Moon Shimmers(31)

I knew what came next. I swam over to him and cautiously settled on the bony ridge, holding on to him tightly. The others followed suit. We were all able to fit without much of a problem. Another moment passed and then Shade began to dive, taking us with him. Shimmer followed alongside us.

We rapidly descended, then evened out. I decided to wait to bring out the shell until Shade stopped. He appeared to know where we were going. Another moment, and he settled on what appeared to be a reef. I wasn’t sure how deep we were, but thanks to the charm, I wasn’t feeling any ill effects. I took a chance and cautiously swam up, then over to Shade. He stared at me, his eyes illuminating the darkness, and once again it hit me just how odd it was to realize that my family was made up of creatures I had never dreamed I’d meet. I fumbled with the bag—not so easy given the gloves of the wetsuit—and then brought out the shell.

All around us, the water lit up and we were able to see where we were. Fresia was right, the charm was a powerful help. Flashlights wouldn’t have worked nearly so well. I turned to the reef and realized I was swimming right above the wreck of an old ship that had lodged there.

The entire outside of the ship was covered with barnacles, sea stars, and sea anemones with their long white tubular bodies and heads that blossomed like an inverted mushroom top. One type of sea star was a morning sun star, brilliant orange, with thirteen legs. There were several around. The other stars were more numerous, covering parts of the ship’s hull. With five arms and the color of faded grapes, the purple stars made me cringe. They reminded me of the banana slugs—fat and fleshy. Yet another kind of inhabitant made me more nervous. Sea urchins, a brilliant green, were latched onto several places of the ship. Their spines were sharp and could puncture wetsuits and skin alike.

Over the side, the water plunged into darkness. I paused, registering the fact that I was hearing the roar of the tidal currents ripple past. It had never dawned on me before that I could hear under the water—but I closed my eyes for a moment and realized that there was a multitude of sounds down here. And Shimmer was making her own noise, her air bubbles rising as she blew them out her nose. I had no idea how long she could last beneath the waters, but she looked comfortable enough.

I motioned for the others to join me, and they did. Shade and Shimmer stayed in their form. They couldn’t very well turn back into human form without an air breathing charm, and besides, we needed them to be our muscle should K’thbar wake up. We still didn’t know what he could do. Or what he might actually do.

I pointed to the ship, then looked at Shade. He bobbed his head up and down. Figuring this must be our destination, I held up the shell and began looking for an opening, swimming rather than trying to walk on the reef. I wasn’t sure how sturdy it was, or what it was made of, and decided it was better to avoid any sudden surprises.

The ship was old. In fact, I would put it at pre-1900 by the looks of it. Morio and Roz swam up beside me and I mimed looking for an entrance. They nodded and split off, as did Roz and Vanzir.

I realized that I was near a railing. The ship was on its side, by the looks of things. It wasn’t a big sailing ship, but it was definitely large enough to fit a crew of ten or so. Using the railing as a guide, I swam along, looking for the bow. It wasn’t long before I found it. I swam in toward the ship, and sure enough, within a couple moments, I found the entrance leading to the lower cavern. The door was gone and it looked like it had been ripped off its hinges. The wood where it had attached was splintered and raw. Holding the snail shell up, I began waving it around to attract the attention of the others. When they joined me, with Shade and Shimmer still swimming next to the boat, watching and waiting, I motioned to the door and then swam through the entrance.

The entryway led to stairs, which had become a corridor, given the ship was on its side. I swam through, holding the shell out to give me enough light to see by. I tried to avoid brushing against the sides. While I didn’t think the sea stars were poisonous, the urchins were an accident waiting to happen.

Behind me, I heard a yelp of sorts and cautiously stopped, turning to see Morio wrestling with one of the urchins. He didn’t look very happy, but as far as I knew, urchins in the Pacific Northwest weren’t venomous. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt like hell, but he shouldn’t react to any toxins the urchin might have. He pulled it off of his shoulder and tossed it to the side.

I turned back to the passage and swam until I came to what would have been the bottom of the stairs. It opened out into a rather large galley. There were doors along what was now the bottom and top, leading into other rooms. But my attention was firmly on a pale yellow orb that surrounded the table. The orb was shimmering and I realize it was composed of energy rather than crystal. On the table, inside the orb, lay a figure that looked very much like a fish with a torso and feet. We had found K’thbar.