Cold Light

CHAPTER 4 Angelblood

Everything became muffled around Kateryna. She took a while to try to comprehend what the boy had just told her.

Not human...

The words echoed in her head but she still couldn't process it. She heard herself speak as if from a distance.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said. You are not human. Or, at least, not completely."

"Then what am I?"

"Probably an angelblood. Now I really have to bring you back to our dimension."

Kateryna shook her head slowly, gripping her her head in her bloody hands. "Ugh! None of this makes sense! How can I be an angelblood, or whatever you called it, when I grew up in the... the human dimension?"

The boy had maintained a calm and cool facade, but she could tell he was quite perturbed. "We can work this all out when we get to the angelblood dimension, but right now, we have to leave, the midday light will not last forever."

"It didn't work when you tried it, what makes you think it'll work now?"

"Since you're likely to be an angelblood, you should be able to help."

"What? I, I don't know how!"

The boy moved to the new location of the stream of light, which was near Kateryna's cell, and beckoned her.

Kateryna hesitantly stood up and walked, cautiously this time, to the bars separating them.

The boy extended his hand through a space in between the bars. "Here, hold my hand."

She stared at him.

When he realized that what he said was a little strange, he blushed slightly. "You should be able to channel your powers to help with the jump. Don't worry, you won't have to do much, I'll tell you what to do."

His tone aggravated Kateryna, who did he think he was talking to? A frightened little girl? Maybe she was confused, not to say the least, but she wasn't helpless, she convinced herself. "I'm not afraid!"

"Good, I didn't think you were. Now step under your light and take my hand."

Kateryna stepped under the stream of light produced by her small cell window, and reached out to place her hand gently on top of his.

She jumped when there was a rush of static where their hands touched, making him laugh. She felt a blush rising in her cheeks, and fought to keep it down.

She glanced at him, and saw him watching her curiously. His hair seemed to turn gold under the sunlight. She looked away. "What now?"

"Now, since we also have the light to our advantage, we'll channel our powers into the light and make the dimension jump."

"Um, sorry, I didn't understand any of that."

"It's hard to explain. It's something you just have to do yourself. Just... imagine your powers being something physical, like air or water, and have it seep from your energy pool, in your soul, into the light. I'll do the rest."

Kateryna had no idea what her powers were, so she just decided to go along with it. "Ok, powers, right."

"It's one of those rarities that are easier done than said, actually. Alright, do it now."

Kateryna tightened her grip on his hand and closed her eyes. She imagined looking deep into her soul, and saw something like water swirling like a storm where her heart would be. That must be her energy pool. She concentrated on it and imagined it flowing through her body and being emitted out into the light, like an aura.

Kateryna could feel the power from the boy, causing her skin to tingle.

The air around them began to ripple, and she felt a tug in the air.

Suddenly, everything around them was blurring into a swirl of grey, which began to turn into colors.

When everything settled down, they were in a different place.

Kateryna gasped at the beauty of what she presumed to be the angelblood dimension. There was sparkling water all around them and colors filled the landscape. Shades of green from hills, warm yellow from the sun, cool aqua from the water, and a variety of colors of flowers and plants. There seemed to be no limit in the colors. Animals roamed the fields, including deer and bears. She marveled at the harmony between predator and prey.

Kateryna stepped forward, but gasped and stumbled with nothing to support her, falling towards the mirror-like surface.

Her hand was jerked out of the boy's, and she tumbled into the water.

***

For the second time that day, Kateryna wished she wasn't wearing a ball gown. The moment she was submerged into the water, her soaked, heavy gown dragged her deeper into the lake, or ocean or whatever.

She struggled against the pull, but eventually accepted that she couldn't do anything. So she held her breath and examined her surroundings. It was just as stunningly beautiful under the clear lake as above. Beautiful fish and sea creatures swam around her, and water plants, such as kelp, drifted slowly with the slight current.

The lake must have been very deep, because despite the clearness of the water, she couldn't see the bottom.

Somehow, she didn't feel very concerned about it.

Looking back up, she could see the sunlight rippling against the water, and she just wanted to relax completely in the serenity...

Kateryna shook her head slightly, her loose strands of hair flowing with the water. Something or somebody was messing with her mind, she couldn't completely relax underwater, she had even almost took a breath. Now thinking about it, Kateryna wondered how she had been able to hold her breath for so long, and started to feel a little panicky.

Seeing movement in the corner of her eye, she turned her head to see something come out of the kelp. She nearly gasped.

It, no she, was beautiful. The mermaid had long, lustrous, wavy brown hair, webbed ears, fair skin, large, piercing violet eyes, full lips, and a fish tail a swirl of blue and purple. She had scales covering her chest, narrowing down her stomach, and then expanding again to her tail. The mermaid looked flawless and beautiful, and she smiled at Kateryna's awed expression.

Kateryna then realized that there were quite a few other mermaids and some mermen that had gathered around her, and they all had different hair, eye, and tail colors.

She watched them apprehensively, noticing that her descent deeper into the lake had slowed. Kateryna felt as if all the creatures in the lake had there eyes on her, and she had to prevent herself from fidgeting nervously. She somehow knew that it was their presence that had previously made her feel calm, peaceful, and serene.

Kateryna watched as the first mermaid started to sing. The beautiful sound reverberated through the water. Then the rest of the merpeople joined in. The chorus sounded beautiful, even though it was in a foreign language.

Kateryna realized a clear bubble, like a second layer if clothes, was surrounding her, allowing her to breathe. There was also an aqua glow emitting from her, the brightness increasing as they sang.

The song began to end and the number of merpeople singing decreased, bowing their head respectfully to Kateryna before blending into the shadows.

Kateryna wondered why they were being so respectful to her.

When the singing finally dwindled away, only the first mermaid was left. The glow surrounding Kateryna dimmed slowly. The mermaid began to sing again, but this time, it didn't sound as much as a song as something else.

Kateryna felt a shiver run down her spine. She unconsciously seemed to understand what the mermaid was saying, despite the merpeople's foreign language, and the words felt uncomfortably familiar.

It sounded like a prophecy.

_

Dun dun dun.... the prophecy! Well, it's not coming up just yet ;) Vote and comment please :D Thanks everyone, for your support!