Young Writers Society

Chapter 36

I couldn’t see Agar anywhere. Perhaps he’d swam away in fear at the sight of the dragon? For a few moments I swam in circles, letting all the lizard’s slime and saliva slide off of my body. Once I felt sufficiently clean, I swam towards the sea’s surface till my head popped above its waves. I was facing the cove, some yards away. I spun around till I could make out a distant shore. Hoping it was the same one where I’d last seen Iyagi, I dove beneath the sea and began swimming towards it.

Without a kelpie’s powerful tail, the distance seemed to stretch on and on. What had felt but minutes with Agar, stretched into hours. I had to take several breaks, breathing in and out large bubbles as I stared at schools of fish passing by. They teased me with their speedy, little fins. I stuck out my tongue at quite a few that seemed to taunt me with their fishy grins. Then I’d kick my pitiful human feet, mustering as much dignity as I could as I swam away.

Finally, I reached shallower water. Though my head was still underwater, I let my body sink to the sea’s floor till my toes dug gratefully in the sand. From there I walked, the floor rising higher and higher uphill. As I slowly made my way closer to land, my head poked through the sea’s surface, then my shoulders. Like coming out of a bath, I stepped out of one of the Quanxi’s four seas.

Iyagi was lying on his back on a turf of grass nearest to the shore, but farther away from the water. One arm was draped over his eyes, and his chest was rising and falling steadily. He looked to be sleeping. A sigh of relief escaped me and a smile crept across my lips.

Silently, I crept ever closer to the sleeping prince till I stood directly above him. Kneeling down, I carefully raised his arm up and over his eyes, laying it gently by his side. He didn’t move a muscle but kept right on dreaming. His dream must have been a happy one for a calm, peaceful expression rested on his face. I couldn’t help but stare. In all our time living under the same roof, I had never seen Iyagi sleep save that one time he’d been poisoned. But that time his features had been scrunched in pain.

I leaned in to get a closer look. I had never noticed that his lashes were quite so long. They rested softly on his lids, creating little shadows that brushed across his face. The prince’s skin had always been rather dark from all his time spent in the sun training. However, this close I could make out tiny freckles speckling all over Iyagi’s nose and cheeks. A strong compulsion to trace them with one finger came over me.

Just as I reached forward, the prince opened his eyes sleepily. He stared into mine for a minute before whispering, “Are you a mermaid?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “No,” I laughed, “I’m an old friend.”

Iyagi sat up in a rush. His hand reached out and cupped my cheek. “Kkachi?” he asked softly, “It’s really you?”

My hand automatically reached up to cover his. “Yes,” I breathed, “It’s me.” My heart began pounding hard in my chest.

His hand dropped and he inched closer, before pulling me into a warm hug. “I thought I’d never see you again,” he murmured into my ear, “I was so worried!” The prince pulled away but still held onto my arms. “Do you know where we are?”

“We’re in Quanxi. It’s a separate realm,” I explained, “As far as I can understand this land exists outside of our world. How long have you been here?”

Iyagi’s face got rather red and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I just got here. I followed you from our garden into the Emperor’s cave. You looked like you were sleepwalking and I wanted to make sure that you were okay.” He looked straight at me; consternation printed all over his face. “When you walked straight through that waterfall and didn’t come out on the other side, I knew something else was going on.” The prince looked around. “But I never imagined anything like this!”

I frowned. “You just got here?” I asked.

Iyagi nodded silently.

“That’s strange,” I muttered.

“Why?” The prince asked, confusion mixed in his voice.

“Because, I got here a few days ago.” I shook my head, trying to clear it. “So much has happened since I got here, that I’ve lost track of time. Especially since the days and nights are ruled by the Moon. But I know that I’ve been here longer than you.”

A stern look came over Iyagi, one I was fairly familiar with since he’d always get it when the prince was trying to make sense of something. I saw it often during our frequent games of chess. “I was right behind you the entire time, Kkachi,” he said, “But when I left the cave, you were nowhere to be found. Then I had a hard time making it through all those brambles and thick bush in the woods.” His gaze shifted to the sea. “And then…” The prince’s voice trailed off.

“Then…?” I prodded.

“This will seem strange,” Iyagi coughed, “But I think the sea in this world is enchanted.”

I blushed and looked away. “Why’s that?”

