The Lost Legacy

Chapter 9: The Emerald Enchantress

"Are you sure about this, Your Majesty?" Tavros asked as he saw the queen gathering her weapons from where they took rest for the night. "I will not be able to keep you safe if you go forward with this."

"I am, Tavros. I have a gut feeling that I might be right." She took her mother's dagger in her hand and had a firm grip on it. "I'll be fine. Don't worry. Please don't tell anyone that you left me alone because, well, I don't want to cause you any trouble."

"But what will I ask if anyone asks me any questions? I am a very bad liar and everyone knows it."

"Tell me a lie." She crossed her hands across her chest to look intimidating.

"I hate apples." He lifted his head up as he said it.

She scrunched her nose. "Oh, you are a bad liar." She scratched the back of her head, thinking about how to fix this situation because questions would be asked and she would need to protect his actions. "Okay, if anyone asks you, tell them that you accompanied me till the entrance to the Witch's lair but you were captured by her minions."

"Your Majesty, I still believe that we should come back with the rest of the crew and then investigate because I will be held responsible if anything happens to you. I cannot protect you."

"You won't have to, my friend." She clamped his shoulder. "Have my back with the....new truth. I'll be up in a few hours and if, by any chance, I don't return by tomorrow morning-"

"Please do not say that."

"I will be back. I promise you."

She climbed down to the sea-cave, tracing the dust on the walls as she went down. Tavros followed her and said, "I'll be waiting here in case you need help."

"Have the weapons and Queen Susan's horn at the ready. I hope you don't have to use it." She took a deep breath as she stared at the blue water. "Here goes nothing," she said before jumping into the water.

Once underwater, she thought of forgetting about everything. It gave her a peaceful state in mind and since she could breathe, she would have preferred to stay there forever. But she couldn't do that now, could she? The thought of meeting other children of Poseidon intrigued her. Maybe the Sea God had also blessed her apart from Aslan since Narnia had the influence of other cultures as well. It was her turn to bring about the Indian and other traditions that weren't already prevailing.

Sophie kept looking around for a sign that could suggest that there was an entrance to the dam but there was none. And so, she swam towards the sea bed. It was quite easy since the sword she was carrying was weighing her down. The currents were guiding her as they went their way and they helped her go her way. Schools of fishes passed her and she waved at them. She was happy to be underwater.

She couldn't see anything for miles but just as she was about to give up, there was a loud bang from the sea bed followed by a green glow. "That is it!" She exclaimed as she swam even further. As she neared the sea bed, she could see the lair of the Green Witch. "Huh. Smart." 

There was a castle underwater that stood on the sea bed. The only entrance inside was through the front gate as everything else was blocked. Water-proofed maybe? Sophie's instincts told her that the castle inside was not going to be filled with water.

She continued swimming and made sure that there was no one to attack her because even if she could survive under water, fighting with a sword would be hard. She wouldn't be able to use her arms to the full extent since she was trying to stay underwater. She looked around for another path into the castle but couldn't find any. It was just the iron gates but she wondered how she could enter without letting the water in.