Royal Academy Diaries I

Dragonfly ⚜ Ch. 9

"This is not working," she huffed about half an hour later. "It's too dark!"

"We'll find them," Stefan tried to encourage her, but even her third eye was red. "What should we try differently? Because doing the same thing expecting different results is insanity. Literally, according to Einstei-"

"This is perhaps the greatest treasure in archeological history, what are we doing wrong?" As she shouted, the water swirled and indented beneath her dragonfly.

"Woah, Tika, do that again!" the wizard urged.

"Do what?" she hissed, allowing her anger to come through again. This time she felt it - the pull. And she pulled again, intentionally this time.

The wind rushed, and the water swirled and made way, going up onto the sand and washing it away as it swirled. Soon the seabed was visible, and the violent motion of the water was stirring up deep layers.

After less than a minute of this, something gold could be seen.

"Stef, take the dragonflies, get it," she panted, "I can't hold this..."

"On it." He rushed in, taking control of the other dragonflies to help lift four expensive pieces of jewelry out of the wet sand. "I've got them! The dragonflies seem to be holding up under the weight. You can let go!"

Avantika cried out in exhaustion, collapsing to the floor as she released the power. Her dragonfly fell out of the air and landed in the water just short of dry land.

"Tika!" Stefan guided the dragonflies to a high grassy hill that hadn't been touched by the water, knowing how important this was to her. The moment he was close enough, he rushed over to her. "Tika, are you okay? I thought only mages and warlocks have their energy drained by magic..."

She moaned and leaned back on a hand. "This was strange magic. I've never seen anything like it."

He nodded, seeing that she was already regaining strength. "Come on, let's look at what we found."

Smiling tiredly, she forced her dragonfly up, back into the air, and directed it over to the others. "Oh, look! They're beautiful!"

Even covered in silt, the emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and pearls were visible in four pieces of jewelry - a priceless peacock necklace, a pair of earrings, and another piece featuring a large emerald.

"What's this," Stefan asked, hovering over the fourth.

"Maybe a brooch? Or it could have been part of a headpiece," she theorized.

Her friend took a breath. "Absolutely amazing." Switching his focus back to his own eyes, he looked down at her. "You sure you're okay, Tik?"

She nodded. "I'll be fine."

He then gasped. "Woah, look, back this way!"

She gasped too. "What? Oh... Stefan look...!"

Beyond the little hill, the massive maelstrom she'd created helped wash away a good meter of sand, revealing more buildings buried beneath.

Stefan grinned. "Someone's bound to notice after all this."

Avantika chuckled. "Someone just might. Come on, let's bring these home. I want them to be featured in my palace India under my father's portrait."