Born of Wind - Of The Elements Series Book 1

Chapter 2

"Malotus! What did you just do? Now they will know someone was in here!"

Malotus looked at her for a second, "Relax," then shot his arm out, palm facing the ceiling. As he did, a wind blast came forth from his core, like a shudder. Though Grimley the falcon was familiar with the sensation, the crash startled him and sent him lurching. He screeched as the straw ceiling burst open.

"Shhh, relax, Grimley." A hand came to stroke the moss-wrinkles on the falcon's chest, relaxing him. "Now we're good... A bolt of lightning from the storm did it. Ah what is this?" He lifted a scroll lying on the desk in a neat curl. "This scroll seems to indicate a list of items in this library."

His eyes flitted along the page, holding it to the dim candlelight. "It lists what we are looking for... So, it must be here somewhere." "I for one am shocked it didn't get blown away." "Just get to work," he snarled.

Yulah groaned and resumed searching through the rubble.

Their efforts continued late into the night. As they worked, Grimley the falcon lifted off and watched the figures at the edge of town control the winds, holding a stormy wall up, raging to outsiders, but calm for those within.

***

Meleena and her family, along with the rest of Pontai'Desa, descended into the dark chasm of the ocean. Their finned legs streamed behind them, heads facing the depths as they descended into the unknown, only a tiny pinprick of green light in the distance guiding them. What was it? She didn't know, only that it was their unified goal to reach it. She sensed from the tinging of her hair that the underwater community still lived well within the depths of the sun's energy-giving rays.

The sensation of breathing through neck-gills was always a surprise as the cold water rushed in and curled through. After several minutes of total immersion, the less sensitive finger and toe webbing extended, making the padding much easier, though a chill ran up her spine as the endless depths expended on either side of her, the other Meruyans so small in comparison. It was easy to imagine a beast of boundless size emerging to swallow them up: they'd be totally powerless to stop it.

She squinted and tried to focus on the beacon below, which radiated from a bioluminescent orb. It could only be the underwater village square.

She scarcely visited, and couldn't recall how long it had been since the last storm that had brought her down there. As they drew closer, small flickers of light exposed the caves all around them—the homes of the underwater villagers. She had never seen it at night.

As Meleena and her family floated into the square, surrounded by the rest of Pontai'Desa's shore-dwelling villagers, she realized they were not alone. The Underwater Village Elder held a staff aloft, its end illuminating the stone pavement of the square with a glass orb, in which swam a brightly glowing jellyfish. The green light.

Long fins streamed from not just his limbs but his cheeks: barnacles lined his hairline, looking more like seagrass inlaid with more critters calling it home. Snails, crabs, brittle stars, tube worms—all crawling freely or sanctioned to his kelpweave robes. It was hard to tell what was alive and what was decoratively inlaid, such as pearl and shell, though perhaps that could be said about them all. He must have been down here for a long time.

"Welcome, shore guests. I have received word about your descent from the shore Elder. Our volunteers will bring you to the great hall shelters so you may get some rest." He spoke in native Meruyan, a language comprised of a series of clicks, or short sound pulses, interpreted as words. Meleena was as fluent as anyone who only comes to underwater on market day once a week—agreeable, though imperfect.

Meleena followed her parents, as the shore villagers collectively followed underwater villagers with luminescent jellyfish orbs to light their way. They made their way into the large cave-dwelling system, a wide cavern set up with rows of beds of algae to sleep on.