97 The Dyscovera

Javian called down from the lookout nest, “Captain Vora, there's something ahead!”

After long weeks with no land in sight, and not even an encounter with sea serpents to interrupt the monotony, the crew scurried across the deck, shading their eyes to peer off into the waters. Criston shouted up, “What is it—a reef? An island?”

Javian paused a long time, staring through the spyglass. “No, sir—it looks like… towers! Buildings under the water!”

Kjelnar brayed with laughter. “Towers? The boy's gone sunblind.”

Criston placed his own battered spyglass to his eye, swung the lens across the water ahead, and frowned. Near the horizon, he did see pointed objects protruding from the waves… artificial structures. Rooftops? Pinnacles? He suspected it was just a cluster of weirdly shaped coral or pointed rocks, but he couldn't be sure. “Kjelnar, set our course three points to port. We came out here to see what there is to see.”

Prester Hannes joined them. “Perhaps this is a signpost that Aiden left to guide us to Terravitae. If that tower is the Lighthouse at the End of the World, then our quest may be at an end.”

The Saedran chartsman joined him, his face filled with curiosity. “Isn't that just a legend?”

“Many things sound like legends to unbelievers,” Hannes said with a sour expression.

“I'm not an unbeliever,” Aldo said in a mild tone. “I just don't believe what you believe.” He had always enjoyed sparring with Sen Leo na-Hadra, but Prester Hannes seemed to find it more annoying than intellectually stimulating.

Aldo ignored the prester's pinched expression and continued to stare toward the distant structures. Since sailing beyond the reach of his known charts, he'd had little to do. Each day Aldo took measurements of the sun's zenith and marked the stars at night, but the constellations had long since shifted out of their familiar patterns. After such a long voyage, he had little to show for their explorations other than a map of empty waters.

Appearing suddenly alongside the ship, lissome gray forms rose in graceful arcs, then dove again. Mia called from the starboard rail, “Look at the dolphins. Dozens of them!”

As the Dyscovera turned toward the sunken towers, the dolphins followed them all the way like a formal escort, bounding through the waters and then streaking ahead. The sailors cheered them, laughing. They all felt excited, optimistic. Seamen had long considered dolphins to be good luck.

Even with fractured sunlight reflecting from the waves, Criston could discern structures under the water—geometrical shapes in the crystalline depths, large buildings many fathoms down. A… sunken city. The pointed structures protruding from the surface became the tops of ornate spires that reached out of the water, the tallest of which appeared to be the peak of a great palace.

Kjelnar climbed to the prow, leaning out over the ice-dragon horn to peer downward. “Careful there! Edge a bit starboard—I'll not have my Dyscovera wrecked because one of you sailed her into the top of a building!”

The dolphins encircled the Dyscovera with chattering laughter. Shimmering forms streaked through the water around the buildings, darting to and fro… but they did not look like fish. Mia called out, “Captain, do you see it?”

“I'm not sure what I'm seeing.”

After swimming around the ship one more time, still frolicking, the dolphins dove beneath the waves, where the depths distorted their forms. A few moments later, figures splashed to the surface, astounding the crew. Human figures. Young men and women, barely clothed, dove and splashed and peered up at the large sailing ship.

Reeling back from the sight, Prester Hannes made a warding sign and grasped his fishhook pendant. “If they are demons of the deep, we must fight them. The Book of Aiden warns us about deceivers.”

Kjelnar paced up and down the deck, alert and suspicious. “I've heard stories of merfolk, Captain. They tempt ships onto the rocks, get them lost in storms.”

But Criston heard no threat in the voices as they laughed and called out in an eerie, musical language. “Don't forget why we came, Hannes, and what we are charged to do. These are all children of Ondun. Aren't you curious to learn what they know of Aiden's original voyage?”

The prester frowned at the captain in surprise. “We already know everything we need to know. Aiden left it for us.” His brow furrowed as he studied the swimming people. “I cannot tell if they are ignorant savages who need saving, or if they are already damned—like the Urecari.”

Criston was not concerned. “We'll be cautious, but I won't pass up a chance like this. Maybe these people can tell us the way to Terravitae.” He raised his voice. “Drop sails! And keep a sharp eye out.”

The sunken city was all around and below them now. The buildings were made of ancient stone marked with unusual glyphs and designs, ornamented with scrollwork. Everything seemed perfectly intact, as if someone took care of it.

Scrutinizing the marks on the towers, Aldo na-Curic straightened in shock. “Captain, I—I recognize that writing! The letters are archaic, but there's no doubt…” He blinked. “They're Saedran, sir! This city, those buildings—they're of Saedran origin!”

Below, the swimmers continued to laugh and wave and chatter amongst themselves. Aldo shook his head in wonder. “I have heard the stories all my life, but I thought they were just fanciful tales. Now it's true—it's true! This city—everything that lies beneath us—is the original Saedran continent that sank beneath the waves ages ago.”