The Last of the Time Lords: Tales of a Bounty Hunter Book 1

Underwater

Chapter 3

Nialiv

Nialiv made Thelleirilia look dull. Her home planet was made of dust and soil of all kinds. Wherever you looked around you would only see different shades of brown. And the air smelled of sulfur. You could get used to it if you stayed long enough. Nialiv, on the other hand, was everything Thelleirilia wasn't. Why should you get used to breathing air that could possibly kill you, when this entire planet was filled with fresh, healing air? Noemi could not get enough of it. As her violet eyes took in her surroundings on her way to the sea, all she could see was life. Everywhere around her life was created. Nialiv was a colorful planet, with trees and flowers and grass and little ponds. And animals. Noemi had seen so many animals.

When she reached the ocean, all she could do was take a moment and take it in. It would be a crime not to. Crystal, blue waters, clean, sparkling, majestic. It was not the first time Noemi saw her own reflection, but somehow the waters of Nialiv made her look like a real person. There was magic everywhere, she realized. It was in the flowers, it was in the air, it was in the water. Nialiv was a magical land. It made even more sense that it couldn't survive without magic. The planet was dying and the Fairies were the first to feel its effects.

Noemi eyed the flower in her hand -the one that was given to her by the Fairies. Grav had not stopped nagging at her all the way from the valley to the sea. He was worried, that was nothing new. She had tried to reason with him that there was no other way for her to enter the Sea Kingdom and request an audience with the Merfolk King and Queen. He, of course, had been against the idea and had insisted they abandoned the client and the search for the mysterious artifact. And so, Noemi had been forced to turn off the earpiece. If he was going to speak her ears off, then she could do without his annoying voice in her ear.

Noemi brought the flower to her lips and swallowed the enchanted water. She felt a tingling sensation course through her body, like tiny mini-shocks. The first phase was done. Now all she had to do was....

She jumped into the water. First, her body went into shock as the icy cold water attacked her skin. She felt it like crystals piercing her skin and bones trying to tear her apart. A cry left her lips but it was not heard. Only the bubbles were any indication that she was trying to say something. As the transformation was completed, the cold left her body and instead got replaced with warmth. Noemi blinked. The water felt different on her skin this time. She swayed her arms around to get a feeling of her new body. The water felt like silk now, caressing her skin with affection. It was such a profound sensation and Noemi found herself laughing with joy. Why had she never done this before? Being underwater was the most amazing feeling in the world. Being a mermaid was brilliant. A large smile broke into her face and this time she twirled her new tail around and propelled herself down towards the bottom of the ocean. Despite her newfound joy in being a mythical creature, she had a mission to complete. She had to find the Sea kingdom.

Noemi had been awe-struck with Nialiv's beauty of the surface. Now, swimming in its sea she could transfer that sentiment down here too. She found that there was an entire world existing underwater. Noemi could not understand why people called it 'The cursed waters of Nialiv' when it was so beautiful. She reasoned that it was because of the curse that had transformed the inhabitant race into Merfolk, but still... Why should this planet be remembered for its darkest hour, when there's so much beauty everywhere around it?

Swimming with a tail was weird, yet familiar. Noemi took her time exploring the wonders of the bottom of the sea, wanting the experience to last more than it had to. The inexperience of a first-timer. It was why she was caught off guard when a hand of sharp nails clutched at her throat. Her first instinct was to lash out and gain the upper hand as she had been trained to do. Fortunately, the rational part of her brain reasoned that although she was a fierce fighter on land, she knew nothing about defending herself in the water. It was the reason she wanted to surrender peacefully and not try to sneak into the vaults of the Underwater palace and steal the ancient artifact. She had no idea how to act or survive down here.