True North [True North series book 1/3]

We walked deeper and deeper into the lake, and with each step I took, the water pulled back further. It closed back up behind Thoridor, encasing us inside a bubble of air. My feet slipped on the algae-covered lakebed a few times, and I had a hard time keeping upright.

Suddenly, Thoridor grabbed my elbow, halting me. I was immediately on guard, scanning the wall of water around me. Then, I saw it. In the depths of the lake, almost invisible in the dark water, a shape was moving toward us.

It was large and slender, its neck was elongated and its head slim and narrow. It’s back was mostly black, with patches of grey and white, undoubtedly meant for camouflage. It had a white belly, with deep ridges running along the entire length of it’s body. There were fins on either side of its torso, that almost looked like wings as it moved sleekly through the water. There was also a narrow fin running from the tip of its chin halfway down the length of its long neck.

I took a step back as the creature slid through the water as if it was liquid itself, rapidly approaching us. I bumped into Thoridor’s front, and he stepped around me. As soon as the creature was close enough to touch, Thoridor reached out his hand, sticking it through the wall of water.

“Take a deep breath and hold on tight,” he said plainly, before grabbing onto one of the creatures dorsal fins and being pulled into the water with it.

I dropped my jaw in shock, suddenly finding myself alone on the bottom of a lake larger than my village, in a world I didn’t know. I quickly recuperated, squinting my eyes and peering into the near-black water around me. I saw the faint outline of the creatures white belly in the distance, as it coiled around itself and changed its course, heading back toward me.

Before I could really even think about what was happening, the tip of the creature’s fin pierced through the wall of water, and I instinctively grabbed onto it.

I was sucked into the water with a force I could hardly comprehend, and was grateful to feel my coat tighten around my body as Thoridor grabbed onto the back of it, pulling me onto the creature.

I grabbed onto the bony joints where the creature’s fins met its torso. Its skin felt smooth, slippery, and ice-cold beneath my palms, reminding me of the salamanders I sometimes encountered in the woods.

The cold water stung my eyes as we shot through it like an arrow, deeper and deeper into the lake. Just when I thought I couldn’t hold my breath any longer, a light appeared in the dark water before us.

The creature suddenly flapped its fins forward forcefully, causing it to jolt to a stop. Unprepared for the sudden halt, I was propelled forward, and found myself tumbling off its back. My head broke through the water as if we had reached the surface — except we hadn’t gone up. It appeared to be another air bubble, and when I looked up, I was taken aback by the size of it. The pocket of air was big enough to house an entire city — and it did.

There was a building in the slightly raised center, unlike any I had ever seen before. It reminded me of the palace in the fairytale book I used to read as a child. Its towers reached up to differing heights, and were adorned with pointed roofs made of shiny tiles. The walls of the palace were made of immaculately clean stone, that reflected the very little light that poured out of the surrounding houses beautifully, mystically lighting the deep, dark lakebed around it.

I held my breath as I beheld the beauty of this underwater city, and its inhabitants. The people walking around the streets that wound down around the palace, looked almost human at first glance. But when I focussed my eyes one one of them, I noticed her skin wasn’t like human skin — but rather made of scales, like that of a fish. Another had what looked like a cluster of slits running from behind her ear to halfway down her neck — gills, I realized.

The wall of water behind me opened up like a curtain, and Thoridor stepped through. “Aquatic Ardanis,” he said, gesturing to the city by way of explanation, “it makes up almost half of our lands.”

I blinked slowly before turning back to look at the city. Thoridor started walking toward the palace, and I followed him reluctantly. Everywhere I looked, the Ardanians dropped to their knees as soon as they noticed him.

It hadn’t fully hit me before, his status. The females from the camp in the forest had called him by his first name, and although he had introduced himself as the Crown Prince, for some reason it hadn’t fully clicked yet for me.

I made sure to stay a few large strides behind him, trying to stay unnoticed by the Ardanians. It didn’t work. I held my head high as I followed Thoridor further into the city, leaving a trail of whispers in my wake. It didn’t take long until we reached the palace gates, which opened automatically as Thoridor approached them. He paused in the opening, turning around and ushering me inside.

I looked around at the palace square I found myself in, feasting my eyes on its beauty. There were what appeared to be trees lining the shell path that lead to the palace’s entrance. Upon closer inspection, I noticed they weren’t trees at all — but rather coral reef.

My mother had gifted me a necklace made of coral once, that she in turn had been gifted by a relative from overseas. She had told me about how coral embellished the ocean floor, and about its many purposes. I distinctly remembered picturing the colorful seabed in my head, and wondering about the potential healing powers underwater plants might hold. I had never expected it to grow on the bottom of lakes too.

We walked into the palace, and our footsteps echoed through the large, open hallways we crossed.

“Where are you taking me?” I whispered at Thoridor’s back.

“Aeloria,” Thoridor stated, and he opened up a narrow door that led to a tall, winding staircase. “Up there,” he said, pushing me in and closing the door behind me.