Mysteries Beyond (Dragons RTTE Fanfic - Sequel to Deception)

Chapter 10

You set out early the next morning, quickly packing away your supplies and taking to the air as dawn swept across the ocean. You continued flying north for a few hours, as the sun climbed to its summit. The midday sun was now glaring above you, and glistened in the waves below, making them seem almost inviting, yet you knew deep down that the deadly waters were lethally cold, just waiting for unsuspecting victims. Suddenly, you heard Viggo shout from beside you.

"Look!" he sounded alarmed, as he pointed to the ocean up ahead. You instinctively followed the direction he was pointing in with your gaze, scanning the horizon for anything out of the ordinary. You couldn't believe what you saw.

"What is that?" you muttered under your breath, but loud enough for Viggo to hear. You strained your eyes to see make out the details.

"Hard to tell from this distance." Viggo replied.

"Let's go check it out." you resolved, lowering Amethyst's altitude, swooping down, and skimming the waves as Amethyst accelerated forwards.

"Careful!" Viggo warned. You knew that, but you just wanted to get to the bottom of whatever this was. You knew Amethyst had her wits about her, and so did you. Instinctively, Sclera followed closely by Amethyst's side.

 As you approached, it became a little easier to tell what exactly is was. But still, you couldn't exactly explain it very well. Where the ocean would usually be rolling up and down in waves, in the direction of the wind, there instead seemed to be and area of the ocean where the water was swirling around in circles. It looked almost like the whirlpool of a Submaripper, but it didn't actually hollow out at the eye. Instead, the water just circled in an odd sort of swerving motion, completely different to the usual rolling of waves. The patch of strange water was roughly circular and, all around it, the rough waves traveled normally. Yet, the area of whirling water seemed calmer, almost hypnotizing in the way that it moved. From what you could see, there appeared to be jagged rocks beneath the water's surface around the rim of the circle. A few of the pointed edges poked out of the sea, dappled with algae. Both Amethyst and Sclera seemed strangely drawn to the center of the circle, as of they could sense something you couldn't - some sort of dragon sense.

"I've never seen anything quite like it." you heard the confusion ring in Viggo's voice upon Scerla, who flapped his wings, hovering beside Amethyst and staring intensely at the water. You strained your eyes, looking closer at the water, skimming quickly past your own reflection and delving deeper, trying to see if there was anything unusual below the surface. At a first glance, it seemed completely natural - just water. It was too deep to see much else. However, as you stared a little longer, you began to see faint lights glistening from beneath the surface. At first the glows where deep blues and greens, like the ocean. However, continuing to stare unblinking, purples, yellows and oranges joined the array of colors. What was it? Your stinging eyes began to water with all the staring, and you had no choice but to quickly rub them with your fists, before resuming to investigate your intriguing find. When you looked back at the water, however, the fluctuating glows seemed to have disappeared, and you were left with a mere reflection and, beyond that, nothing... Still scanning the water, but not expecting to see what you had before, you spoke to Viggo.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"I don't even know what it was. I could have sworn I saw-"

"Look out!" the alarm in Viggo's voice made you bolt upright, and tear your eyes away from the water. Scerla had spun around, to face the opposite direction, and was now giving a low growl at what he saw in the distance. Amethyst, too, quickly spun round to face the threat. It looked like a ship, and it was approaching fast, with its sails taut with wind that was pushing the ship towards you. Upon closer inspection, you noticed several other, smaller ships trailing the first and heading towards you. It was impossible to know whether they had seen you yet. When you turned back to Viggo, you saw he had he had a spyglass up to his right eye, and was surveying the ship carefully. When he brought the spyglass away from his face, you could see the expression of shock and concern written plainly on it.