Age of Kings

by A bag of plums

93 - In Deep

Emerald Edge and the others now stood before yet another sea of black, but this time, it was almost a literal sea. The cave led them straight to a pool with no other way forward. The glowing mushroom trail ended just before the water’s surface and past that, there was no light. Smooth and silky stones the size of her chest sat against the right wall, their purpose unknown to her.

“Em, I don’t know if I should say it now, but I can’t swim, remember?” Spectrum Song looked at the water as though she wanted to kill it.

“Neither can I, but it isn’t stopping me!” Parisa began to stretch her arms.

Sombra remained quiet, but he kept his eyes on the surface.

Emerald guessed that being desert dwellers, they didn’t exactly have a lot of chances to learn swimming. Neither did she, but she had learnt the human swimming mechanics from her time at the Canterlot baths, from the muse, Adagio Dazzle.

“Right, uh, I don’t really know how to explain swimming, but…” Emerald mimicked swinging her arms back and forth. “You just… push yourself in the water. Like this. With your legs too.”

“Doesn’t look too hard.” Spectrum copied her motions. “We can do this. This is like a piece of delicious cake compared to the previous trial.”

“All we have to do is… swim?” Streak looked a little more doubtful.

“The lights once again end here.” Sombra pointed to the glowing mushrooms, which stopped right at the water’s edge. “We will not know where to swim. Only through the Sea of Shadows may the worthy find the light…” He rubbed his jaw.

Emerald too didn’t know what that meant, but she knew they wouldn’t find anything out standing around here, so without further ado, she stepped over and plunged into the dark water.

The caves had already been a little chilly before, but once she was in the water, it was as though she had just taken a dive in the waters of the Frozen North, and that was with her pony coat. Her body was already shivering as she looked around for anything that would point them in any direction, but underwater, it was darker than above, and she could only see the cave wall behind her. Everything else disappeared into the darkness ahead.

Before she could sink any further, Emerald swam back up and breached the surface with a gasp, holding on to the side.

“I do not see anything underwater.” She shook her head and shivered. “Tis too dark.”

“We have to go through here,” Sombra said. “There is no other way.”

“Do you not think I know that?” Emerald shot back.

“Well then whether you see anything or not, there is a way.”

“Inconceivable cow.” Emerald muttered under her breath.

She tapped a finger on the side, then dove down again for another look. She still ended up finding no way through and came back up for air, defeated.

“Maybe if I can try!” Parisa put her hands together and jumped into the water.

She paddled around under the water’s surface and looked like a bloated goose trying to flap its wings. She stayed afloat, but didn’t get anywhere other than trying to keep her head above the surface. She spluttered and trod water, before finally being hauled out by the squires.

“Didn’t see anything either,” she reported as she spat out water like a waterpump.

“We have to venture deeper.” Streak gulped.

“I have the most armor.” Emerald patted her breastplate. “I will see how far I can go.”

“Be careful, Em,” Spectrum said. “Just make sure you have enough time to come back up for air.”

“Maybe take one of these round stones with you.” Parisa lifted one and brought it over. “There’s plenty enough. It’ll help you go down faster, yes?”

“It will help, yes.” Emerald accepted the stone. It was quite weighty, not too heavy, but not light as well. It was oddly smooth, likely not a natural shape. But why would someone smooth out all these for? Perhaps it was actually for this task at hand. That got Emerald thinking and the only way to know for sure was to go back underwater.

Taking in a deep breath of air, Emerald plunged back underwater, holding the stone tightly. She felt herself begin to sink, dropping deeper and deeper into the abyss below. Thoughts of dark monsters just waiting to devour her filled her mind and tightened at her already tight chest as she continued to sink.

Pressure began to build in her head and she let out a mouthful of bubbles. Just how deep was this hole?

And then to her relief, her feet touched the ground and she quickly looked around as she released the stone from her hands.

There.

Just ahead in the gloom, Emerald could see a flicker of light in the dark. She’d found the light.

Kicking up, Emerald propelled herself along the cave wall and back up where she had come from. She released more bubbles from her mouth as she fought to breach the surface before she ran out of air. It was tough to push up against the water with her armor on, but she kept going and just as her vision began to darken, her head broke the surface of the water and Emerald took in a whole lungful of air as she gasped and coughed.

“Em, are you alright?” Spectrum ran over and sat by the water’s edge.

“I found it…” she replied between gasps. “I found the way. But tis going to be quite the swim…”

“Wh-what if w-we… cannot h-hold our breath for so long?” Streak shook on the spot.

“Silly, you should be worried about not being able to swim fast enough!” Parisa giggled and wrapped an arm around his neck. “Like I am!”

A skittering sound made itself known from the tunnel they had come from. It was the sound of a stone sliding across the ground and that could only mean one thing.

“We have company coming…” Sombra uttered.

“Make haste.” Emerald pointed to the smooth stones. “Take one and come.”

Already, the echoing sounds of what sounded like laughter could be heard resonating from within the tunnel. It was now or never.

As each of her group picked out their stones, Emerald ushered them to descend, plunging back into the depths only after she’d made sure the others had already done so. She didn’t know if ghuls could swim, so she wanted to get out on the other side as soon as they could.

