Waverly half expected the river to be full of nasty, man-eating creatures or some great horrible monster but it was only knee deep and filled with dull empty sea shells. The water was icy cold, almost the same color as goat milk and it flowed noiselessly. Waverly wondered how she did not hear the sound of water until she had come upon it.

She tried to calm her wild heart but terrifying thoughts of the inevitable things she would soon face made her chest constrict with fear.

She crossed to the other end of the river where giant stone steps teemed with overflowing water and led down to the very end of the fierce rush below. It was a miracle that the force of the water did not knock Waverly off her feet and send her somersaulting into the depths because she managed to climb down all the way. Heavy sprays of water drenched her from head to foot.

She followed a path of black rugged rocks that seemed to form a kind of road across the ocean surface. Waverly thought this was a very curious thing because she felt that she walked on water. On the left side of her was a magnificent forest comprised mostly of palm trees engulfed in night-like darkness and on her right, an endless ocean. The water changed from its milky color to a dull navy then to deep sea green. It also became so crystal clear that Waverly could see twenty leagues down. She wondered if this was because of the rising sun.

Waverly halted.

The rising sun!

She looked back and saw the waterfall afar off. High up on the cliffs, almost impossible to make out in the thick mist that clung to the rocks and around the splashing water, was the small county she had just left. She understood now why the air had been so thin and cold up there. But as Waverly looked on, she saw nothing atop the cliff but mighty green trees. She wondered how a few minutes of walking had taken up so much time already. But there was no mistaking the reddish pink of the horizon, the cold breeze mixed with the salty smell of the ocean, the cloudless sky, and the warm light that spread across the world like a comfortable blanket. It was dawn alright and the sun was indeed rising.

Oddly, the pain Waverly was feeling in her neck, had disappeared. She suspected that someone was behind this strange development. She also suspected that someone had purposefully taken away the body ache, tiredness, hunger, and thirst she had felt right before she fell asleep under the table. If indeed someone was responsible, then she wanted to thank them. They had given her the strength to carry on although they did nothing about her torn clothes.

She tried to count how many days she had spent taking the Trials then quickly put the thought out of her mind. The last thing she needed was to panic.

Just then, she sighted a temple afar off. At first, it seemed like a small house perched on a large rock out in the middle of the ocean but as Waverly drew nearer, she saw the large white pillars. The dome-shaped roof caught the sunlight and illuminated the inside of the temple so that one could see past the hall. The temple was open all around. There were no doors or windows but bright pink curtains hung from several doorways. And since it was very very windy, the curtains billowed.

It struck Waverly as uncommon, as she came to the foot of the long cemented steps of the structure, that a temple should have such brightly colored drapery. She climbed up the wide steps zigzaggedly, each one higher than the last. To calm herself, she began to count them under her breath in local Alpgetonian.

"Dera, nuso, triad, tatro, ferun, siye, tesso, hachto, veno. . . ."

"Ici." A new voice added.

What followed next happened so suddenly that Waverly was not sure it had happened at all. As the voice came, the bodiless head of a woman simultaneously appeared right in front of her and vanished in a fit of mischievous giggles.

The effect of this sudden horror was rather less humorous for Waverly. She shrieked out of absolute fright and leaned sideways as one sometimes did when climbing up a flight of stairs in a zigzag fashion. Losing balance from this, she plummeted straight into the icy cold ocean. The distance between the steps and the water was a great one because Waverly did not start counting until the eighth step. The only good thing about the fall was that Waverly did not sink farther down than the clear parts of the ocean which allowed her to see the culprit when she reappeared. The woman was tittering in contagious giggles.

"Quite the scare that was, wasn't it?" She asked kneeling over the edge of the temple to look at Waverly. She was a beautiful, chubby woman.

Waverly sputtered out the minute gallon of water she had taken in unexpectedly. Her mouth tasted like a salt flat and her eyes stung worse than the time she had gotten half of a dragonfly's wing out after an accident in The Haven.

"Oh, my! What a shaking mess you are." The woman cried as Waverly swam toward the steps, literally shaking with cold. Her feet touched something solid halfway to the rock path and Waverly looked into the water to see. She screamed and swam faster, but the creature was an even better swimmer. It turtled and twisted until it surfaced in front of her.

"Don't let Niana stop you, dear, swim this way." The woman called climbing down the steps in her scarlet gossamer dress. Waverly tried to maneuver past the creature, Niana, but she looked quite excited and ready to play. She splashed water in Waverly's direction and as fast as thought dipped into the ocean and out again.

The creature, as Waverly quickly recalled, was a Nixie - a female water Elf. She had gills protruding out of her pale cheeks, a noseless face, pointy ears, a small red mouth, and large eyes like most Elves. She had very long arms with red fins on each elbow and a bright green tail covered in hard scales protruding from her waist down. Her hair was red much like her fins and was flattened against her scalp.

Instead of talking like a person, Niana gurgled. It did not take long for Waverly to find the creature adorable.

She swam to the temple with Niana following closely. When she began to climb up the steps with the woman in the gossamer dress, a sad gurgling sound made her turn. Niana was beating around the rocks with her tail as if trying to climb up. Her brown eyes were sad and her fins twitched.

"She cannot grow legs?" Waverly found herself asking despite her shiver.

The woman laughed, there was a mischievous twinkle in her grey eyes. "No. No. Nixies are pure ocean spirits, you see. Niana is tied to the ocean for as long as she exists and cannot have anything to do on land."

