Three Drops Final (ABANDONED)

Chapter 3- The New Witch

Braith's POV

The selkie grinned and beckoned me closer, then hissed when I did not move.

"Meet me outside in a few minutes. I must fetch the..." The selkie struggled briefly with its English, before simply giving up and reverting to the Selk word. "...molakgort."

I scoffed, recognising the word despite my limited knowledge of Selk. "I have no need for seagilly, selkie."

The creature narrowed their already slitted eyes. "You will need it. These waters are not like the ones of your kingdom, kind and forgiving."

I raised my eyebrows but was not given time to respond as it disappeared under the surface with a splash. I headed outside to the water behind the building, and awaited its return.

A couple of minutes later, the wait was over, and they had brought with them a handful of seagilly, as promised, which they offered to me with a grin. I took the strands in my hand, looking at them suspiciously for a moment before swallowing them whole.

The selkie moved away from me slowly, and I dove into the icy cold water. We submerged ourselves and began to swim down, me grasping onto the selkie's wrist to make sure I stayed with it.

The darkness under the surface was chilling. It was deep and cold and endless, warping my senses and twisting my mind. Despite my enhanced vampiric abilities, my body was simply not made to exist underwater, and thus my senses were dulled to practical numbness, and my body kept trying to reject the water I was swallowing as we swam against the current.

Slowly, the sea gilly began to kick in, and I felt my senses start to return. The water seemed mildly warm now instead of icy cold, and the current was no longer choking me. Still, everything was dulled and numbed, nothing feeling quite as right as it did on land. Was this how other creatures saw the world? Blurry eyesight, practically deaf ears, skin that could only feel the most obvious of touches... What a nightmare.

We continued swimming for what felt like hours (apparently water ruins perception as well), and several times the selkie had to practically drag me forward. Unlike them, I did not possess a tail, and so I could not propel myself forward at such a speed as my guide. My guide, in turn, did not find that satisfactory. At all.

'Faster,' they hissed through telepathy. 'Faster.'

We picked up the pace, and within two hours I was so exhausted I thought it would be the death of me. That was when I finally spotted it.

'There, ahead! Is that it?'

The selkie grinned viciously. 'Yes. We are here.'

It was a cave, carved into the rock wall smoothly, too smoothly to be natural. A large air bubble protruded from the entrance, showing off an obviously magical air pocket that also functioned as a sort of door and gate.

We stopped at the bubble's edge, and the selkie knocked lightly on it. A woman approached and smiled lightly upon seeing us, chanting something quickly before motioning at me to come in. I let go of the selkie's wrist and pulled myself up onto the rock, relieved to be on land again. Or, well, the closest thing to land I had access to at the moment.

I stood up and dried myself off with a quick spell, watching as the woman curtsied. She was a fairly short woman, perhaps 160cm (5ft 3in), and was of a stout stature, slightly wider than the average. Her hair was black and tied up, and her eyes were a stunning amber that complemented her pale complexion.

"King Braith," she greeted. "It is an honour. I am Cassandra, officially appointed witch of the 31st to 39th sea districts."

"31st to 39th!?" I exclaimed. "Where are we?"

"The 38th," she responded. "just off the coast of the trading port Tentary, neutral territory. Why?"

"I was at the 16th when I started the journey," I said. "And the palace is nearest to the 9th..."

"My errand-selk are fast," she said proudly, turning to the selkie, which remained at the entrance. "Du' garohk yeeik'  d'voghnall. Shnorhaka'yee dzer tsarruut'an hanar."

My understanding was limited, but I picked up on a couple of words, like 'you', 'leave', 'thank you', and 'service'. The Selk language was a fast and rough thing, with complex grammar and long, winding sentences.

She wove her fingers together in a complicated pattern and twisted them, doing a strange sort of bow. The selkie did the same, and responded with: "Da pativ eer." 'Honour', I picked up.

The selkie swam away, and Cassandra turned her attention back to me. "Well? What is your business?"

"You sent for me."

"You were looking for me."

"Touché."

"I have not seen as much as I normally do, and the visions are... conflicting. I do not understand what conflict you are facing, nor why you needed to find me in particular. My visions concerning you are worrying, to say the least. For a while, I thought dementia was finally settling in!" She laughed, smile lines stretching across her chubby face. "And so, I ask you again: what is your business?"

I took a deep breath. "It's simple, really. I need to know everything I can about Annelise and Felicia Winters, and I need to know your relationship to them."

The last few remnants of a smile faded off her face. "I- Bu- Oh. Oh." Her eyes lit up in understanding, though they were still filled with pain. "The pieces are coming together," she muttered to herself.

"Tell me your story, Cassandra," I commanded.

And so she did.