The Sea of Darkness

By the time the sunset the portal was gone and Sionna had learned the basics of water magic.

"Let's rest, we have along day ahead of us." Yaatra said and they all agreed.

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Idris had formed strange variations of the symbolic circles along the sandy beach. Each remained intact even when the wind blew sand at the missionaries faces.

She sat between two of them her eyes closed. Her hair loosely blowing in the wind. Men stopped to examine her, she was beautiful even with her hollow cheeks and deathly pale skin. If they weren't so afraid of her they would probably make comments about wanting to have sex with her. Yet, even with her eyes closed they couldn't help but feel fearful of the woman sitting silently in the sand.

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Sionna didn't sleep much that night and neither did Caith. Their thoughts mixed with each others as they lay not speaking to one another. Sionna felt warm in Caith's arms and wondered if she would be able to lay in them again.

'Don't think like that,' Caith said without speaking.

'I am sorry,' she thought and snuggled closer.

When sunlight started to shine through the canvas curtain flaps they got dressed and ate the last of their food. Sionna put the sword on her hip and they both packed the tent away. Breakfast Yaatra was mostly quiet.

"I know you will disagree with me, but I don't think Caith should go." He said finally.

"There is no way I am making her do this alone." He replied quickly.

"Your fathers right, if they capture you they can control me." She said reaching over and giving his hand a squeeze.

"We could wait then out? Maybe if we stay here long enough they will come to us?" Caith asked.

"We are on a mountain what if they surround it? At least if we come to them we can escape back toward the mountains if things go wrong."

"It might not be a bad idea to have the high ground?"

"Have the sea there isn't a bad thing we could just have the water swallow them up?"

"The sea of darkness has a mind of its own it may not want to help us." Yaatra replied stroking his long straggly beard.

"Then we should make them come to us." Caith replies firmly.

"I was able to use air magic to look at their camp they have a lot of supplies. I don't think they plan on going anywhere. They know eventually you will want to go to the sea. They plan to prevent you from doing so."

"What if we attack the strong hold instead? You have a compass that can track them, we could go and free the other shifters?" Sionna asked.

"The compass is now pointing towards the lake and if we do free them they will still be stopping them from getting to the lake."

"If you kill the person who holds the curse on their arm, you kill the curse. They do not need the lake, your situation is unusual." Yaatra said, his blue eyes still cloudy.

"Is there anyway to find the others without the compass?" Sionna asked.

"I don't think so," Caith replied. "I heard rumors of the curse returning and I was searching for the place that held them. I stopped a lot of traffic of magic beings and mortals but I could never find it. It must be under some sort of powerful spell that hides it." Caith sighed placing his head in his palms.

"There is one more difficulty." Yaatra said removing his hand from his beard.

"The powers of the Sea of Darkness are controlled by an ancient people who live below the waters. Entering the water will rid you of the marking curse, but that will still leave other vulnerable. These being were the ones who created the curse and they have the power to completely destroy it. Caith's mother and I went into the sea of darkness to cure her people. Like most shifters from the Isles she could only use life and death magic not elemental magic. So I used my magic to get us there. The beings there did not want to help at first, but she was able to convince them. They only offered a solution to her to rid her people of the curse but not rid it from the earth. I was trying to prepare you both so that you could enter the waters and do what Caith's mother and I failed to do so long ago. Now I am not sure what is the solution."

"What if Caith and I hold them off while you bargain with the people of the sea?"

"That might work," Yaatra said softly but his face stayed wrinkled with worry.

"I can go first, if they manage to capture me they cannot mark me. Then Caith can come free me and we can make an opening for you?" Sionna offered.

"It seems that is might be our best chance. Or I can go first and act as bait. If they capture me it will not matter." Yaatra mused.

"Father what if they hurt you?"

"I am very capable of caring for myself son," he said with a smile.

"Are the creature down there dangerous?" Sionna asked curiously.

"If either of you end up going down there the more you know the better. The lake is basically two different lakes in one. The top layer of the sea provides life and is pure water. The bottom layer is dark, salty and lifeless. Only these creatures can survive under there. See these beings are not like anything else you will find on earth. They do not need air, food or even water. They don't even really have a body. They are pure magic energy which is why they are so powerful but also not that smart. The reason they created the curse is they wanted to keep people who ended up at the bottom of the lake as, what they call pets. However, these being are completely immortal and anyone brought to the bottom of the sea did not last long. Even when they used their magic to bring air and life from the top layer. So they gave up on the idea of pets and instead resorted to keeping souls. Since those do not die."

"How do we reason which these beings?" Sionna asked.

"They are very vain and power hungry beings. Our best best way is trickery."

"Such as us acting like we think they are incapable of destroying it?" Caith added.

"That just might work," Yaatra answer.