Moonlark Turned Evil

39: Lying in Wait

Hello hello!

This chapter is OFFICIALLY over 3000 words!!!!

Shocking right?!

The overlap at the end is so that the reader (you) can get a sense of the timeline and how this chapter fits in with the rest of the story. Also the Councillors' plan of getting information from our favorite blonde Telepath will probably be in chapter 41. (I've already written chapter 40.)

And also to my fellow Genshin players: in one of the future Council meetings, I'm going to add lines from the Fatui Harbingers' teaser trailer, so you can look forward to that lol.

"Come back as soon as you can, Miss Foster," Sandor squeaked as she slipped a dagger into her sleeve.

"Don't worry," Sophie assured him. "I'll be fine. It's just a few Elys."

The goblin looked ready to protest, but held his tongue. He gave a small salute. "Good luck."

Sophie winked, and fell backwards out of the window.

She reappeared in the clouds, free-falling headfirst through the sky towards the glimmering blue lake below her—the lake that housed Atlantis.

Wind swept past her, threatening to tear her hair of of the neat plait Tam—yes, Tam—had done for her that morning.

Atlantis had built in sensors to detect movement around it. The Elys would know she was coming if she took too long to get to the city. She'd wanted to teleport straight in, but the barrier had blocked her, which was why she was taking this approach.

Hopefully she had enough speed to close the distance while she was trying to get the water under her control.

Ten meters, she counted in her head.

Bracing herself, she created a shield around her, to absorb the impact.

Two.

One.

She hit the water with a splash, diving headfirst. It took her exactly one and a half seconds to wrap the water around her legs and propel herself forwards—and she was happily surprised to find that she'd moved a fair bit towards the glowing dome in the distance.

Letting out a breath of air, she dispelled the shield.

THREE SECONDS AND COUNTING, her ability reported. THE ELYS HAVE MOST LIKELY DETECTED YOU BY NOW.

Sophie moved forward, pulling at different currents.

A Hydrokinetic had clearly been involved in the set-up of Atlantis, to prevent anyone from reaching the city from underwater. There were a few rapids to her right, near a cluster of rather sharp rocks, as well as a strong current that would suck her down and pin her to the floor of the lake, among several others.

SCANNING THE INTERIOR, the voice continued. ELYS LIFE FORMS DETECTED. NUMBER: UNKNOWN. ESTIMATED NUMBER BASED ON INFORMATION PROVIDED BY RUY IGNIS: SEVEN. MOVING ON TO THE BARRIER.

Atlantis was a lot clearer now—a cluster of softly shining silver turrets and towers and twisting canals that reflected the light. Catching sight of the Council building, she briefly lifted her hand to touch her bare neck.

She'd left the Registry Pendant they could track her with in her room, with Sandor guarding it, and she was thankful it was finally off her neck.

The crystal-embedded choker might make other elves feel safe, but to her it felt like a threat.