A profound sense of depth unfurls beneath me as my muscles protest with each stroke through the water. The darkness below seems to yawn wide like a hungry abyss eager to engulf me. This realization pumps more adrenaline, dispelling any traces of drowsiness and sharpening my senses for what lies ahead.
When I make the mistake of looking down, it is a deeper black than I have ever seen. It coils with possibility and power. That blackness is something that would prefer to be leftunknown for the rest of time. I swallow, physically struggling to look away.
“Teo,” I gasp as the creature guiding us along continues to rush through the water.
My husband’s hand, covered in the crystal material, reaches out for me. When we touch, the barrier between us sets my teeth on edge, and I mourn the loss of his skin. It would ground me.
The water feels more viscous as the darkness encroaches. It swallows the light from the fish and our suits. Our creature starts to move more frantically, resisting how the two Enduares at the lead try to guide it through.
The black waters seem endless. As I glance down again, I still can’t see further than my feet. My Fuegorra sparks and sputters in my chest.
I panic, but Teo's grip tightens on my hand as I start to thrash and kick my legs. This sets off the creature carrying us along.
The fish dodges and jolts, disturbed by our movements. I cling desperately to its smooth scales, trying to steady myself as it darts through the murky depths. The darkness seems to press in on us from all sides, suffocating me. This is what eternal torment feels like. Not fire, but the silent terror of falling forever into the mercy of an enormous, starving creature slinking in the shadows.
Ka’Prinn shouts something in Enduar that I don’t quite catch as fear claws at my mind.
Then Teo pulls me away from the thrashing creature. It speeds away from us, the deep shadow quickly swallowing up its glow. I feel the horrible, unsettling sensation of plummeting.
I grasp at the water as fast as my body would allow. In my mind, I had known that we would need to go somewhereperilous to complete this mission. It was worth it to get the help of Mrath’s sisterhood. But that knowledge means nothing to my body as I am frozen in the frigid water above the utter darkness.
Teo pulls me into his chest. “My love, it’s okay. Just breath.”
“There’s something down there,” I gasp.
He nods. “It is likely the artifact.”
I shake my head, still trying to breathe. “No. Not a magical object… there’s something. It watches us.”
He furrows his brows. “Estela, stop. We’re going to be all right. I won’t swim down until your heart slows.”
I suck in a gasping breath just as Ner’Feon swims up.
“It is time to descend.”
I shake my head, my heart still racing. “No. We need to leave.” I try to push out of Teo’s grip and turn back. “Thorne, please. Let’s leave.”
Thorne’s face is only partially illuminated. He’s taking too long to answer me.
Then, a disturbance in the water hits Teo and me, blowing us apart.
GO.
I thrash through the water. New arms grab onto me, and I find Vann holding me as he tries to swim away. It’s useless when the water changes. Slowly, at first, we begin to move in a circle. Then it speeds, a whirlpool dragging us down toward whatever thing watches us beneath all light—beneath all civilization.
Helpless, I cling to Teo as Thorne clings to me, and Vann clings to him.
In my heart, a string of prayers starts up to my mother. To the woman of light, wishing for anything. For my powers to strike up at once. For Teo to split open the world and simply replace the mind-squeezing black with scorching reds.
The whirlpool finally stops as we hit stone—hard. My breath is rammed out of my body, and the crystal covering my body—so well crafted, so strong and flexible—cracks. Water seeps into my back, wetting the leather clothes I wore underneath.
All of our suits stop glowing, wholly robbing us of our sight.
I look up. Despite my blindness,my senses feel the blackness moving.
“Teo?” I call.
“I’m here,” he says from a spot nearby. “Everything is fine.”
