Stones of Power; Water: Part Two

     "Yes, we could find him, but to no avail. We would not be strong enough all together, and that is saying a lot! You however, according to these papers, are the only ones that could follow the trail, something with the DNA structure and your abilities of having the dreams. Useful things..."

     Here Saora cut in angrily, "I don't think my dreams are useful!!! Is it useful I half drowned in icky blackness?!" At this point Lanai started strangling her to get her to be quiet.

     "Mistress Lanai, would you please refrain from choking young Mistress Saora? Thank you. As I was saying, you would be the only ones to go through with it; we would only be vaguely be able to help you. Unfortunately, you are not a quarter of the way as strong as us Faeries, so there would be only one way for you to have the power."

     Benicia handed Lanai several photographs and documents.

     "Those are papers on mythical stones of Fire, Water, and Light. As there are only ancient reports on them, from about a thousand years ago, they were never catalogued as being really there. To gain enough power, you will need to locate them. But, for silly reasons unknown, most of the directions of where to find them have crumbled, or have been ill-kept or written in faulty ink, and disintegrated and faded. We know for sure where the Stone of Water is though, so head for there first."

     Illusen was slightly purple in the face when she stopped to catch her breath. A strange Dark faerie took over for her now. "The Stone is somewhere in an underwater cavern in as described, 'The Azure Waters, near the edge of the Isle of Mystery.'"

     "We can only assume that means Mystery Island, and since most of the water there is mostly indigo, all you need to do is watch closely for the Azure waters, then capture the stone. Simple, but you may find trouble. Reports of active Shaowy have increased by almost 10%!"

     "We can handle it Ma'am," boasted Shae confidently. Saora may need to be filled in, but trust me, we will obtain that stone!"

     Benicia nodded encouragingly and said one last thing. "Saora, those two already know this, but to be safe, your new name is Kaerry. Later!" In a totally non-Faerie gesture, Benicia gave them a thumbs-up. And once again, there was a flash of blinding light and wind.

     This time while traveling through what must be Dreaport World, Saora thought she heard a strange singing in the back round, a soft sweet singing that carried her mind faraway, and stayed with her until she shuttled through the wall of glass.

     Once again she landed upon her knees but quickly straightened up. Lanai appeared from no where in the busy crowd they had been sent to and dragged Saora by the arm out to the side of the pet highway.

     "Man, what where those Faerie thinking, transporting us into a crowd with a newcomer!? Ah well, let's just find Shae for now, and find a place to crash."

     Shae was now where to be seen, so Lanai instructed Saora to stay right at the Tombola until she returned. The Island Uni blended right in with the Festive Island decorations, and Saora soon lost track of her in the mass of owners and pets. She felt like something was watching her from right in front of her nose. She shivered while she waited.

     The feeling passed as soon as Shae popped out of the crowd exhausted, Lanai trailing behind. They checked into a beachside hotel under the name, "Mr. and Mrs. Rennin and daughter."

     The room was small, with two beds and a pullout trundle bed for Saora. The Shoyru herself plopped down on a Snowball bean bag and awaited the others. When they returned from where ever they had been, Shae shuffled through the paper the faeries had bestowed upon them, and located the picture and information on the Stone of Water.

     "If any of us wields the stones of Power, it's Shae," stated Lanai, "You didn't know Kaerry, but being a supersensitive means he already has strong magics. So combined with the Stones, he might have a chance."

     "And I think I know where we should look," Saora piped up, "It did say Azure waters, didn't it? I mean the only place around Mystery Island that has a different shade of water is the Beach."

     Shae was half hopping in excitement, "And according to this it's resting at the bottom of a crevasse! If I swim down there, with you two covering me, I might make it! Perfect! Let's leave tomorrow."

     Before she went to bed that night, Lanai passed her a slight charm, a Shoyru flying with wings outstretched. "To keep away the dreams."

     Saora lay stretched out over the trundle bed, shivering. While the days of Mystery Island were hot and humid, the nights caught the sea breeze coming off the main ocean, and the bitter wind swept through the trees and whistled through the buildings. Twice Saora woke that night, thinking she was being pulled away by the Shaowy tracking Faeries. Twice she returned to shivering. Before she left consciousness, she fingered the charm to make sure it was there.

     ~*~*~

     Sometime after midnight, some Island Techos raided, with war paint on their faces and tails. They crept through the village, slaying those awake enough to sight them. Some of the braver scaled to the second floor of a hotel. Two debated furiously in whispers of an old tongue. Then one of them reached over and gently slipped a necklace off of a blue Shoyru's neck. They hurriedly jumped down to the solid earth, and vanished into the tropical forest of Mystery Island with their fellows.

