Warsong | Celeste Academy Series Book #4

Chapter Thirty ⚜ The Undines' Sea

Valeriana and her companions were curled up next to each other with her on the far end. They hugged their knees, a coat of blanket around their shoulders. Iolani temporarily shifted back to her old form to regain energy and rested. As a matter of fact, she immediately fell asleep as soon as they set off. She herself had a coat of her own and her head was comfortably resting over Keelan's arm—they slept like logs. Brindon seemed awake, but dozing. Valeriana, on the other hand, couldn't sleep from the restlessness.

Only the journey to Larkovia was left and they wouldn't get there for a few more hours. By ship, it would take days. Through Marius' friend, ten times shorter. The serpent's mouth and body temperature served as a shield against the freezing cold from outside, but even then Valeriana felt chilled to the bones.

"By the way," Valeriana said. "We don't know your name."

"Mariolin," the serpent replied. "Marius is my brother."

"Whoa. Where you to born from the same egg?" she asked.

Mariolin was silent for a moment. "We aren't twins . . . but we came from the same nest."

"Why wasn't Marius named something else? Like Luigilan? Now that would be epic. Because you know? Mario and Luigi like epic brotherhood crap going on and stuff."

Silence.

"No?" she continued. "Then I'm just going to stay here and die."

Valeriana figured he didn't get the joke as she nestled against Iolani's warmth—until she felt vibrations coming from his throat. She should feel it, seeing as she was inside his mouth. However, he surely hadn't been laughing at the joke itself, but at her. At least, he laughed.

It was dim inside, save for an ounce of light that came from the small ball Keelan had activated to help them see. Apparently, it was another invention and it should last a couple of hours. Valemnians had their own technology—only that it was more reliant on their extraordinary abilities rather than just nature itself. Perhaps that thought was very human. From a Valemnian's perspective, their technology relied heavily on nature too only differently.

"This one assumes thou knowest about what's going on with the undines. The Guardian of the Seas are no easy opponents. With their ocean pearls, they are ruthless among waters."

"Their ocean pearls?" She stroked Tiger's soft fur as the feline rested soundly on her lap.

"All undines are born with one. They help control the seas and manage the waves as well as the depths. The flow of the ocean is unusual and very out of sync. If this continues, rivers will flow in reverse and lakes will dry."

"I've never seen a river flow in reverse. Maybe in timelapses." She paused, then shook her head. "Are we almost there?"

"No," he said. "Do not worry, I shall inform thee. So tell this one what thou knowest."

The rest of the way had consisted of Valeriana telling the serpent Mariolin what she knew—that meant most of what she gathered so far. It helped keep her mind off the incoming trouble, which she occasionally drifted back too whenever she felt the chilling coldness that constantly gnawed at her bones.

The conversation kept on. Valeriana came to know that Mariolin had Marius' sense of humor, just not as deep.

"Do you mind?" she politely inclined her head to the ceiling—or rather, the roof of his mouth. It did smell quite a bit inside, but it wasn't as bad as it seemed, perhaps because she had gotten used to it. "I think I need a brief rest. I still haven't thought about what I'm gonna do when we get there."