Iyagi took in a deep breath. “Promise you won’t laugh?” He asked warily.

I crossed my heart quickly and raised my hand solemnly.

“I believe it bewitched me,” The prince whispered lowly, glancing at the sea as if it could hear him speaking, “One moment I was walking on the shoreline, the next I was getting pulled in by the tide. I struggled, but I couldn’t escape. My body wouldn’t move, no matter how hard I tried.” He looked at me sheepishly. “You must think I’m very silly.”

I shook my head fiercely. “Not at all. This land is very strange.” My thoughts turned to the lonely kelpies, harsh and cold, swimming heartlessly in the dark waters of the sea’s depth; the dragon with his jagged scales and mountains of treasure; then of the woodland children, trapped in their fathers’ bark and their cries of glee ringing in my ears when they were released from captivity. “Yet, I think this world is beautiful,” I whispered quietly, more to myself than to the prince.

Iyagi bent his head and cupped my chin to stare into my eyes. “I lost you for quite some time. Were you hurt?” His gaze shifted to look me over. I twitched and every bruise on my body seemed to pulse, begging to be noticed. However, I held my breath, not wishing to worry him. Iyagi seemed satisfied after a moment. I started to grin, to assure him that I was alright.

Just then the prince lifted my arm and tore back my sleeve. “How’d you get this?” He demanded, his voice stern and full of concern. A cut stretched itself across the length of my arm from my wrist to halfway up my elbow. Dried blood flaked across my skin, painting my arm like a red snake.

I stared at the scar, truly perplexed. “I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. I had no idea when I had gotten that. It could have happened in the water during my battle with Agar. The water had been so cold and I was so numb that I couldn’t feel pain. Or, perhaps I had cut myself when I fell through the dragon’s hole onto the mound of treasure.

Iyagi dug into his garments and pulled out a handkerchief. Standing up, he walked over to the water, seemingly unperturbed that he had wrestled with its angry waves not a few hours ago. Dipping his hand in, he wet the kerchief. The waters began to shift, but before I could get up the prince had already returned safe to shore and was once again by my side.

Taking my arm, Iyagi gently began pressing the cloth to my wound. As the saltwater seeped through the crusted blood, I had to bite my lip to keep from hissing at its sting. The prince kept applying the same treatment all up and down my arm, venturing several trips to the sea to rinse out the blood from the cloth. The waters always moved and swirled suspiciously, yet strangely remained calm. Perhaps the kelpies were willing to leave Iyagi alone. Yet, though I hoped it was so, I continued to remain alert.

Once the prince was satisfied that my wound was clean enough, he tossed the cloth to the side and I began to pull my sleeve back down. Iyagi immediately stopped my hand in its tracks. Giving me a severe stare, I remained motionless as he began to tear off a long strip of his garment. He then bandaged my arm around and around till the wound was fully covered. Satisfied, he gave me a nod and only then I let down my sleeve.

It was only when the prince sat back, that I realized my cheeks were feeling a sudden heat and I found it difficult to look in Iyagi’s eyes, so full of concern and another emotion that I hoped lay there.

Hoped? What did I hope?

My heart began to pound and I had to breathe deeply to calm it. It didn’t help that Iyagi was still holding my hand, his thumb running little careless circles over my fingers. I finally wrenched my hand away by rubbing my arms in a pretence to shiver. My clothes were still wet and that shiver turned real till my body began to shake in spasms from cold.

“Here.” Iyagi wrapped moved to my side and wrapped his arms around me, rubbing my arms to bring some warmth back into them. “If you can stand, we can go to a cave I found on my way over here. It’s not far and is quite safe.” Inwardly I scoffed at that. Nothing in this world was what it seemed.

Yet, I was suddenly too weak to protest. All that time in the sea and my frightful encounters with the kelpies and the dragon had finally caught up to me. Bearing most of my weight, Iyagi helped me to stand and guided me off the shore and up the grassy plain towards what I hoped was shelter.

My vision began to blur by the time we reached a small cave hidden well by trees. We stooped inside and Iyagi helped me to lie down. I was already beginning to doze off when the prince whispered something in my ear, before I sunk into darkness.

I only woke once more when I felt warmth embrace me. My last thought was how comforting it felt before I fell into a peaceful slumber.