Back down in the cold and dark depths of the body of water, Emerald kept her stone tight on herself, watching as Streak and Spectrum began sinking lower and lower below her feet. They weren’t panicking at least, that was good. The last thing she needed now was one of them thrashing about and wasting all their air before they even touched the bottom.

The descent seemed a lot quicker now that she wasn’t alone, and in no time, she felt her feet plant against the rocky bottom of the watery pit. Emerald was quick to start walking, pointing ahead where the faint source of light could now be seen. Sombra and Parisa were already beginning the walk towards it, while Streak and Spectrum required a little more cajoling to get them going.

It became apparent that they weren’t going to have the air to walk all the way to the light, so Emerald dropped her stone and kicked off with her legs, trying to get her party to do the same. It was hard trying to get them to copy her in almost pitch darkness, but somehow, just somehow, they were all kicking on their way to the light now, their stones abandoned as their lungs now fought to breathe.

Emerald pushed on, doing her best to keep the air from bursting from within herself. She pushed through the water with both her arms and legs, refusing to die in a dark place like this. Parisa seemed to have no trouble flailing her arms about to get herself forward. If anything, she seemed to be going faster now.

Sombra was the one Emerald was concerned about. Because he too had armor, he was beginning to slow and disappear from the spymaster’s vision. As much as she would like to leave him to drown here, she had cut a deal with him and she at least would like to think she kept her end of her bargains.

Falling back, Emerald motioned for Spectrum and Streak to keep going as she hooked an arm under Sombra’s and pulled. The prince wore a look of surprise on his face for a second, but then allowed himself to be pulled as he kicked harder with his legs now.

Emerald fought on, releasing a few more bubbles of air from her mouth to lessen the pressure in her lungs. The corner of her vision began to blur, but they were almost there now. She could see it. The light from ahead was bright enough to cast the shadows of her friends across the sides and she could see that the others were further ahead, almost to their goal.

We can do this. We can make it.

The end of the tunnel sloped up, light from above glistening over the surface of the water. Filled with much hope, Emerald pulled Sombra along harder, now heading upward.

The former pegasus gasped hard as her mouth broke the surface, taking in as much air as she could as she yanked Sombra past the surface as well. Each breath of air felt like a cool breeze down her throat and she didn’t think she was able to miss it that much.

Sombra and the others also gasped for air, with the other three of her companions already calming down and resting on the rocky slope.

“We actually… did it…” Spectrum lay on her back and laughed. “Boy, I thought it was going to die on the way…”

“I didn’t think so!” Parisa said happily and went back underwater, emerging back out and spitting it out of her mouth like a fountain. “That was fun!”

“I wonder… just how my father had done this…” Sombra coughed and gave Emerald a pat on her shoulder, much to her annoyance. “Thank you… You have an interesting sense of honor for a criminal…”

Emerald rolled her eyes and tossed Sombra off her. “Just get on with it. What comes next. We have passed all the trials of your djinn.”

Sombra knocked the water out of his ears and shook most of the wetness from his hair. “We must be close to the source of my family’s power by now. But we should proceed with caution. There are still the djinn to deal with.”

“Do you not just need to talk to them? I thought they were to give you a power and the location of the artifact.”

Prince Sombra scowled and put his hand on the pommel of his scimitar. “I do not honestly know what I am supposed to do next. Only that it is the solemn duty of the Saddle Arabian royal family to pact with the djinn and protect the land. What the djinn look for in members of the royal family is unknown to me.”

“So basically, you have no idea what you’re doing,” Spectrum summed up.

“I said nothing of the sort!” Sombra bristled. “I merely meant to say that the ways of the djinn are mysterious. No mortal man or woman knows what qualities they search for in a king or queen.”

“If we came all this way and you are not worthy of their power…” Emerald groaned. “I will strangle you myself.”

Prince Sombra said nothing, but pushed past Emerald and proceeded up the sloping passage. It was lit with more luminous fungi, and there were carvings on the walls that depicted epic battles and some strange, serpentlike creatures that Emerald had never seen before. She remembered the giant worms they fought on the way to Saddle Arabia, but these weren’t like that. These actually looked like serpents.

The air grew warmer as they climbed, which was a welcome change after the dip in the frigid water they had taken to get this far.

The passage soon opened up into a wide open area, where there was a strange golden glow lighting up the space. There was a shallow pool filled to the brim with clear, sparkling water, which was constantly overflowing from a stream behind it. The creek ran between two ancient trees, which had grown into a kind of archway. There were more carvings of Saddle Arabian kings on the walls, cast into sharp relief by the unearthly golden light.

And on a pedestal in the center of the pool was a grand chalice made of gilded metal, inlaid with silver etchings. It seemed to shine like a hundred candles.

“Is that…” Spectrum said as she laid eyes on the chalice. “...the Grail?”

Emerald imagined that there was some kind of choir singing in the background as she stepped up to the edge of the pool. Could this be the artifact that she was here for? She remembered Morn’s tales and his quest to find a grail. Was this really the thing he had sought for most of his life? Was it from Equestria? But it was odd. Unlike the sword, shield or staff, she felt nothing about this one. There was no warm feeling of home coming from it.

