Cecil took the dagger, quickly slit his left palm open, and laid it into the pentagram’s grooves. In that moment, the candle’s light vanished, and instead the runes burst alight. They cast dancing shadows against the walls, the candlelight becoming swirls of color, amber and gold, red and green inside each of the runes.
“I’ve never seen this before,” whispered Dahren. “Only heard the tales.”
“There are things older than even Atlantis. Things more Ancient, more pure, and more amazing than any of us have seen,” whispered Cecil. He looked to the pentagram as the rune’s light cast a shadow upon Juniper. “Look after her, I will be up on the main deck,” finished Cecil.
“Yes sir,” replied Dahren.
Cecil turned around. “And please pray for her.” Dahren nodded as Cecil left the room.
El’Hed came in as Cecil left, standing beside Dahren, staring at the glowing pentagram and the motionless form of Juniper. “So you’ve chosen your side then?” El’Hed asked.
“There are no sides, there is only this,” replied Dahren pointing. “There are those who can ask this of the world, who can ask of love and forgiveness and incite the old magic of the world. And then there are those who pretend to it.”
“You talk of things you know little of. Do you understand the words that come out of your mouth Dahren?”
“I don’t think it matters when it comes to what I believe. And what I believe is that we are bringing him back to where he belongs, and he will bring this,” Dahren said, pointing at the circle. “This is what he brings back with him. This is not something to be trifled with. Regardless of whether she is alive or dead, the mere fact that the runes lit up for his blood shows that he is better and worthier than any who challenge the throne.”
“Your belief in this will be your undoing.”
“My belief in Lavender and Starlight will be the saving grace of us all.”
El’Hed was silent then, not sure what to say to Dahren. Perhaps it was useless to convince him, he thought. Regardless, everyone would know soon enough what was at stake. Lavender and Starlight, thought Dahren, were finally coming back to Atlantis.
Eyes Up
Juniper woke with a cough, spitting out a little water from her mouth as she sat upright. She wiped her lips looking sheepish. She stared at her odd surroundings. The bare floor’s inscriptions were foreign to her and the runes were no longer alight. She ran her fingers lightly over them, trying to figure out what they meant. She was confused. The last thing she remembered was falling and landing in the pool, the saltwater engulfing her and then…nothing. Nothing at all. Had she died?
She looked up and noticed Cecil’s guards, El’Hed and Dahren, standing over her. They wore the same uniforms as before, but their looks were stern instead of passive. They stared down at her, their brows locked in unison, each right thumb hanging from their leather belts.
“Good evening Ms. Nesbitt,” said Dahren.
Juniper opened her mouth to speak, but only succeeded in coughing up more water. She wiped her mouth again, trying to look a little more together. Dahren nodded to El’Hed who quietly left the room.
“You drank a lot of seawater,” added Dahren, not moving to aid her in anyway. “But it was a good thing that his highness was able to get to you in time and place you within the healing circle.”
Juniper looked around where she had been laying. She noticed the deep grooves in the floor around her. She ran her fingers around the runes, trying to comprehend the words that Dahren was speaking. She swallowed, tasting the salt once again. “I’m sorry, who is his highness?” El’Hed came back into the room holding a stack of towels and some rudimentary clothing.
“His highness will want to speak with you. He is currently on the control deck. If you’d like to get dressed and follow me, I can take you there,” said Dahren.
Juniper looked at the stack that El’Hed had laid at her feet. She grabbed a towel and dried her hair and tried to dry the wet clothing around her. “Would you mind?” she asked, looking up at the guards. They each looked confused, and then in understanding, nodded and left the room.
Juniper couldn’t comprehend all that was going on. She barely remembered pushing off from the brass ladder, falling back first into the pool, or anything that came afterward. If her entire life had flashed before her eyes, she sure didn’t remember it.
She got up and started peeling her still wet clothes off her body. She was brimming with questions, including wanting to know what the strange runes on the floor were, if Cecil was the one who had saved her, and most importantly, was she really going to Atlantis?
El’Hed had brought her a pair of plain white cotton pants and a matching plain white cotton shirt. Underneath those she found a similar pair of caligae that she had seen both El’Hed and Dahren wearing.
She put everything on, ran her hair through a towel one more time, and left the room. She found Dahren standing outside, waiting for her.
“Are you ready ma’am?” he asked. She nodded and he led her through the ship.
She thought they were in some kind of main hallway that ran the length of the ship. The dark lacquered wood floor was slippery under her feet and closed doors flanked both sides of the hallway. She laughed to herself in her head, thinking that if she had been claustrophobic, this would probably have been the worst place to end up.
