Page 92 of Shadows of Light
He required their help but didn’t trust a damn thing they said. However, they didn’t have any other options.
He had no idea if Brokk or Orin had been successful. They hadn’t returned to Dragonia yet—the shadows told him as much—which meant they most likely hadn’t found crudue either. He couldn’t take the chance of leaving here without the vine. This could be their only option.
“You’re going to have to,” the queen said. “If you’d like, I’ll take you to the lake.”
“Mira!” the king snapped.
“The sooner they’re out of our land, the happier we’ll all be.”
No one could argue with that.
“Besides, he most likely won’t survive the lake, and then we won’t have to worry about the Reaver.” The queen turned and opened a portal. “You can follow us.”
“Hold on,” Cole said.
He sent the shadows into the portal to see what lay on the other side. When they reported back there was nothing more than a lake, Cole nodded to the queen.
King Firth scowled but followed his wife through the portal. Some of the other merfolk went with them, but the king commanded the others to remain behind.
“Go ahead,” Cole said to the others. “It’s safe. I’ll go last and make sure no one attacks from behind.”
Del and Sahira exchanged a look before entering the portal. Skog followed, but Varo and Maverick remained at his side.
“We’ll go together,” Maverick said.
Cole didn’t argue with him, and he kept the wall of shadows behind them as they strode through the portal and on toward the Malignant Waters. When they arrived on the other side, the queen shut the portal.
The brilliant sun shining down on the lake emphasized its clarity; he could see to the bottom. The lake was about three hundred feet in diameter and nearly a perfect circle.
A hundred feet below, purple, yellow, orange, gold, and silver seaweed clung to the gray rocks lining the bottom and sides of the lake. The seaweed swayed in a current that must have come from the multiple caves burrowed into the sides of the rocky lake.
Nothing moved through the water, but Cole spotted a thick, neon-red vine at the very bottom. He’d never seen crudue vine before, but he’d heard tell of its unique color and the thick thorns lining the rare plant.
There was so much of it down there, yet the merfolk had none? Surely it was worth a few horrible creatures he didn’t see.
“Why haven’t you harvested it?” he demanded.
“Because we value our lives,” the queen replied.
Cole frowned at her before turning his attention back to the water.
“I don’t see anything down there,” Del said gruffly.
“And you won’t until you’reinthe water with them,” King Firth replied.
Cole studied the dark caves lining the lake. There were dozens, if not more of them; some were a good thirty feet high and thirty feet wide.
Skog tapped his battle-ax on the rocks lining the shore of the lake and rubbed his grayish-brown beard. “What are they?”
“So many things,” one of the merfolk murmured.
The queen waved her hand at the serene, beautiful lake. “There are Cetus, kraken, sharks, and horrible, small fish who rend the flesh from your bones. There’s a reason the merfolk aren’t bathing in crudue vine. Only one has ever survived going in there to retrieve the vine.”
“And I won’t do it again.” King Firth’s eyes were full of challenge when they met Cole’s. “I barely survived the first time, and I did it for my wife. I won’t do it for anyone else.”
“Understandable,” Cole murmured. “And I will do it for my mate and fiancée.”
“You can’t go in there, Cole,” Varo said. “It’s almost certain death.”
