A Promised Prophecy

Chapter Forty

We did as instructed and walked toward the glass wall of the Vault, up to but not inside the wading pool. From there, the whale began to glow and a bubble surrounded us. Using teleportation magic we were removed from the Vault, as if we were being sucked toward the whale, until we were standing on top of the whale's back.

"It's a thirty-minute swim to Coralis, you may sit down and find comfort on my back," the whale instructed. "Due to the hidden nature of our city, transportation magic will not grant access in or around its borders."

"Sounds like a good safety measure," James acknowledged.

"One your people copied with the Vault." The whale began to swim away from the Vault, and I wondered what we'd gotten ourselves into.

"Speaking of, how did your magic work in the Vault?"

"We have a treaty, leader of Silverleaf. One that grants more access than an average citizen."

"This is wild," was all I could say to acknowledge what was happening. The surrounding ocean darkened as we dove further into the depths. I scooted closure to James, once again aware of my lack of magic. I couldn't see him, but I could feel his body next to mine as I got closer. I felt his hand touch my arm, then he squeezed it before pulling away. I could hear him fumbling around in the dark, before grabbing one of the potions we had created before, still lit by flame. In doing so, we were surrounded by candlelight and I could at least see James as the whale continued his descent.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"Not a problem. I couldn't see either."

"It'll get brighter as we get closer to Coralis," the whale answered. I hadn't forgotten he was there, but it was eerie that he was so cognizant of us when I couldn't even see anything outside of a small circle of light on his back.

"I wish I could see. This isn't how I expected i'd ever take a deep-sea dive into the ocean, but I bet it's more beautiful than the darkness shows," I sighed, trying to distract myself from the thoughts of other giant magic wielding whales in the water with us.

"Or more dangerous," James answered. I laughed at how he pulled me right back into the fears of what could be surrounding me. "What?"

"I was trying to avoid thinking about that."

"Shouldn't you know better than to assume your safety?"

"Couldn't you try to have a bit of bedside manners?"

"No, I'm serious. You should always be on your guard. You know that, I know that, so why would you try to ignore it now?" James's answer almost sounded like a warning to the whale. We're following you but we don't trust you kind of a dig. It didn't feel like he was actually talking to me, even though he was speaking directly to me.

I nodded, acknowledging his answer, and we rode the remainder of the way to Coralis in silence. Then, just as the whale said, I saw a light in the distance. As we got closer, the light got bigger and brighter, as the whale said, "We're here."