The door at the end of the hallway was slightly ajar and Dahren opened it to reveal the Control Deck of the submersible. Cecil stood in front of a large glass window staring out into the dark depths of the ocean. The entire room was covered in tarnished brass save for the floor, which was the matching dark wood from the hallway.
Juniper moved past Dahren, patting him on the shoulder and finding her way to Cecil, weaving in-between abutting panels and bolted stools.
“Hey,” she whispered as she drew close.
Cecil’s face lit up and his reverie was broken. He turned around quickly. “Hey,” he whispered back. “How’re you feeling?”
She slipped her arm in between his and laid her head down against his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll explain to me what that circle was?”
“Of course,” he replied. He turned them both back to the ocean view. “Just not right now.”
She looked up at him. The surroundings were unfamiliar, the tarnished brass foreign, and the passive looks of the retreating Guards disconcerting. But staring up at Cecil, regardless of the weird circle, the odd surroundings, and even her unkept form, she found that her heart burned for him. Her insides screamed for longing. Without over thinking, like she was wont to do above the waves, she brushed her hand against his manhood and took charge, of this moment, and hopefully of the future. “Do you think this would be an appropriate time for me to thank you properly for saving my life?” she asked coyly.
Cecil looked around, unsure of whether Dahren or El’Hed were in earshot. He winked and nodded at her, grabbing her hand and maneuvering her through the Control Deck and back into the main hallway. He opened a door towards the middle of the hallway, and led them into a quiet room with a bed against a wall and a small bathroom stall and closet against the other.
He quickly turned around and immediately their lips met, their tongues intertwined and they fell into the bunk together. With a swift kick, Cecil’s foot connected with the door and it swung closed.
* * *
Cecil gently shook Juniper awake. Her eyes opened to his face and she felt relieved that she was still aboard the submersible and not in Kurlington. He was smiling. He pointed out of the room’s porthole. “What is it?” she asked blearily.
“Welcome to Atlantis. Welcome to my home. I guess this means you're staying.” Juniper stared dumbfounded at the sprawling cityscape through the submersible’s porthole. Thousands of lights greeted her. Juniper stared at the sprawling buildings, houses, parks, and bright, bright lights, in complete awe. Cecil kissed her lightly on the forehead and hugged her close as her eyes remained on the beautiful city under the sea.
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All Yours
Atlantis stretched out before Juniper’s eyes, thousands of feet beneath the submersible, but even at that distance she could make out each of the lit windows and the old cracked stonework that the buildings were made from. With each passing ripple and wave of the ocean around her, she noticed the slightest movement around the city’s edges. Cecil and Juniper had eventually made their way back to the Control Deck to catch a better view of the city.
“Is there something around the city?” she whispered to Cecil. “How do they breathe down there?”
Cecil motioned with his hands, trying to outline the shape of the city. “Around it all is a flexible bubble,” he said. “It was developed thousands of years ago to withstand the pressure around the city, but to also move with the waves.”
“How does it withstand the pressure?” Juniper asked.
Cecil chuckled. “Most assume it’s some kind of witchcraft. No one has really investigated the Archives to know for sure. Perhaps that’s something I’ll have to do when I return.”
Juniper was silent for a while as she looked down at the city. The submersible was diving towards the ocean floor at a quick pace, and she could soon spot Guards, just like El’Hed and Dahren walking along the perimeter of the city, keeping watch and attending to their duties. Within the city’s walls she saw people scurrying about, although to what end, she didn’t know.
“How do they keep time down there? There’s no sun,” she wondered out loud.
Again, Cecil chuckled. “We have clocks Junie. I’m sure you remember what a clock is.” Juniper laughed, nodding as she thought that perhaps the Atlanteans couldn’t be that different after all. “It’s good to hear you laugh,” whispered Cecil, squeezing her close to him. “It’s also nice that you smell like the sea. I’m really enjoying it.”
Juniper smiled. “I’m glad one of us is. I think I reek of seaweed and salt.” She moved closer to Cecil, resting her head against his chest. She closed her eyes and hoped that the next few days, or weeks, or months, would bring her some semblance of happiness. Or, at least something different than what she had been experiencing. With her head pressed firmly on his hard chest, she could hear the steady drumbeat of his heart, and she knew that perhaps she had finally come home. “Why did you have to come back here?” she whispered.
“My brother died,” he whispered back, sadness tinging his response. She hugged him tighter then and didn’t ask anymore questions. He hadn’t told her anything until now and perhaps that was for the best. He would tell her when he felt comfortable, she thought.
The submersible dove deep down and around the city’s perimeter. Dahren stood at his controls on the other side of the Control Deck, carefully steering the ship to its destination. The ship looped around the city, giving everyone on board a glimpse of the shining spires that almost leapt from the ocean floor reaching for the stars far far above, the oddly grassy knolls and the quaint stone houses that sat upon them, and off into the distance they could all see the long patches of green and brown that belied farmland of some kind.
