of your own, chaotic imagination.Perhaps that is why it is so efficient.I try not to let myself think of the darkness as I float down to the bottom of the watery expanse, met by a bed of sand and thick, rocky lumps of granite. There is nothing out of the ordinary here, just a few crustaceans and several inches of crystal debris from the ceiling of the cavern. Occasionally, however, I come across something else littered in the sand- signs of wealth and life. Fragments of gold, discarded jewellery, and tatters of silken fabric. Something lives down here, but what?For a moment I pause, treading the water to listen to the tug of the bond inside me. Holding my breath, I wait.A tug pulls at my heart, down, down, but also... I swim one way, and then the other, attempting to define whereabouts the bond is leading me. After a few seconds of doing this, I determine it must be north of me, and much, much further down. The bond feels stronger than it did before, tugging at my heart, my soul, my consciousness, calling me towards my mate and my destiny. But that fact doesn't make it any easier to find. This place is huge, and even if I do get closer to it, there is no guarantee it will be in plain sight.Not to mention the fact that the entrance the the final lair will almost certainly be guarded. And if the clothes and jewellery are anything to go by, the creatures that live down here will be both much more smart, and far more greatly guarded.Deciding not to stray to far, after a bit more searching I kick back towards the surface, exasperated. Whatever is down here certainly isn't very near- but not that I expected it to be. After all, this place isn't designed to be a walk in the park. Perhaps Kal has had better luck than I have.All those hopes are quickly dashes as I emerge to the surface, wiping the wet hair from my face, only to be met with screams of sheer, unadulterated terror."Serena!" Kal screams at the top of his lungs, followed by a crash and a distinctly magical zap bolting across the cavern above my head.A warning signal, I think inwardly. Shit.Black balls of flame come shooting across the cavern faster than I can spot them, bounding off anything they come into contact with until they finally fizzle out. Screams continue to echo around the cavern in a terrifying array of high pitched shrieks.I guess the scouting didn't go so well after all."Dear god, Serena, there is a literal harpy trying to kill me."As soon as Kal comes into view, his membranous wings straining to keep up in the air, muscles of his back tense, poised to fight, I immediately realise what is going on. Kal aims at something, black magic swirling at his finger tips, his eyes tracking the movements of something that I cannot see nor hear. But apparently to Kal, it is as real as anything. Darting downwards, he gives another frightful scream, launching more black magic in the same direction that his eyes follow.As I watch this spectacularly confusing array of events, marvelling over this one sided battle, I feel the pendant at my neck begin to throb, and look swiftly down. A harpy, huh?"Serena," Kal screams shrilly. "A little help?"Despite his words, I do not move. Of course, Kal mentioned a harpy was trying to kill him. But unless harpies have suddenly got incredibly good at becoming invisible, I would say there isn't one there at all.You see here is the thing.Harpies are large, 7 foot tall bird women who live anywhere from the icy tundras of the fair east, to the forests and deserts of the north and south of Faey. Depending on the region, they can range from being amicable and caring women who delight in hording shiny gems and bartering trade offers, to vicious and vengeful monsters intent on wiping out any opposition from the face of the earth and chewing up their remains. There really is no in-between. So if there really is a harpy on our tail- and by the sound of it there might be one- then we are completely and utterly screwed.Expect I cannot see it. The skies are completely and utterly empty.Peering up at the cavernous expanse to where Kal is dodging and weaving, sweat pouring of his face as he continues to throw great heaving flames of black fire in this direction and that, a thought suddenly hits me like a ton of bricks.Clutching the pendant tighter at my chest, I almost smack myself its so obvious."Kal!" I yell up towards the heavens, doing my very best to stay afloat as I tread the murky depths beneath me. The young dragon boy barely registers my voice, continuing to swoop and dive after something I cannot seem to see. But that is the point, after all. It was never really there to begin with."Kal, it's not going to hurt you- its not real!"Frantically, Kal dive bombs towards me, strafing out of the way of some invisible projectile that causes him to wince as it trails its invisible path, his teeth bared in pain. Breathlessly, he hovers next to me, pushing strands of hair back from his face as he jabs a pale finger out towards nothingness."You mean to say you can't see that that monster? It's literally trying to eat me, Serena!" he cries, shaking a hand at empty air once more, his voice peaking at a point of exasperation. Clenching my jaw, I steel my nerves.I sincerely hope to the heavens I am right about this one, I think to myself desperately, or I am about to have a very dead Kal on my hands. Hurriedly, I snap my fingers to grab his attention.I don't have much time. If it is like Fangorn said, the realer Kal believes this is, the more real it will become. And I really,reallydon't want to be dealing with a full grown harpy with a taste for blood right now."Alright, look at me, Kal. Look," I say, trying my best to make as much racket as possible to distract him from whatever the heck he is facing. It surely can't be good- especially if a dragon like him is absolutely terrified, which gives me even more incentive to get this over with. At long last Kal faces me, swamped in the aura of terror and sheer dread.Silently, I beg in my head. Please let Fangorn be right about this, please, please, please"Kal I want you to close your eyes."
