The Fae Princess (The Pacific Princesses Book 2) Ektaa Bali (free ebook reader txt) 📖

Pancake nodded proudly.

Vidya sat down, crossed legged on the Bubblepad, and Pancake settled on her lap for the ride.

She took some Bilberry essence from her bag and gulped it down, then gave some to Pancake.

“This is why Willow’s eyes are so sharp. Billberry helps us see better in the dark,” she explained to him. “There’s not much light down here.”

The bilberry sharpened their eyes so they could make out the shapes in the dark ocean.

“Oh, sorry,” came Meera’s voice in Vidya’s ear. “I’ve forgotten that merpeople can practically see in the dark.”

“It’s okay,” said Vidya. “Are we travelling through an underwater cave?”

“Yes,” said Meera.

As the bilberry juice kicked in, Vidya could just make out the shadow of tail ahead. It was an eerie thing to be moving through an underwater cave through the dark like this.

“Just up ahead,” continued Meera. “There is some glowing seaweed I use sometimes. Oh, here!”

They must have entered a section of the caves where it opened up suddenly because they were all at once surrounded by a cave full of swaying seaweed that glowed green and purple.

“Now you’ll be able to see me!” Meera said, happily waving at them. She had tied a bunch of the glowing green seaweed and placed it like a headband on her head and used another length to circle the lower part of her tail.

“That’s brilliant,” smiled Vidya. “Thank you.”

“Alright, Bob,” Meera nodded. “Let’s make it snappy. This part of the cave is…” her voice trailed off.

“What was that?” asked Vidya nervously.

“Oh nothing, nothing,” waved Meera, swimming ahead. Bob pulled them forward, and they moved into a dark corridor once again. The only thing in the mass of black water was the glowing seaweed on Meera’s tail.

By the way they moved through the water, Vidya could tell that somehow, Bob pulled them through the water at a rapid pace, and she vaguely wondered what on earth the little fish ate to give him so much energy. On and on they travelled through the darkness, with Bob swerving left and right through the maze of the cave system, following Meera’s lead. Meera had clearly been down here before, and Vidya wondered how the mermaid princess travelled around this place alone without being scared.

Before long, Meera’s voice came again.

“Hey you! Out of the way!”

Vidya jumped, but she realised Meera was not talking to her. Bob paused in the water, Vidya and Pancake strained to see through the water, but it looked like Meera had turned a corner.

“I’m Princess Meera, you fool, submit to me or submit to my sword! Out. Of. My. Way.”

“Meera, what’s going on?” asked Vidya nervously.

There was the sound of a grunt, and then—“Oh, it’s fine, Vidya, I dealt with him. Bob come on.”

Bob turned the corner, and they passed Meera floating to one side, her sword drawn. She waved them forward. “The exit is just there, Bob, go on. I want to make sure we’re not followed. These idiots think they can outsmart me…”

Vidya and Pancake exchanged a look as Meera waved her sword angrily through the water as they passed. Bob pulled them forward and suddenly, the darkness opened up to wide blue water. They were down by the sea floor, and looking up, they were so far down, Vidya couldn’t make out the surface. A couple of fish swam past her, and Pancake squeaked excitedly.

“Let’s go!” Meera rushed forward, moving her tail powerfully, and Bob had to hurry to catch up.

They watched their surroundings as Bob swept them past coral, rock, and seaweed.

Soon, the seafloor became rocky, and as they travelled, the rocks grew bigger and became boulders. Then the boulders grew bigger and became rocky hills. Then the rocky hills became mountains of rock, soaring high above them.

“The world in the ocean is much the same as the world above it”, Meera said as she swam. “We have mountains here too.”

“I never knew,” said Vidya in amazement, craning her neck to look at how high they went. They were really far below the surface. Then a thought struck her.

“How much air is in the Bubblepad?” she asked.

Meera glanced back. “It should be just enough. When the air runs out, the bubble pops open. Oh! We’re almost there.”

Vidya could not help but notice that this part of the ocean was strangely quiet. It had the same sort of sinister lack of life that the Fae forest had just this morning. The type of quiet that meant there was something dangerous nearby. She clutched onto Pancake firmly and surveyed the dark blue water around her. She wondered how much protection the silver Bubblepad would give her if a shark or unfriendly sea creature tried to get at them.

Meera came to a stop in front of them. She pointed to a towering mountain.

In the rock was a gigantic, gaping hole. A black mouth in which Vidya could not see inside.

“Are we going in there?” Vidya asked, looking side to side.

“Unfortunately, yes”, Meera unsheathed her sword again. “Bob, stick close.”

Bob pulled them inside the cave, and Vidya cringed internally. But her first view of a threatening sea monster was not as she had expected.

A giant creature lay on the cave sea floor. It was leathery and rough, with long tentacles and half covered in sand. It wasn’t moving or breathing.

“Did you kill this creature?” asked Vidya, wide eyed.

“No”, Said Meera. “I killed that one.”

As they passed the creature, the head of a gigantic shark became visible.

“Creatures gravitate toward this place. When one dies, another comes to replace it.”

“Who killed the other one?” asked Vidya.

Meera remained silent and continued to swim forward. They turned a corner, and Vidya's heart jumped when she saw a familiar golden light pouring out of an opening in the rock.

It felt and looked exactly like the light from the Bunyip cave, just a bit softer.

Meera led them into the gap in the rock, and Vidya could see the golden glow came from the cavern floor. Vidya squinted at the floor to get a better