“Because that was the only one left, and as a Greater Fae who has decent control over all four of the water element aspects, Iamqualified for the position.” Prentis said. He tugged on his mount’s reins, and we took a left turn, gliding beneath a bridge as we merged with a canal heading in a southwesterly direction. “I think she also felt a little bad that I was passed over in the line of succession for the Edirian throne in favor of Aolis,” he added with a shrug. “But mostly, she put me there because that’s where she needed me.”
“I see,” I said softly. Silence descended upon us, and I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for Prentis. It was clear he took his duty to the realm seriously, but had been given very little reward for it. Obviously, marrying me was a chance for him to finally break free of the stagnant, ill-fitting box his life had become. And while that wasn’t an inspired reason to tie the knot with someone, I couldn’t fault him for it.
We followed the canal for another mile or so before coming to a ramp that led out of the water and up to an archway that was made entirely out of water.
“Thisis a water park?” I asked, unable to hide my amazement.
“It is.” Prentis’s lips curved into a smug smile, obviously pleased with my awed reaction. The park was as impressive as it was playful, and it was immediately clear to me how this place had evolved from his mother’s pet project to a city attraction. Iridescent mother-of-pearl tiles formed a curved shape on the ground that reminded me of a lagoon oasis, marking the outline of the water park. On the tiles themselves were several white stone statues in the shape of dolphins, whales, and massive turtles placed strategically around the park, each with a fountain shooting arcs of water into the air in time with one another. As the sunlight passed through the fountains, rainbows appeared in the sky like a glorious ribbon. Along one side of the park was a curved sea glass-like structure that rose as tall as the tallest statue and grew progressively shorter as it moved around the border of the park itself. As I looked harder at the structure, I noticed there was a steady stream of water flowing across the top and pouring out the bottom like a miniature mountain stream.
But all of that combined couldn’t compare to the park’s centerpiece. A beautiful mermaid statue was erected in the middle of the other statues, her tail acting as her base, with her arms and hair flowing upward as if she were moving gracefully through the water. She was encased in an orb of water that spun around her, the sunlight fracturing through the water to shimmer across her pensive stone face.
“Wow.” I turned slowly as I took it all in, unable to disguise my childlike wonder. “I have to admit, this isn’t at all what I expected.”
“I hope you mean that in a good way,” Prentis said as he deftly dismounted. He took my hand as I swung my leg over the side of my own mount, helping me to the ground.
“Definitely a good way,” I mused as I took a step onto the tile. “This place is incredible.”
“I’m glad you like it,” Prentis said. He stepped up beside me and gingerly placed a hand on the center of my back. My muscles bunched against the intimate touch, but I forced myself to endure it rather than flinch away. “Though I hope you won’t change your mind after this,” he said, stepping away.
“After what?” I asked, turning to face him, then yelped as he shot a stream of water at me.
“Oh, you didnotjust spray me!” I shrieked as he darted away, laughing diabolically. Laughter bubbled up inside me despite myself as he shot another stream of water over his shoulder, but this time I ducked behind a turtle statue.
“Oh, I most definitely did,” he called back, his voice full of mirth. “What are you going to do about it? Cowering isn’t going to save you.”
“Who said anything about cowering?”
I lunged from my hiding spot and threw an arm in the air, aiming for the dolphin next to him. Instantly, the water spouting from its mouth turned to hail, and he threw up his arms as the tiny ice pellets struck him.
Swearing and laughing at the same time, Prentis ducked and spun behind the turtle statue as the ice mixture flew right over his head. Undeterred, I scooped up puddles of water from the ground, using my ice magic to transform them into snowballs.
A movement caught the corner of my eye, and I turned, expecting Prentis to leap out from behind a statue and blast me with a spray of water.
But what I found instead was quite different.
A hulking monster rose from behind one of the mermaid statues, easily twice its height and four times as wide. Shadow magic swirled around its form, but I caught glimpses of something that looked like cracked earth beneath the shifting black smoke.
“W-what are you?” I stammered, taking a step back. The snowballs in my hands melted away, fire springing to my palms instead. Malevolent red eyes glared at me out of the darkness, and it followed me, black veins of corruptions spreading through the ground, cracking the stone floors and the statues as it walked.
“Adara?” Prentis called, rounding a corner. He skidded to a halt at the sight of the shadow monster, the mischievous light in his eyes replaced by a look of abject horror. “What in the name of the Radiants isthat?”
“That”grabbed the nearest statue and wrenched it from its plinth like it was snapping a branch off a tree. I dove out of the way as it hurtled the marble mermaid in my direction, and a stray piece of shrapnel sliced my cheek as the statue shattered against the ground.
Swearing, I swiped at the trail of blood on my cheek as I leaped to my feet, blasting the creature with twin bouts of flame. Relief swept through me as the fire ate away at the cloud of shadow magic, revealing the hulking form of the monster beneath it. It looked like a troll that had been molded from clay, then baked in a kiln at too high a temperature, creating cracks all over its body.
“I think it’s a golem!” I shouted.
“A golem?” Prentis shouted back, his voice rife with disbelief. “But that’s an earth realm creature!”
He raised his hands and shot a powerful stream of water at the monster, no doubt intending to reduce it to a pile of mud. But before the liquid could make contact, clouds of magic spewed from the golem’s cracks, forming an inky shield around it. The water evaporated, and Prentis and I were forced to duck and run once again as the monster hurled more statues at us, grabbing one with each hand this time.
“This thing is ruining my mother’s water park!” Prentis shouted as we ran. “We have to stop it!”
“You think I don’t know that?” I dropped into a forward roll to dodge another flying statue, but I didn’t watch where I was going and I nearly crashed into a statue that was still planted on the ground. “This thing is relentless! What are we supposed to do?”
“Try your fire magic on it again, and I’ll follow it up with another water blast!”
I whirled around to face the golem and held out my hands, blasting it with another torrent of fire. Like before, my fire ate up the clouds of shadow magic, revealing the true form of the monster beneath. I glimpsed the glowing heart of black magic at the center of its chest—the true source of its power—a split second before Prentis called on a tidal wave of magic, assaulting the golem with blasts of water from the surrounding statues as well as his own hands.