Cecil pointed to each of the buildings and tried to explain their purpose, when they were built, what architectural features the Atlanteans had borrowed from the people around them at the time, and even how Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had visited the city once. It was all lost to Juniper. Between having her head pressed to Cecil’s chest and her eyes barely open, all she could think about was the future ahead of them.
The ship wound its way down below the city’s edge, into the underbelly of caverns and carved tunnels, piloted by the deft hands of Dahren who stared out the main window with a concentrated look. His hands rested on the ship’s rudimentary yolk, raising and lowering it, turning left and then right as he made the ship nimbly find its way through to the docking ports.
With a sudden splash, creak, and a sickening lurch, Dahren brought the ship up through an opening that Juniper couldn’t even see. Through the main window Juniper stared out at a slew of Atlantean Guards who were either marching in military formations, tending to other submersibles in the area, or hurrying towards Cecil’s ship.
Cecil and the Guards had quickly left, making their way back towards the hatch at the other end. Juniper found herself alone on the Control Deck, unsure of where to go or what to do next. She hurriedly left as well, trying to ignore the busy docking area that they’d arrived in. Her curiosity, she thought, was about to be fulfilled. She found her way down the main hallway and stood beside Cecil just as the back hatch opened and they stepped onto the cold stone of the Atlantean docking area.
“What’s gonna happen now?” asked Juniper.
“Hold on,” said Cecil, a little impatiently. His voice had changed somehow. It wasn’t deeper, but more commanding, more alert, and more confident.
“Guards, turn and face your returning leader!” said a deep, booming, sonorous voice from across the docking area. Juniper couldn’t see whoever had just spoken, but as if one, the entirety of the Guards rearranged themselves in rows and columns and faced Cecil.
A tiny man, dressed in a similar Atlantean Guard uniform as the others, but with a monstrous headdress of feathers and woven leather, moved quickly through the ranks. “The Heir has returned to us!” the little man said, looking towards Cecil. Juniper now knew whose deep voice had just spoken.
“Wait. Wait. Cecil. You’re the…” she whispered. She was cut off as Cecil spoke up, his voice changed even further.
“Lord of the Guards, I request permission to reenter the City and take my place amongst my people!” said Cecil, his voice taking on a similar booming quality.
Cecil looked out at the Guards and felt himself change. The salty Atlantean air, mixed with the anxiety of stepping back into his homeland was filling him with an ill fitting confidence.
But, he was back to rule. And Juniper had come with him.
Epilogue
Sharon woke up next to Rick, a dull pounding in her head making her eyes open. She blinked a few times before staring at the ceiling wondering if it was her ceiling or his. The smooth white surface could have been either, but just staring up caused her mind to spin. Her hangover from the previous night was apparent. She closed her eyes again, hoping the next time she opened them her head would feel better and she could know if she had to roll out of bed and go to her own, or just roll over and never leave.
She heard the pounding, this time, as it rapped against her apartment door. Her eyes flashed back open. Groaning, she got out of bed, found a pair of sweatpants and a shirt lying on the floor and found her way to the door.
The pounding came again, harder this time. “I’m coming, you insensitive, petulant, over-bearing nitwits,” she muttered under her breath. She opened the door, the chain catching and revealing the men outside through the small opening. They wore black suits underneath grey overcoats. Their shiny black dress shoes were encrusted in snow, and through bleary eyes Sharon saw they had left pools of water in the hallway.
“Ma’am, good morning. Are you Sharon Petrovski?” asked the man closer to the door. He had close cropped brown hair and his black aviator style sunglasses were tucked in between the second and third button in his white shirt. Unlike his partner, he didn’t wear a tie. Sharon immediately knew he was probably in charge.
“Who’s asking and why?” she said, her voice coming out raspier and hoarser than usual. The last couple of night’s partying had left its mark.
“I’m Special Agent Markus Fielding and this is Special Agent Horace Tinker. We’re from the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” said Agent Fielding, running his hand through his close cropped hair. Was he nervous, she thought.
“What may I do for you Special Agents?”
Agent Tinker looked at Agent Fielding before finally speaking up. “When was the last time you heard from Juniper Nesbitt?”
Sharon stared at them dumbfounded before finally closing the door, unlatching the chain, and letting them inside.
Book 2 - Coming Soon!
&
nbsp; The adventures of Juniper and Cecil will continue in To Live With Ancients, Book 2 of the Ancients series.
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Gone With An Ancient (Ancient Atlantis Book 1) Page 5