Eclipsis: Water

Chapter 26

The sea was like ice. Alara had tried to ignore the cold, but now that she had waded up to her ankles in it, it was difficult to. Her clothes were not doing much to conceal her body-heat; she was sure she had never experienced water with a temperature as low as this.

Kōri, of course, did not look affected by its coldness at all, and was striding through it a short distance from her on the beach, smirking at her. This only irritated Alara further, and she gritted her teeth, trying to conceal how much she was shivering.

"Bit frosty isn't it?" He called across to her.

"I thought your cloak wasn't fit for the water?" She had forced her voice out at a loud volume to prevent any shakiness from happening.

He shrugged. "Not really, but I can't exactly leave it behind. I'll be able to dry it when we're back on land."

Alara didn't reply. The water-level was above her knees now, and she was certain that everything below them was completely numb. It was a miracle that she was still able to walk.

She looked behind her to check how Cetus was doing. He looked happy enough at being back in the ocean - he was splashing about and drawing things in the brown sand with his talons.

"C'mon, Sun, nearly there!" Kōri hollered, and she turned around to face him with a roll of her eyes.

He was a little ahead, but had stopped, seemingly waiting for her to catch up. He was obviously patronising her, and Alara had a good mind to send a small wave crashing into his face to wipe that smug expression off of it.

The water reached Alara's waist, and then just below her armpits; she had began to swim now. By the time it had reached her neck, she took a deep breath, seeing Kōri do the same, and dived below the surface. A second later, Cetus had joined them, sending two bubbles to encase either of their heads so that they could breathe. A slow exhale from Cetus' mouth reached Alara a short moment after, and she felt her skin instantly warm.

Is that better? The dragon asked her, and she smiled gratefully and nodded.

"What direction?" She asked Kōri, whose cloak was floating about him, dragging him a little in the water. This meant he kept having to swim upwards to stay at their level.

The lighting below the surface was very dark - not quite pitch-black but near enough to it. Thankfully, Cetus' eyes as well as the dots across his stomach acted as a sort of light-source, and Kōri moved closer to them to see better.

"I'm going to have to keep checking the surface to make sure we're going the right way, but we're headed over there," He jerked his thumb behind him. "Only talk if necessary - we need to keep our senses alert for any dangers, alright? If you hear or see anything, say so straight away."

+

It was a little after the fairies' second air bubble when Alara saw her. She had been looking around to check for any dangers (left to behind, Kōri was assigned right to behind, with Cetus checking the entirety of the front, seeing as he was the one swimming them) when she saw movement to their left. She squinted her eyes, trying to work out what it was - harmless or foe? - when she inhaled in shock, the grip she had on one of Cetus' spines loosening. It was -

"Ondine!"

Her sister was here, with them! The Moons must've taken her here as punishment, possibly left to drown. The other two turned at Alara's shout. Cetus let out a happy rumble, feeling his heart soar at being able to see his friend again. He instantly changed directions to swim towards her, as she was quite a distance away from them. She was stuck in some sort of floating cage, with ropes binding her arms and legs together. The cage was tethered to a massive rock to weigh it down. There wasn't any one else around, which made Alara pull gently on Cetus' spines.