I shifted my attention to the far side of the hot spring where escaping air bubbles rose to the surface and revealed an odd lavender aroma, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the area as I pushed my arms forward and pushed the water behind me in quick fluid motions. I kicked my feet behind me before plunging my small frame beneath the watery surface and released the air that I held within my lungs. My chest burned with an aching sensation and yet I needed to allow the water to flow through my lungs until my nerves grew numb, it was the only way I would be capable of swimming long distances within the water without surfacing for air.
They won’t miss me, I thought distantly as I thrust my arms forward and pushed the water behind me.
The lavender aroma seemed to encompass me as I thrust my weight further into the spring where a drop off greeted me, I continued to follow the bubbles as they led me deeper into the dormant Geyser. A dull light greeted me as I squinted my eyes as the sulfer within the water began to bother my corneas, I pushed deeper as time seemed to stall within this depth. The presser of the earth crashed down on me as I sunk deeper within the endless expanse of water, I wasn’t sure if my reality was simply a dream at that moment or if what I was experiencing was as real as the world that surrounded me.
A dull blue light finally greeted me as I arched my weight and swooped beneath an overhanging rock that seemed to hide the entrance of an underwater cave, the warmth that surrounded me grew hotter as the temperature rose. The delicate bubbles arose from the hidden cave and beckoned me forth as I glanced around me for a moment and observed the dead space that surrounded me, there was no life under the sulfuric water as I steadily lowered my head and dipped my weight downwards and within the entrance to the cave.
The cave seemed to swallow me whole as if my presence never existed within the world of Gliese, the rough walls closed in from around me as I traversed deeper within the lengthening channel. Small algae that vibrated with a glowing blue hue surrounded the walls from around me, they gave off small tendrils that brushed against my skin as I swam by, the touch tingled with a pleasant sensation as I brushed my fingertips along the soft surface.
This is a world forlorn to Thallyn, I thought as a twinkling golden light caught my attention.
Delicate fairy-like creatures floated from around me as their twinkling golden hues caught my eye and brushed past me as I continued to swim forward, my lungs held a tingling sensation as the unique properties within the water began to absorb within my cells. I looked up as a clearing finally revealed itself with the stone crevasse parting with the blue algae dissipating along with their dull glowing light. A burning light began to shine through the surface that resided a few inches above me, I kicked my feet quickly and burst through the rough waved that suddenly crashed over me.
How is this possible? I thought as I violently coughed up spouts of water.
The waves crashed down on me at an incredible rate as I attempted to glance around and yet all I could see was the sun that proceeded to blind me at an incredible rate. The ocean grew warmer as the waves swooped over my head and threatened to drown me beneath the ricocheting waves, I coughed up the salty water and thrust my arms forward and above me as I kicked at the current. Enchanting imagery greeted me as I thrust my weight forward, the waves proceeded to blind me as I desperately eyed the land before me, it couldn’t have been more than a few miles out and yet it seemed to be growing increasingly closer the more I kicked.
Where am I? I wanted to scream at the impossibility of the situation.
“Shift,” the words tingled within my ear.
I dipped my head back under the water and swam with the current with each of the powerful waves propelling me closer to the shore with each thrust, I clenched my eyes closed as I clawed at the water with newfound desperation with the bottom of the sea shifting into granule sand. The soft particles brushed past me as I swept my hand through the softened ground as the shore grew increasingly closer. I kicked my feet harder and broke my head through the shore as my dark auburn hair caressed my face like an ancient Selkie, I licked my salted lips as seaweed hung from my matted hair. I pulled the slim out of my lengthened hair and tossed it into the sea before me as I finally stood up with the waves embracing my thighs.
Where is this foreign place? I thought curiously as I observed a shoreline city that sat miles before me.
I could no longer feel my unbreakable connection with my mate and yet I couldn’t help but believe that he was closer than I thought.
“Shift!” The words carried through the air.
Where is that voice coming from? I thought distantly as I wadded through the water curiously.
“Shift,” It echoed again.
A massive army stood before me with their half-naked forms shimmering within the sunlight, a simple loincloth covered their lower halves as they stood in single formation with their muscles flexing instinctively. I stopped in my tracks as a peculiar scent drifted over to me, my eyes trailed over to the form of an older man and yet he was incredibly fit for someone of his age, He had long white hair that reached his mid-back as if it had been decades since a blade had been taken to it with a lengthened beard to match. His blue eyes were empty and void of any signs of life as a sense of insanity possessed his very being, he was a man who was cursed from birth and forced to commit the worst of crimes known to mankind, the murder of his kin.
Elijah, I thought darkly.
How am I here?