Embrace the Dark

21

Chapter Eleven

I

n the morning, Carth’s parents met us outside before our departure. Brin was a nobleman from the Air Realm who’d disobeyed her parents’ wishes and married Leni, Slade’s younger sister. Since they couldn’t have children of their own, they’d adopted Carth and his older sister, who was back at their estates.

Brin stroked Carth’s sandy hair with pride and love in her eyes. “We’re so proud of you, son. But couldn’t you have been chosen by the Air God instead?”

Leni laughed and nudged her wife. “Carth was born in the Water Realm. It’s in his very soul, even if we raised him in the Air Realm. Just like my heart will always belong to the Earth Realm.”

“I know, I’m only teasing,” Brin said. “I think you’ll make an excellent Water Dragon.”

“Thanks, Moms.” Carth gave her a hug, and then did the same with Leni.

“Now you take good care of my niece,” Leni said, pinching Carth’s cheeks.

“I’ll do my best.” He winked at me.

Leni gave me a warm hug next. “Do try to keep him in line, dear. I know it won’t be easy.”

I laughed. Brin and Leni were my favorite relatives by farr. “I’m not sure anyone can do that.”

“We have faith in you,” Brin said, as she took Leni’s hand. “Now get going, I want to see Carth as a dragon already.”

With those words, we said our goodbyes and climbed onto Erroh, then took off.

The Water Temple was the second farthest one away from Soulspire, and Erroh had only had a few hours of flying practice. Lucky for us, he was a natural at flying, which was probably normal for an Air Dragon, but he still wasn’t used to going long distances. It didn’t help that the Water Realm was mostly made up of hundreds of islands, so we couldn’t exactly travel the distance by foot either.

I rode Erroh with Carth's arms wrapped around me. This experience was far different than when I rode on my fathers' backs. The feel of the powerful dragon moving under me and Carth’s arms around me were powerful aphrodisiacs, and I was eager to get to the temple.

At midday, we stopped in a fishing village for lunch, and were able to board a small boat to give Erroh a few hours to rest. He passed out in the back of the boat with a blanket over his head to shield him from the sun. Then at sunset the boat docked, and we continued flying again until we found another island with an inn to rest in for the night.

We finally reached the island near the Water Temple by the next afternoon. Erroh’s taloned feet crashed down on the sand, and he swung his large head around. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

I folded up the map and slid off his back. “Yes, this is it.”

Neither one of them had been to the Water Temple before, but I’d visited a few times with my dads. The island we stood on had one lone palm tree and was about the size of my bedroom in the palace. Nothing about it indicated the Water Temple was below. Originally there had been another Water Temple, but after it was destroyed the High Priestess and her mates moved to this secret one. When the danger had passed, they simply decided to stay.

Carth jumped off of Erroh and peered into the water. “It’s under there? How will we get down there without drowning?”

“With our magic, of course,” I said with a laugh. “Erroh and I can wrap a bubble of air around ourselves, and you can keep the water away from you.” Both guys looked skeptical, and I rolled my eyes. “Trust me, I’ve done it before. Well, I’ve seen it done, anyway. How hard can it be?”

“I’m not sure I want to find out while at the bottom of the ocean,” Erroh said, after shifting to his human form.

“We can practice up here first.” I slipped off my shoes, rolled up my trousers to my knees, and waded into the ocean. The two guys slowly followed me.

It took a lot more practice than we expected, but hours later we were continuing our journey underwater toward the Water Temple. Erroh was back in dragon form, and together we kept a bubble of air around us, keeping us dry and allowing us to breath, while Carth used water to propel us forward. We dove down into the clear blue waters, passing a few fish, and then Erroh paused at the sharp drop into the darker depths. I felt the same hesitation—if our magic failed, we would all drown—but then I stroked his shoulder and said, “We can do this.”

He used his wings to dive down into the darkness, and although I expected this, it was still terrifying to be in the middle of the ocean unable to see anything, not knowing which way was up anymore. But then a light came into view, and we began to make out the beautiful, pale building of the Water Temple at the bottom of the ocean.

I directed Erroh on where to land, and we stopped on the ocean floor beside a large dragon sculpture before walking into the large dome of air that surrounded the temple. My skin tingled as we passed through, and then we dropped our air bubble. The Water God protected the temple so it’s priests could live there safely.

A small woman with black hair and olive skin emerged from the stone door of the temple, wearing a sea-green robe. Wella was only ten years older than I was and had recently taken over from her mother as High Priestess. Now her stomach was round with her pregnancy, and she waddled out to us with a warm smile. Her four handsome priests followed after her, some of them looking on with concern.

“Welcome!” she said, and then gathered me in a friendly hug. “We weren’t sure when to expect you, but we’re so happy you’re here now.”

“Thank you. It looks like we came at a good time.” I gestured at her round stomach. “When are you due?”