Draygon Inferno | Book 2 | ✔️

Chapter Twenty-One

Elias always felt that was flawed logic. Anything could be abused, and Aquantis was asking for trouble having all currents lead straight to it.

He narrowed his eyes when he caught sight of the spiraling white bubbles of the Draygon current. Two men stood on either side of the opening, coral spears crossing each other to block the way. Granted it had been many years since he returned to Aquantis, but never once had a current been guarded. Even now, all currents lay open and unprotected except for the one he needed.

"By order of the elder council, the Draygon current is closed," one man said. "None shall pass."

"The currents have never been closed." Elias' arms floated beside him as he used them to keep his body suspended in place without needing his magic to steady himself. "Is there no way to get to Draygon?"

He knew the answer, there were plenty of ways to get to Draygon, but none of them would get him there in a timely fashion. With aid of the current, he could be there by months end. Even still, he could enter this current farther down, away from the block, but if they went through enough trouble to have guards standing watch, Elias wondered what else they might've done to close the current.

"Take it up with the elder council, now move along." The guards pointed their spears at Elias, stabbing them forward. He pushed back in time to miss the points slicing his shimmering scales covering every ounce of his body. Elias knitted his brow but didn't swim away until the guards stabbed at him again. There was no point staying to argue with them. Elias could seek out the elder council or take his chances at being able to enter farther down the current.

Elias chose to find the council.

It was never hard to find the council, they always held residence in the largest shell on the sea floor. A reflective gold and peach conch shell larger than any shell one could imagine. Elias was sure magic was used to enlarge it, making it big enough to fit several thousand Aquantians and then some. That shell was the one thing that stood out in Aquantis, but even that still managed to blend in with the sea bottom that it could easily be missed if someone didn't look close enough.

He joined the stream of Aquantians swimming into the narrow opening on the right side of the spiraling shell. Most were foragers returning with their load to deposit into the communal food banks. They were methodical, almost like the Vanguard Mages with their lack of free will. Except every Aquantian knew exactly what they were doing and questioned nothing. Even now, years later, Elias disliked the hive mentality of his species. Life wasn't worth living when you weren't allowed to decide for yourself how to live it.

Elias split away from the perfect line formation once inside. The metallic-like swirls of colors bent with the curve of the shell, illuminated by the phosphorescence created by the algae plants potted in the corners. Aside from the small shell-tables holding the pots, there was no other furniture in the seashell. Foragers placed their gatherings on a magically powered conveyor belt that sent the food into the storage bins beneath the shell. Then they simply left in search of more bags full of food and supplies.

He swam away from the supply chain toward a smaller room. The elder council was never far from the food intake, they oversaw it all. They gathered on seaweed pillows, doted on by their apprentices that would take their place upon their death. Another fact Elias hated. He'd seen many a slave owner over his time in the lowlands and the elder council weren't much better. Their apprentices did everything for them so all the elder council had to do was sit on their comfy pillows and hardly lift a finger.

They were lazy, the lot of them. If an attack ever came to the seas, Aquantis would fall and take all of their people with it because they never learned to defend themselves.