The Way of the Sea

Chapter Twenty: Moonstone

Eden's stomach dropped when the front line of prisoners began to move, led by the guard whom Deagan had put in charge.

He led them to the end of the corridor, to the wall that marked the border of the dungeon, but kept going. Eden peeked around the prisoners in front of her, confused. All she could see was the smooth surface of the stone wall.

But wait-- directly in front of them, there was a hole chiseled into the wall, large enough for one prisoner at a time to swim through.

"It's a tunnel," whispered Aela from behind.

Eden nodded in response. "Where does it lead?" she whispered over her shoulder.

Aela sighed. "To the moonstone fields."

The line moved slowly forward as person after person swam through the hole in the wall. Soon, the prisoner in front of Eden passed through and disappeared into the darkness.

There were no flickering blue balls of fire lining this tunnel, like in the corridor behind them. She hesitated.

"Go on," Colin murmured.

Eden took a deep breath, swallowing whatever amount of fear she felt. She kicked her tail and ducked her head, and disappeared through the hole in the stone.

The tunnel dipped downward. Almost immediately, Eden noticed a change in temperature. It was growing warmer and warmer, the farther down they went. She followed the line of prisoners before her, relying on the tug of the blackweed rope to guide her.

Hints of blue light began to flutter against the tunnel walls, revealing that there was indeed an end to the darkness.

The tunnel curved, and the light before them grew. Before long, they had reached the end. A gate opened above them like a trap door. One by one, the prisoners swam upward through the open gate and gathered together outside as if they were familiar with this routine.

They were just outside the city, which was bordered by the tail ends of a winding mountain range. The castle glowed softly, and Eden could see now that it was built into the mountain.

Eden turned away from the city and stared in awe at the hauntingly beautiful sight before her. The world was much wilder on this side of the tunnel. Small, spiny rock formations scattered the dark ocean floor like a range of slender, miniature mountains. The tallest ones spouted clouds of black steam. Like the tunnel that had led them underground, the water was warmer here. With surprise, Eden realized that the blue light she had seen in the tunnel was coming from the rocks. Specks of glowing blue stone sprinkled everything in sight.

Eden marveled at the sight before her. "What is this place?"

"The Moonstone Fields," said Colin. His voice held a hint of eagerness, as if his melancholy mood from minutes before was washing away with the slight current that drifted through the valley.

"Why are we here?" Eden asked, turning to Aela.

"Because no one else wants to do the job."

"Whatever the job is, it sounds like he wants to do it," Eden nodded at Colin, who was gazing at the rocky moonstone formations with awe and wonder.

Aela snorted and rolled her eyes. "He's like a child when it comes to moonstone."

On either side of them, the other prisoners were picking up tools that had been lying on the ground.

"Quick," said Aela. "Grab a hand tool before they're all gone. And a draw-string sack -- you'll need that too."

Eden found that the paralysis that had frightened her earlier was fading. Her fingers felt heavy, but she could move them. It was different than when Captain Deagan had paralyzed nearly her whole body. This paralysis was weaker and shorter, somehow.