Discoveries

24

Dried fruit wasn't the most delicious of things, especially when one had to eat it for days on end. That's why a shepherd that offered us cheese and olives was most welcome. At my surprised question of why he did take milk, the reply was that this goat's lamb had died.

At first, the higher we'd gone into the mountains, the colder it got, but when we had started to go slightly West things warmed up a little. I liked not being bothered by temperature. Except on the night I was flung off Ficus Bridge, which was a bit peculiar. And Jasmin hadn't heard me... Oh well, in this realm even mermaids existed; you never knew what would happen next.

I was very curious. What would they look like? Were they like in the myths? Laura'd said they were family of the Niandori, and some half-bloods were kind of both.

A whiff of an interesting smell reached me. It wasn't the olives or cheese. Something... salty. When we rode on a few minutes later, it got slightly stronger.

"What's that smell?" I asked Laura.

She smiled. "That's the sea. Never seen a sea before, have you?"

"Nope. But I sure do want to."

So many tales were told of the sea. I had seen the largest lake around, but never the sea. The idea of salty water was funny. How would it feel? Taste?

It took another day before we reached it. One moment we were riding along just another path, the other we turned a corner and there it was. Sparkling, a deep shade of blue, the sun low in the sky. The smell was stronger than ever, deliciously fresh and prickling. It was vast. To East and West I could see the mountains go, and in the North there was naught but blue.

We rode down to a little beach and set up camp. The beach was pebbled, and the water was brighter from up close, almost see-through.

When all was done we – the Rose, Sabrina, Laura and me – stripped and splashed into the water. It stung my eyes for a second but failed to bother me. Whilst Rosalinda and Sabrina washed, Laura and I played like little kids, splashing each other and trying to make pebbles skip over the water. Below the surface we spotted black, prickly sea urchins and some corals clamping to the underwater rocks.

Sabrina picked up a few pebbles and skipped them over the water perfectly, seemingly choosing the amount of times they bounced. Then she and the Rose started making a fire. Laura waved me over and soon we were swimming quite far out as the darkness settled.

The water stirred.

A bubble. Another. Loads of bubbles. Huge bubbles.

I looked at Laura. She just nodded towards them.

Watch. You'll never forget this.

The water was swirling. Bubbles kept coming. More and more, as if a lot of pressure was being put on it.

Two spikes, breaking the water.

Two eyes, burning through mine.

Two wings, beating upwards.

Oh.

My.

Dragon.