Chapter 173 The Stranger in the Depths (1/2)

Lua peaked over the coral towards the patrol guards at the edge of the city. Lia, her twin, tugged at her fin to pull her back down.

”This is a bad idea,” Lia insisted through their mental link, her large eyes wide with nervousness, ”If we're caught-”

Lua grinned, ”You're always such a spoil sport, Lia. If you stop being so skittish, we won't get caught”.

”But-”

Lua grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her forward to the edge of the reef. She peaked out past the edge towards the guards, then turned to spot the pod of whales making their way past the reef.

”Get ready,” Lua smiled.

”Lua, I-”

”Go!”

Lua jetted out from the reef, pulling her anxious sister along with her until they were amongst the pod of whales, bypassing the guards on the way down towards the depths.

”Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lia asked, ”You always say that the shipwrecks are interesting, but we never find anything there that we haven't seen before. The human world is so boring”.

”One of them was a pirate ship! There's sure to be some treasure there,” Lua grinned.

She'd heard the patrol report a fight on the surface between a merchant ship and several pirate ships. With this wreck still being fresh, she was bound to find something good.

”Pirates?” asked Lia, ”Lua, you know that we're supposed to stay away from Pirates”.

”Lia, I doubt they'll be any live pirates at the bottom of the ocean,” Lua rolled her eyes.

The two swam on, their blue Life Lines shimmering with their scales. Lua's scales were a deep blue, contrasting greatly with the smooth, pale skin on her stomach, palms and face. Lia's were a pale purple, reminiscent of her soft and kind disposition.

The two swam with the pod of whales towards the west, then, after a few minutes, paused to watch as some of the lighter debris finished falling to the ocean floor.

”See, I told you it was fresh!” said Lua excitedly. She made to dive down, only to have Lia grab her hand, ”What?”

Lia pointed towards the dark chasm nearby. The wreck had fallen on the edge of the deep crevice, a place where only the braver merpeople ventured, but there, floating listlessly, was the figure of a pale man in black. Considering there were many other bodies of human men floating about, Lua was inclined to ignore it.

However, as his shirt lifted up in the weightlessness of the ocean, it exposed something that was absolutely not human.

”Are those…black Life Lines?” asked Lia.

The two had never seen black Life Lines before. A human Magician's Life Lines were silver or white. Elves had green, Merpeople had blue, Dwarves, brown. But black?

Lua swam over, catching his body lightly and directing it over to the edge of the chasm, she unceremoniously flipped him over and pulled up his shirt to expose the Life Lines. She didn't touch them, such a thing was taboo to any race, but as she hovered her finger over them and tried to read them, she found herself falling short. Lia, who had approached cautiously with her hands clasped before her, looked at her sister in confusion.

”I can't read them,” Lia admitted.

”Neither can I,” Lua replied, ”They look so…wrong”.

Lia nodded in agreement, ”Lua, maybe we should just leave him and pretend we didn't see-”

Lia paused, looking towards the distant west in surprise.

”What's that?” asked Lia.