Draygon Inferno | Book 2 | ✔️

Chapter Twenty-One

           The speed of the current thrust Elias forward. He only needed minimal use of his tail; the ocean did most of the work. Eloy hadn't been kidding when he asked if Elias was claustrophobic. The well he'd used to get from Terra Gale to the ocean was little bigger than a person. If Elias had been a heftier man, he wouldn't have made it, as it was there was just enough room to use his tail to propel himself to the sea. After that, it took only an hour for him to catch a current ride to Aquantis.

All currents lead to his former home beneath the seas. He couldn't remember the last time he saw the coral domes of Aquantis rising up from the deepest depths of the ocean. As the golden glow of the outer shells came into view at the end of the current, Elias thought for sure he'd feel something. Anything. But he didn't. It was like greeting an old friend that he no longer cared for, but still held some pleasantries. His heart was steady, his emotions dry. This hadn't been home in a long time. All Aquantians who chose life above the seas were pariahs among their people. They were lesser beings, failures. Elias didn't know how they'd react to seeing him again, or if they'd even remember him. It didn't matter; he'd only be there long enough to catch the far eastern current to ride back to the Highlands and the shores of Draygon.

He exploded out of the current, schools of fish narrowly parted to give him room. As his speed slowed, Elias pulled back with his body and forced it to stop. Hair waived around him, bending and swaying like the seaweed below his tail. Other Aquantians swam by, ignoring him or unaware of his existence, Elias wasn't sure which. His kind weren't particularly friendly to each other. Often times it was like a group of strangers living in one place.

Aquantis hadn't changed. They had little need for buildings; there were only the coral shells curved in a dome resting on the ocean floor. It was a shelter for them to hide when the seas grew rough or predators were near. One could easily mistake the shells for aqua and purple bubbles rising from the grimy bottom of the ocean. Some had seaweed curling over them, making them a perfect cave within the sea.

This had been home once, long before Siobhan and even her father. His eyes drifted to the left where the outer most shell sat empty, a faded yellow-green surrounded by natural coral reefs filled with tiny fishes. All domes belonged to all Aquantians, but that was the one he found himself drawn to most as a child. He'd curl in the corner with the other Aquantian children who were no longer young enough to live among the eggs waiting to be hatched. How old was he when he joined the rest of his kind here within Aquantis? Five? Four? Younger? They forced Aquantian children to fend for themselves and learn their own way. Once they reached their thirtieth year, they were considered adults and could join the others, their foraging becoming communal or their magic chosen for reproduction.

Elias had always known he wasn't cut out for ocean life. So when he reached the age of surface exploration, he knew he wouldn't return. At twenty-five, all Aquantians left to spend five years on the surface, only when they saw it all could they become productive members of their species. Often they'd return ready to join in the role assigned to them as an adult. They'd either be a forager or become a breeder.

He sighed and turned away from the shell he'd called home. It wasn't all bad. In spite of the cold nature of his kind, he had friends he cared about that were hard to leave behind, but he knew he was meant for more. His thirst for knowledge alone kept him moving until he fell into the service of the Draygon royal family. Elias had no regrets for his choices. Siobhan's family taught him there was more to life then foraging and using magic to keep your lineage alive.

There was love. Even if it was love he didn't quite understand, it was a concept he found fascinating.

His tail pushed him forward, his hair flowing behind him tickled his back. Other Aquantians continued to move out of his way, giving him free path to the current he sought. Currents surrounded Aquantis in a circle, some natural while Aquantian magic created others. Each led to the various kingdoms of the world and other oceans. Since only Aquantians and other sea creatures could use the magical ones, they never worried about outside enemies using them to attack. It was simply a means for their people to traverse the oceans in the swiftest time.