Eclipsis: Water

Chapter 35

'Portal' was a very good word to describe it. It was hidden, presumably so that not any random sea-creature would accidentally go through and suffocate in the air on the other side. Cetus managed to effortlessly roll aside the boulder-like rock that it was hidden behind - Kōri had just complained how heavy it was, and immediately stopped talking once the dragon looked back at him with an expression one could only describe as smug.

Alara hadn't expected the portal to be so bright; she put up one hand to shield her eyes. It was a blinding white sort of colour against the rocky wall of the make-shift cave, shimmery and blurred around the edges, and appeared to ripple in the water. Looking at it too long made her feel uneasy.

"How do we know someone isn't just waiting for us on the other side? To attack?" She questioned Kōri sharply.

"It hums when someone's near it." He replied, making her frown.

He swam directly in front of it to show her, his cloak swirling, and the portal emitted a deep thrum that Alara felt in the tips of her toes. He could still see by her face that she was unsure.

"I can go first, if you'd like," He offered. "I'll stick my hand back out and wave to show both of you it's safe."

She nodded curtly. "Alright, then."

Without so much as a hesitant pause, the ice-fairy swam through the blinding white, which made his wings glow, and the portal hummed louder and then quieted suddenly. Cetus and Alara waited for his signal. Kōri's gloved hand stuck back through a moment later, waving madly, then retreated back to the other side of the portal.

Alara swam through before Cetus, who had wanted to roll the boulder back into place behind them, seeing as he was much stronger. The sensation of passing through the portal was strange, like being drenched in ice-water, then immediately warmed afterwards. She had closed her eyes, as the white was incredibly intense, but slowly opened them once the light behind her eyelids had subdued, hearing a crunch under her boots. The other side of the portal was in the trunk of a willow tree, whose long branches and leaves concealed it from the outside. Kōri was standing a little to the left of the portal, and nodded at her once she saw him, wringing the water out of his cloak.

Moving through it had popped the air bubbles around the fairies' heads, and she breathed in deeply as they waited for Cetus to join them. Pushing aside the wispy branches revealed a grassy area, with a worn-down path down the middle and other trees scattered on either side. It was evening now, but not exactly night-time, as the sky wasn't pitch-black just yet. They all agreed it was lucky, as this could give them cover to escape once they found Ondine.

Like Kōri had said before, the distance from the portal to Lune was not far, and they walked it while discussing their plan. He had suggested that they go on foot, as the risk of the Moons seeing a large dragon fly overhead, even with Cetus' camouflage, was too risky. Besides, the walk and the wind would be able to dry them properly, which was much needed for Kōri's cloak. It had weighed an awful lot once he had swam through the portal.

Being in the water had been good for their injuries - Kōri's leg looked as though it was very nearly healed. Alara felt a pang of guilt as she watched him favour his uninjured leg, however, and decided to remove the one last thing that made him a "prisoner". He didn't know whether to smile at her when she removed the chains tying his wings together. She had, after all, been the one to tie them in the first place: it wasn't as though she had randomly come across him while he had them bound and helped to undo them. He opted for a brief nod, then proceeded to stretch them out to their full length, relieved that nothing was restricting them anymore.

Alara watched him wordlessly as she walked beside him, somewhat in awe of how clean of a white they were. She turned her head quickly to the road ahead of them when he realised she was staring, wrapping the length of chain absentmindedly around her wrist, then stopped, staring at it carefully.