Elemental Awakened by Helen Scott
24
Tessa
I watched as Griff strode forward and seemed to dive through the door into the water while still holding an unconscious Finn. My jaw hung open as I looked through the doorway to where he’d disappeared and saw nothing but aquamarine-colored waters.
“It’s an illusion in case a human is somehow able to see or open a gate. When you step through, it will take you to Atlantis without dunking you in the water, I promise,” Dres said quietly.
“Afraid of getting your hair wet?” Kai muttered as he walked by and disappeared into the water like David Bowie flipping onto the other side of stairs in Labyrinth.
“You have to go first, ladybird,” Dres said quietly. “I can’t leave without you.”
His tone of voice made me turn to him, expecting to see emotion heavy on his face, and yet I found it curiously blank. As though I needed a reason to have turned to him, I asked, “Will someone be waiting for me?”
Dres nodded and shuffled closer to the portal. I could tell he was uncomfortable with having it open like this, but I was scared. “Go,” he whispered.
I couldn’t tell if he pushed me or if I just stumbled as I took a step forward, but the paradise blue waters were rushing toward my face before I had a chance to close my eyes. When I opened them again, I definitely wasn’t in Kansas anymore.
The last thing I expected the gateway to open up to was a room that looked like an underwater cavern of some kind. There were large stones that had fallen down here and there and old sculptures that looked as though they could disintegrate under my gaze. Large walls of glass ran along the pathway I had landed on, and the water beyond was a crystalline blue so pure and bright that it almost hurt my eyes to look at. When I glanced up, I saw that the glass and water motif continued overhead. I could almost see the sun through the waves.
It weirded me out that there was no one here waiting for me, especially since Dres had said there would be. I hadn’t expected Griff to wait, since he had Finn, and Kai was, well, Kai, but I’d thought there would be someone. My stomach clenched at the thought of all the blood Finn had lost. I hoped he was okay. What was even weirder though, was that Dres wasn’t behind me.
I had assumed that he would be following me almost immediately, but I was the only one in the cavern. When I turned behind me to look at the weird gateway thing I’d come through, there was nothing there except two stone pillars with symbols glowing on each of them. Nothing else, not even a watery backdrop or something, just me, some stone pillars, a bunch of glass, and even more water.
The idea that I was completely alone in this very foreign environment made me tremble slightly, although I tried not to show it. I forced myself to take a few deep breaths using my belly instead of my chest to try and keep calm before I set off up the stairs. There were more of them than I had initially realized, so many more.
By the time I got to the top, I wasn’t just winded, I was absolutely gasping for breath. The top of the stairs opened into a small corridor that would explain why I couldn’t see it from the base of the steps. Not only was it much higher than it had initially appeared, but it was also farther away, and the opening was a small square no wider than the corridor itself. The glass lip of the square held water, and I could see it flowing under the edge of the wall and into sunlight, while the slight waves lapped at the edge of the glass, occasionally flowing over and splattering on the steps below.
The hallway was dark as I proceeded forward and seemed to be sloping downward, which made me nervous all over again. I didn’t like the idea of being underwater in an area I was unfamiliar with, where no one knew where I was. If something happened, I was so screwed.
There were no entrances or exits off the hallway, and it was much longer and narrower than I had expected, but that might’ve been because it was built underwater. As I rounded a corner, the walls of the hallway opened up, and instead of stone, they were windows. I stopped and stared out, marveling that such a place could even exist.
As the waves moved and dappled light shone through, I knew I was looking at the heart of Atlantis. I hadn’t noticed them at first, but now that the light was glinting off the structures, they seemed so obvious. Bulbous domes seemed to form the walls that the corridor was passing between, and as I looked up, I could see other corridors just like it.
Fish swam by, along with other larger animals that looked unfamiliar to me, as though they had evolved completely differently here than they had on Earth. One giant turtle that looked almost like a loggerhead swam along the glass next to me as I walked. It was bigger than any I’d ever seen before, and I couldn’t resist the temptation to reach out to it.
As my hand rested against the cold glass, I looked on with wonder and was even more surprised when one of its fins pressed against the glass right over my hand. The sensation of water and current rolling over my skin was overwhelming, along with all the vibrations and unfathomable sensations that the turtle seemed to be transmitting to me through our tenuous connection from one side of the glass to the other.
There was trepidation and joy in equal measures at my arrival. It had been a long time since someone who was born on Earth had shown up in Atlantis on purpose and with respect for everything it represented. I tried to send my goodwill to the turtle, show him that I meant no harm and he didn’t need to be scared of me. I wasn’t sure if it worked, but something else swam by, something that cast a big shadow, and the turtle moved quickly away, hugging the rock structures as it went as though it was trying to shield itself.
The shadow passed over the glass, and although I couldn’t see the creature it belonged to, it was enough to get me moving again. The path still had the occasional window for a while, but as it started sloping upward, the windows stopped. Anticipation coiled in my belly as I hoped I might run into someone who could help me find my guys.
At the top of the slope, the hallway opened up into a cave that was filled with strange structures that looked older than anything I’d ever seen before. They almost looked like the crystals I saw in the little herbal shop down the street from my apartment—correction, my old apartment—except these were on a much larger scale.
Each crystal was as large as I was, and as I passed by, I saw that they each contained a symbol carved into the center, only I didn’t understand what the symbols were. The cave was open on the other side, and part of me wanted to run out into the sunlight and fresh air, but the crystals seemed to point in another direction. As I looked, I saw what seemed like a throne made of glass that had been formed to appear like waves breaking around a rock.
