Tome of Rathyn: Portal - Into the Abyss

Prompt #5 – The Deep Black, City of Lost Songs Portal

 

After Rathyn heard about a new portal showing up, excitement washed over him. His plan was to go everywhere possible to gather as many different ingredients as he could. It didn’t matter of what sort they were, plants, bones, living species, spices… Everything could be used for mixtures and if not, he could always sell them among his other wares.

When he sold his wares on a marketplace recently, he got to meet Illmenor who showed great interest for similar things and they ended up in a pretty excited discussion. It didn’t take Rathyn long to realize that they clicked very well so he invited him to join his endeavor of diving deep down into the ocean. A place not many people have yet been, the thought alone was very exciting.

Today was finally the day. Both of them finished their preparations within the last days, they needed a water breathing potion and special gear to be able to survive in the depths. Rathyn prepared a special cutting device to be able to cut every type of material. After all it could happen that they would end up entangled in something and he certainly didn’t plan to suffocate or to be eaten down there. There was way too much to be seen, still!

„Hehe let’s make a small game out of it. Whoever manages to find the bigger item made out of gold between us two, wins!“, Illmenor suggested and due to Rathyn’s playful and daring nature, he immediately agreed without thinking twice.

 

„Sounds fun but don’t cry when I beat your ass.“

The Draconic Elf clicked his tongue with a dirty smile and chugged down the potion, he could feel it take effect immediately, morphing the way his airways worked, now adjusting to the water. Without hesitation he jumps in, his bag of holding and cutter in tow. Funny enough Snowflake, the loal skeleton servant of Illmenor, did jump in second. Rathyn didn’t quite understand why he had to come along, he was probably just used to have multiple hands to find something. Cheater.

It was a long dive. Past different settlements of merfolk, the deeper they went. Rathyn didn’t have any specific interest in them though, what they offered were scales but he did get his hands on a varity of them already via various markets which he strolled through during his travels. Illmenor seemed to feel different about them, he excitedly greeted the merfolk, waving and throwing kisses at them but thankfully Rathyn didn’t have to reprimand him. He surely didn’t want to risk running out of the effects of the potion just over unnecessary curiousity.

 

After around an hour of swimming and adjusting to the pressure, it got darker and darker. The water felt thicker to navigate through, it was more difficult to move any type of limb and could quickly lead to exhaustion. Rathyn felt thrilled about it and grinned at Illmenor who followed closely behind, Snowflake was directly next to him in his tuxedo, it looked hilarious in this sort of surrounding and the Alchemist welcomed this type of weirdness a lot.

At this point he could already see new type of fish swimming past them, some of them had pretty interesting shapes and colors and a few of them even glowed which made navigating in these depths a bit easier. So far there was nothing dangerous to be seen so he just dove deeper and deeper until his gaze hit something that looked like some sort of sunken city. A very typical display which would be shown in a history book about ancient civilizations.

The Draconic Elf rubbed his hands as if he was about to strike a great deal and paddled down there. Illmenor did the same, his eyes almost glowing in the dark out of excitement. They parted ways but not too far, after all it could happen that a fish or monster might see them as a very tasty, foreign snack.

With his endless bag in hand, Rathyn began to snap away on things and collected everything which wasn’t attached to something like rocks of different types, shells, bones, even pearls he could find in the surroundings but nothing made out of gold so far.

That’s when something shiny caught his eye, it was a bit further in the distance but he clearly saw it! Right when he began swimming towards it, Illmenor rushed past him, gathering all the strength he had left in his legs to do so, and took a hold of it. It looked like a sort of golden chalice which was proudly cradled by the elf who shot a proud glance at Rathyn.

He didn’t return the sentiment, instead daggers were stared at the other and he held out his hand with a fierce expression, there was a hint of insanity mixed into it as well. It clearly spelled danger and Illmenor seemed to realize the same. There was no fear displayed on the other his features but he did hand it over with a grin, well knowing that he secretly won their little duel.

From there on they parted ways again and after around an hour Rathyn put so many things in his bag that he lost count. It would be pure bliss to unpack everything once they made it back to the surface. Looking over to Illmenor, he wondered how that guy actually stored his finding but not that he cared too much. He must clearly have his ways.

At this point he felt like it was time to return before the potions would run out and some erratic waving was aimed at the other. Thankfully he was close enough to notice, especially due to Rathyn’s glowing eyes which were even more vibrant in these dark surroundings. Like that they both slowly paddled their way back up but after a while it became clear that they’ve been followed. A tentacle wrapped itself around Rathyn’s ankle and he quickly used his cutter to separate it. Illmenor wasn’t so lucky, the elf struggled, Snowflake took a grip of the tentacle as if it would do something, of course it didn’t. He just clung there like a lost puppy, being tossed around without any mercy.

If Rathyn could sigh underwater, he would have done so by now. Quickly, he swam over and helped both of them out, separating the tentacle from living flesh and guided both of them back to safety. Again, Illmenor couldn’t hold back with greeting the merfolk who looked at them with surprise, it apparently didn’t happen often that those who dove down made it back up again which made Rathyn rather proud.

That must also mean that they were about to take some quite rare items to the surface!

„Haaaah~“, the Alchemist sighed with a big grin all over his face when he hit the surface and inhaled deeply to fill his lungs with fresh air. „If that wasn’t nice, I don’t know what else is. I found so many great things hehe, what about you come hang out at my place so we can look at our haul and trade?“

With a splash, he climbed out of the water, looking like a wet dog, and Illmenor did the same, Snowflake almost mimicing his actions.

„Oooh I’d love to do that, I’m pretty sure that I found some things which you didn’t get your hands on!“