     They did not know or care that the rest of the night Saoras dreams were dark, drowning fantasies.

     ~*~*~

     She woke disheveled and sweating hard, not a good thing when you are sitting in a hundred degree oven. Or to be precise, a sweltering island in the middle of no where.

     "Gosh, didn't you wear the charm. Pride isn't everything!" proclaimed Lanai cheerfully over some NeoCrunch.

     Saora scowled. "I did! When I woke up, it was gone!"

     "Everybody! The Natives raided last night!" Shae announced while walking in the door.

     Saora wrinkled her nose. That explained the disappearance of the amulet.

     It turned out that Shae had been out buying highly rated swimsuits, for Lanai and Saora, he had to find some with wing attachments.

     They criss-crossed the Island to the famed Beach, where a vital clue had been found for a plot.

     The water was indeed and deep shade of azure, barely noticeable. They struggled into the suits, and waded into the water deep. Shae fitted his scuba gear on tight, and the rest did the same. Saora trembled as she stepped into the water, remembering the dream. But the water was cool and accepting, whereas the dream was oppressive and choking.

     Shae gave the signal, and they dived in as one.

     ~*~*~

     Saora was astounded by the clearness of the water. The many schools of dazzling fish were lovely. And then they came to a dark place. This place was dark, no fish swam here, seaweeds threatened to tangle their feet. Saora was puzzled that they were going so long with out breathing, but hey, if she wasn't crazy, she would be soon.

     A spurt of bubbles sprayed from her mouth when she noticed the Shaowy with fins coming at them.

     There were two, grinning in a funny way. Fangs. Saora nearly threw-up right then and there.

     They were gruesome, horrible things, shaped like a mermaids with very little skin, which was plastered to their bones. Ragged, thin, black (or was that filth?) hair streamed out behind them. Tails were smooth pink skin, transparently so.

     Lanai flailed violently with her wings, and surprisingly, this worked. She was on the Shaowy in seconds, dodging and plunging in with her horn at the ghastly beings.

     Shae paddled further down into what had to be the crevasse, swimming strongly.

     Saora tried to reach for him when she saw the Shaowy slink toward him, but she found that while she had been watching her friends fight, she had drifted and been caught in the seaweed. The plants tangled cruelly around her feet and tail, and seemed to squeeze her. She wanted to call desperately for help, but would not be able to under water.

     The weeds wrapped around her abdomen, her chest. There they concentrated on crushing the air from her lungs.

     Saora thrashed against the plant bonds, and they contracted tighter. Bubbles flew swiftly from her throat.

     Suddenly the seaweed recoiled, and Lanai shook Saora firmly. Obviously telling her to leave.

     Remembering, Saora twirled to face where Shae had been struggling. Somehow Lanai had slipped by her and helped Shae out. They were making for the surface; Shae was motioning for her to move. She pivoted to face another Shaowy.

     She half gurgled, and recalled that she couldn't waste valuable air. Like she hadn't wasted enough already.

     The Shaowy covered her front and above. So Saora made a beeline for the only option. Toward the stone, and toward a deep dark crevasse of probable doom.

     And now she was back where she was, thinking back on all the unbelievable things that had happened. She never felt stronger inside. But her body suddenly stopped overbearing, and dragged. Her eyes were going bleary, her limbs barely moved. How long had she been with out enough air?

     She could see a soft aquamarine glow just below her, seconds away. Her body didn't have seconds.

     Her mind flashed back to the Faerie symbols. Maybe?

     Recollecting as hard as she could, she traced the symbol of transportation in front of her, her mind focused on the stone.

     She was there, the beautiful singing of the Dreaport ringing in her ears. She was enveloped in the warm aura of the Water stone.

     She was twisting in the dark lake, the stone somewhere in her self-consciousness. Evil cackling resounded in her mind, the singing whispering softly in her ear. It sang of strength to return to life, leaving the dreams behind, rejoicing in the power Saora and the stone would share.

     The song won out.

     She gasped for breath. The stone was gone. But profoundly, she took in sweet cold air, like a cool apple on a summer day. On a picnic she and her family shared. Odd thoughts to be having when you are probably half gone.

     Saora went along with the dream, for that was what it had to be, and turned to face the forgotten Shaowy, who had lost its grin.

     The little blue Shoyru saw many terrible and wonderful things happening in her minds eye. A big one was some one finally gone, pets finally free.

     Saora smiled and called up a sword with her new found powers and her mind. And grinned evilly at the Shaowy. There was hope that Chorine would be beaten, after all.

The End