Behind the stone and glass throne was a raised platform with a statue on it. A woman carved out of marble wearing a gold crown and holding a spear that had an intricate piece of metalwork on the top. She looked regal but desperate, as though this was a place that people only came to in times of distress.
The sound of water trickling caught at my ears and pulled me closer to the statue. Lower down, there were four statues that looked almost like knights, or warriors at the very least. Their faces were obscured by their helmets, unlike hers, which was raised to the small amount of light that was coming into the cave from what had to be a strategically placed hole in the ceiling. Each warrior held a sword that pointed to the ground, their hands wrapped around complicated hilts that were all different from each other, while the water sound I’d heard was the blades. Instead of actual blades, each sword was made up of water rushing down, like a small waterfall, as though the very elements were at their command as they bowed to their queen.
The set of statues were so beautiful that I didn’t want to look away. I was starting to feel the passage of time since I came through the portal, and though I had clothes and other items with me, I had no food or water because I hadn’t planned on being separated from anyone. As I turned around and made my way out of the cave, I couldn’t help but look at the statue of the woman one more time. There was something strange about it, but I couldn’t put my finger on what.
I shook the feeling off and exited the cave. The sky was a brilliant clear blue with only a few wisps of cloud, enough that I had to shield my eyes to see anything else. Once my vision had adjusted to the bright light, I could see that I was staring out at the ocean. There wasn’t a single shoreline in sight. I knew Atlantis was supposed to have sunk, but I’d thought maybe that was just a metaphor or something. Now I was wondering if it was actually underwater because I couldn’t see any other land, at least not from this view point.
There was a path leading from the mouth of the cave down through some scrubby bushes and dried, sandy soil. It was hard enough to walk on without my shoes sinking in, but I could feel the sand getting in them all the same.
Just as I was getting my bearings, a loud horn sounded, making me jump out of my skin and apparently waking all the birds that had been snoozing in the trees next to the cave. Loud, irritated squawks sounded behind me as I followed the path, and when I turned to look, I could see their brilliant feathers ruffling as they resettled. Sapphire blues and emerald greens were all combined with golds and vibrant reds to make the trees look like a riot of color.
I turned away from the birds just in time to see that the path ahead curved around the side of the cave. If my spatial awareness was up to par, then I was walking on the other side of the statues now. I paused and listened, and a faint trickling sound reached my ears, letting me know I was right.
Another blast of a horn had me looking for the source. Maybe they could lead me to my guys? I was trying not to panic, but the longer I went without seeing anyone, the more abandoned I felt.
Finally, the land seemed to open up in front of me, and my breath caught in my throat. I was standing on what was probably one of the tallest parts of the island, if it could even be called an island. There were rings of land getting smaller as they went inward in concentric circles. The outer circle that I was standing on looked mostly untouched and covered in forest, with birds flying here and there. The next circle seemed to be farmland, with the circle after that looking more like a city, and if I guessed correctly, there was one more circle that had a temple or something at the top of it. The gold façade of the building shone brightly in the sun, and I figured if I made that my goal, I’d have to run into someone eventually.
I set off toward what looked like a bridge that would be at the end of this path I was on and hoped and prayed that I would run into someone soon. I’d made my way across the first bridge and most of the width of the ring of farmland before the horn sounded again. I couldn’t help but wonder what it was for. Was it a warning or a reminder of some kind?
The fields of wheat and corn surprised me. For some reason, I’d thought they’d eat different foods than we did, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense that they were eating the same foods. They were from the same Earth after all.
As I crossed the second bridge toward the ring that looked more like a city, the sound of voices began to filter over and my heart lifted with joy. The farm lands might be quiet right now, but from the position of the sun, it looked to be about midday. That was odd, considering it hadn’t been midday when we left, but I wasn’t exactly a pro at interplanetary travel was I? Or was it interdimensional? I shook my head, it didn’t matter. What mattered was finding the people whose voices I could hear and seeing if they could help me find my guys.
As soon as I set foot on the city ring, it felt like a shock wave rippled out from me. Two men dressed in the same skin-tight blue-green outfit that Finn had been wearing came barreling toward me a moment later with spears pointed at my chest. I stopped and raised my hands in what I hoped was a gesture of peace. Once I explained things, I was sure they would help me.
The man on the right with the long blond hair said something in a language I couldn’t understand, while the one on the left just stared daggers at me like I was worse than gum on the bottom of his shoe. When silence followed, I looked back at the one on the right who had spoken and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying. I came here with Finn, but he was injured and taken somewhere. We got separated, and now I’m lost.” Surely they had to know who Finn was, right?
It wasn’t technically the truth, but it was the truth in spirit. After a second’s deliberation, the man on the right jerked his head at me and lifted his spear before he started walking away. As he went, I heard him mutter, “Distorted.” Did he think that I was a distorted that had come back to Atlantis? I knew they said that was occasionally possible, but I’d be able to understand them if I was, wouldn’t I? When I didn’t immediately follow, the man on the left motioned at me with the spear. He seemed much less trusting than his partner.
Once I was moving and following his friend, I knew he was behind me, and when I felt the tip of his spear between my shoulder blades, I knew that if I were to stop or slow down, I would feel more than just a little scratch. As we progressed through the city, people stared, and I was sure it was only partially because I was dressed in such different clothes than all of them. Somehow, I doubted having a stranger marched through the streets with a guard on either side of her was a common occurrence.
When Dres said someone would be waiting for me, I’d expected someone who knew who I was or at least what they suspected I was, not guards who took me prisoner. Did they have jails in Atlantis, or was it dungeons? The thought made my stomach twist. The guys would get this all figured out, right?
