A Court Of Love & Sufferings

Ch.39

I could feel the faint pull of the mask coming from under the water. 

"We'd have to swim in this filth?" cassian asks horrified.

"That's what you are worried about...really?" azriel snarks.

"It stinks so bad" cassian makes a disgusted face.

We hold our breaths then we go down in the black, gross water. Oh gosh it smells so bad, like decaying. I don't let myself envisage that we are swimming in a burial pool. 

I lead the way, following my instinct towards the pull. We keep diving downwards until we are several feet under the water. Just how deep is this. I could see the carcasses and remains of beings left behind. We stop once we near the end.

"The pull is coming from somewhere here but it's a dead end" i mindlink cassian and azriel.

"Let's divide and search" cassian says in his mind.

We go different directions to search, looking for anything.

Azriel signs us, me and cassian swim towards him. He motions towards the clump of grass in a corner. He moves a patch to reveal a hidden passage. There...hidden from everything is a small gateway covered by the sea plants and grasses. It is an entryway connecting to another water body.

"The pull is coming from here"  i tell them feeling the pulsing.

Azriel goes first, sliding through the opening, we follow behind him. The gateway opens up to a ocean. Contrast to the black water we came from it's blue and clean.

 The water feels cool against my skin, trickling and rippling as i move. There's a salty tang in the water, which i can taste. The scene is awash with greens and blues, and i could see the sunlight dance across the water's surface. The ocean is full of fish, sea horses, octopus and other sea creatures. 

We swim above, coming out of the water we step on the coast. We fill our lungs panting, as fae we can hold our breath longer than a human but we can't breathe under water like nymphs, the lesser fairies or water wraiths.

 The soft sighs of waves washing the shore, the hiss of pebbles being pulled back by the tide echoes near us.

"What in the cauldron!" cassian says in awe. We share the same sentiment.

"What is this place?" i ask entranced by the beauty of this place.

"We are as clueless as you" cassian says.

I look around, on our left the ocean is spread across as long as we can see. On our right is land, filled with greenery. Whatever this place is it's completely opposite of the wasteland we were just in. 

"Are we still in The Middle?" cassian asks.

"Don't know, maybe it's connected to this place" azriel says.

"And we never knew it? Does anyone even know about this place?" cassian asks.

"I don't think so or we would have known, rhys would have known" azriel says.

"Cauldron!! there's a hidden region in prythian that no one knows about" cassian remarks.

"Do you feel the pull here?" azriel asks.

I nod "it's stronger here, it must be somewhere here"

"Let's move then, we shouldn't stop. We don't know what dwells here" azriel says.

I try to feel the direction the pull is coming from. 

"This way" i walk ahead to lead but cassian holds my hand. I look at him in question.