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Lokene’s eyes widened as realization settled over him.
“Because I don’t want you to,” I whispered.
Before either man could respond, I did the impossible and teleported myself away into the dark of the night.
The only thought on my mind as I teleported away from the men had been how much I needed the comfort of being surrounded by water. So I shouldn’t have been too shocked when I found myself suddenly submerged in it.
This wasn’t like Earth’s water, though. Oh no. If Earth’s saltwater helped a body float, Iolatara’s water did the exact opposite. It was like quicksand, quickly pulling me deeper.
There was one other terrifying issue with this water. It was scorching hot, far hotter than any hot spring I had stumbled across during my time on Earth. My skin burned as though I were floating in acid rather than water.
I thought about trying to blink myself out of the water, but what if I sent myself into a volcano next? Or worse, what if I blinked back to the cave? I wasn’t even sure if I could teleport again… especially since I wasn’t supposed to be able to do it in the first place.
I kicked hard, fighting to reach the surface. It was no use. The weight of my backpack and boots weighed me down. I wasn’t sure how deep the water was or what was on the bottom. Which meant if I kicked the boots off so I could shift into my siren body, there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to find and retrieve them afterward.
Hades, I wasn’t even sure I could adapt to such inhospitable water before it murdered me.
At this point, though, I had little choice. I may have phenomenal breath hold for a human body, but with the weight of the water pressing on my chest, I knew that my time in this form was extremely limited.
I let go of my pack, ignoring the flicker of anxiety it caused me to see it sink like a lead weight into the dark water beneath me. Working quickly, I undid the laces on my left boot.
Ignoring a wave of dizziness, I turned my attention to the right boot. It took more effort than I expected due to the lack of oxygen, causing my mind to grow foggy.
Eventually, I was able to loosen the laces enough to kick both boots off. They were already waterlogged and immediately sank toward the bottom.
I wanted to curse, but I couldn’t afford to lose the last bit of oxygen in my lungs. I needed those boots if I planned to go back on land. Especially since I had just pulled a disappearing act on the two men who could make new clothes for me to appear from thin air.
Even though swimming with my tail was a definite advantage, my progress toward the surface was far slower than I would have liked. But at least I was moving, right?
Unable to help myself, I sucked in another desperate breath, my body screaming for oxygen. Once again, my lungs ached from the weight of the water.
There was oxygen in the water, but not as much as I was used to. A deep breath of Earth’s water had about half the amount of oxygen as was in the air. This water was far less oxygenated, and I was being forced to work three times as hard to breathe, while only getting a fraction of the oxygen my body was used to.
Dizzy and lightheaded, I fought to stay conscious. My body reflexively sucked in one deep lung full of water after another while I choked and gagged.
The water above me grew lighter as I neared the surface. If I could just break the surface, I would be able to take in a deep breath. I was so close.
I was five meters from the surface when I slowed. Something had changed.
The darkness that had tinted the edges of my vision had cleared, and my lungs, although slightly sore, as though they’d just finished a workout, were moving the water more easily with each breath I took.
With wonder, I came to a stop, suspended in the water, as I realized that my mind was clear again and wasn’t in danger of passing out. My body’s freaky blessing, or maybe curse, that forced me to survive, had once again come to my aid.
I suspected there were few fish or mammals on Earth able to survive, even temporarily, in this inhospitable water. Yet my body had evolved fast enough that while I wasn’t completely comfortable, I was at least surviving in it.
Staying below the surface, I moved in one direction, knowing that at some point I would have to hit land since planets were round, right?
It took about ten minutes before I could make out a wall of dirt and stone in front of me. Digging my fingers into the dirt, I clung to the wall before slowly creeping up the side until my eyes were above the water’s surface.
Changing directions, I swam away from the surface of the water, heading back the way I’d just come. I grew stronger with each passing minute in the water, but it still took several minutes to reach the bottom.
Thankfully, the floor of this body of water was only about three hundred feet down. The water at this depth was cold and murky, but I could navigate it easily in my siren’s form.
It took some searching along the craggy bottom to find my backpack. My boots would have been a lot easier to locate if they’d sank to the same spot. I guess that would have been too easy. Instead, the pair had gone their separate ways, floating a small distance from each other.
Finally, gathering the last of my gear, I pushed off the bottom and began the challenging swim up toward the surface. While Iolatara’s landscape was beautiful, the underwater world I was currently immersed in was less than enthralling. The water was murky and dark. I didn’t mind dark water—Atlantis was surrounded by it—but there was something unwelcoming about these waters. I kept looking for signs of life like small fish or plants, but I could see nothing but dark slate stone slabs and sharp-edged rocks. It wasn’t a vacation spot I would be eager to revisit.
When the water grew lighter, signifying I was nearing the surface, I slowed my pace.