Emerald was about to reach out and touch it when suddenly the water began to bubble as if it were boiling.

Alarmed, Emerald scurried back. She joined the rest of the group at a safe distance before there was a huge splash and what looked like thick tendrils of dark mist flew out of the water.

The columns of darkness swirled around the group like a tornado as features began to form in the smog. What looked like arms and hands, followed by bulges in the mist that looked like faces, faces with empty eyes and crooked mouths.

Emerald had never considered herself a superstitious pony, but this here, was unlike anything she had seen in the human world before. It reminded her of the tales of the umbrum. Of Sombra’s people, and it did make her a little more resentful towards the Saddle Arabian prince. A tingle crawled up her spine as four vaguely humanoid shapes took form in front of them, floating in the air and looking down at the five questors with unknowable intent.

Prince Sombra knelt down in front of the spirits, placing his right palm across his heart and bowing his head. Parisa quickly followed suit, motioning for Emerald and the two squires to copy her.

The djinn, as Emerald now realized these shades must be, flew in a circle around the kneeling group, whispering in raspy Saddle Arabian. They stopped in front of Prince Sombra and reached out with their insubstantial hands, placing them on the prince’s shoulders and back. To his credit, Sombra did not flinch at their touch. Emerald scoffed at him. Of course Sombra would be calm in their presence, he was one of them back in Equestria.

Sombra began replying in Saddle Arabian. Emerald almost wanted to know what they were saying, but she figured that it was best that whatever dark magic was at work here was best left unknown. The chalice in the pool floated up and dipped itself into the water. Prince Sombra reached out and accepted the cup, drinking deeply from it. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a burst of darkness erupted from within him, knocking Emerald and the others down. The djinn flew up around Sombra and their whispering grew louder.

Then they flew away from the prince and settled around Emerald Edge’s person, fixing her in their unblinking gazes.

One of them said something to Emerald, but she couldn’t understand it. The djinn repeated itself, and this time Parisa scurried over to help.

“Um, the djinn is asking you what you’re here for,” the dancer translated for her. “That you have journeyed far to drink from the waters of life.”

“I… I seek aid for a wounded friend,” Emerald spoke to the djinn. That’s what she had come here to do anyway. To seek their help in search of the artifact and to heal Posey. “And-and I am in search of a great artifact. Something not of your world.”

The djinn hovered before her and eyed its brethren. Whispers of Saddle Arabian began exchanging among them. Emerald felt as though their whispers were going directly into her head, as if they could speak right into her mind. She wondered if they were somehow related to the umbrum, both of them beings of shadow. That relation made her wary of them. She didn’t trust them.

There was more whispering, then they pointed at her. That didn’t look good.

“They want to know where you have come from.” Parisa translated.

Emerald cleared her throat. “I’m from the Kingdom of Canterlot-”

The djinn hissed and whirled around in an agitated pattern, whispering some more. Parisa gulped.

“They want to know where you are really from,” Parisa said nervously. “You… smell different to them.”

It felt as though a pit fell in Emerald’s stomach. But then she figured she’d already told so many people. What was telling a few more smokey dark creatures?

“I am Emerald Edge of Equestria,” she began. “Another world. Not of yours. These artifacts, they come from my world and I am here to reclaim them to help reclaim Masyaf and Canterlot.”

The djinn began muttering amongst themselves again, giving Emerald time to eye the grail sitting in the middle of the pool of water. If that really was an artifact of Star Swirl the Bearded, then why didn’t it feel like it? But then how would it have the power to heal?

That broke her thoughts. Posey needed them. They had to finish this with haste and get this water back to her before it was too late.

Emerald thought back to Excalibur, the Shield, the Staff. They had all reacted the same way to her presence: with glowing and vibration, and an outpouring of sparks and the feeling of Equestrian magic in her veins. This grail looked like the genuine article, but why was she not getting that same feeling? It didn’t make any sense.

The djinn swooped down to Emerald’s eye level and whispered something in Sadde Arabian.

Parisa was quick to interpret. “They want to tell you that your quest is of great importance to the world,” the dancer said quickly. “Should you fail, darkness will cover the world, and even more people will suffer, just like the Saddle Arabians have.”

“I thought you liked darkness,” Emerald said somewhat petulantly.

Whispering again, the djinn flew into a circular formation around the floor. They seemed agitated.

“There-There can be no darkness without light, and no light without darkness” Parisa said dutifully. “The corrupted king will spread his power across the globe and disaster will reign. You seek the power to stop him. Ask yourself, are you worthy as our vassal to save the world?”

This final question rang like a bell in Emerald’s mind. She had come all this way to save her own kingdom, but now the djinn had laid an even greater burden before her.

Save the world.

Was she worthy?

---

Comments

[Marcthelightspark2004]

“Inconceivable cow.” Emerald muttered under her breath.

SomEm? Or EmBra? What's the ship name?

[Marcthelightspark2004]

I like the design of the djinn. And the similarities to the Umbrum. Very creative

[MoonlightRift]

Was she worthy?

Yes.