She began to lead Waverly farther up the steps amidst Niana's frantic protests.

"My little pet rarely has any friends except her sisters and I see she has taken a quick liking to you. Pity, you can't stay in the water too long."

Waverly was not sure if this was the supposed "she" the townspeople spoke about that was merciless and would kill her but she kept her guard up. The woman had not yet proven to be a friend or a threat (except for that little issue of scaring her off the steps).

She made Waverly sit in a very comfortable chair and brought her a cozy blanket. Then she made a cup of warm tea, a plate of thick soup filled with squarely cooked meat, and a rice dish. It tasted bland on its own but when Waverly had eaten it with the soup, it was delicious.

After her small meal, the woman presented her with a change of clothing. It was not entirely a bad dress but it was exactly like the one the woman wore, only a lot less flashy. Waverly was not sure if she wanted to wear a dress like that.

"Go on. You'll look lovely." The woman prodded nicely as she shoved Waverly into a small room. Like the rest of the temple, this room had no doors or windows - only bright pink curtains that billowed in the ocean breeze. Waverly could see the ocean from all corners and this left her feeling strongly exposed. She relieved her belt of both her short sword and Karya then placed them on top of a stool but left Calaire on her wrist in case any surprises came up. After taking off the rest of her clothes, she stood staring at the dress pondering whether she should tell the woman the real reason why she had come when a faint gurgle snatched her attention.

She wrapped a small grey cloth around herself and trotted to the edge of the temple. Each side of it was a long drop into the water, but her own room seemed to be on a much lower level than the rest.

"Hullo, Niana," Waverly whispered. The Nixie glanced up and gurgled excitedly, swimming around in heavy circles until Waverly feared she would form a small tornado. The Nixie repeatedly dipped into the water and would flail her arms (Waverly was sure she did not use them a lot because they seemed weak) in a way of beckoning.

"I cannot come down. There is something i must do." Waverly pleaded.

Niana disappeared into the ocean and for a few minutes, Waverly could see her green tail in the clear water. Then she swam up again and shot up so high that her face came a few inches close to Waverly's. This took the latter by a shocking surprise and sent her toppling forward and into the ocean with a loud splash.

Cold bit into her skin all over again, and for a short moment, Waverly was angry at Niana for getting her drenched. The material she had wrapped around herself came loose and left her bare. Niana swam above her and placed both hands on her stomach then began to push her down. Her tail swished behind her as she swam faster into the ocean. It was almost as though Niana was in a hurry to get away from something. Waverly felt utterly powerless as the Nixie pushed her even deeper. A simple swat would have dislodged the creature's weak arms, but Waverly found she had gone limp.

A strong hypnotic aura seemed to hang around the ocean that dulled her brain, bringing her halfway close to unconsciousness.

The powerful current from the ocean's depths threatened to break Waverly meanwhile Niana swam without effort. The ocean darkened in different stages until Waverly was not sure whether closing her eyes or keeping them open would make a difference. The cold became so bitter and the current even stronger and when Waverly began to feel that she would no longer be able to bear it, Niana suddenly stopped swimming.

The ni5xie took Waverly's hand in her own (they seemed stronger than before) and pulled her into a part of the ocean where a cliff dropped into absolute blackness. As Niana led Waverly down the cliff, she began to realize many things at once. The first was that; she had held her breath for hours and hours without difficulty. Waverly was good at swimming, but not good enough to stay underwater for more than six minutes. The second thing was that tiny lights were dotted on the cliff side; som from living creatures while others emitting from plants. They gave different vibrant colors and lit the way for Niana as they passed.

The third thing Waverly realized was that Niana now looked different. Her fins remained but her face had morphed into a more humanly one. Her arms felt stronger in Waverly's grip and her hair had loosened into a wild wave of deep red.

They swam for what felt like another long bout of time until Waverly caught glimpse of a magnificent city lit up by numerous giant jellyfish. It was the strangest sight Waverly had ever witnessed. The city was so large it could have been the entire realm of Bremeton three times over.

Here, the city entrance was lined by mighty forts filled with millions and millions of fish men and far beyond that was a castle so large it made King Asherah's palace look like a puppy's cage. Houses were so big and grand that even the Lords and Ladies of the upper world would feel ashamed of their own homes. Fish people swam everywhere, living and coexisting with actual fish and many other strange sea creatures.

Waverly's mouth hung open but thankfully she did not inhale - a large bubble escaped her mouth when Niana finally pressed her lips together. The sight of the city was so frightening and yet so majestic that Waverly felt she would tremble and melt into a puddle. She never knew the ocean had such vastness even in its depths. She somehow suspected that there was a part of the ocean that still went on deeper than this. The Abyss had gone hundreds of leagues down but not as far as the city. No one would be able to find their way to this place, Waverly thought.

Niana led Waverly quietly past the palace guards. Everyone spoke in a bubbly kind of language like Niana did. Waverly could not understand them but she had a faint idea of what they said.

The inside of the palace was much bigger and grander than any other in the whole world. Ridiculously large creatures like whales could fit in the space and still have elbow room for more. Waverly felt lost in the room. She felt as insignificant as a grain of sand on the beach. There were long opalescent walkways on the palace grounds that served as paths in and around the place. When Waverly looked at them, she saw all the waters of the world in it. Each archway or doorway was intricately designed and lined with bold architraves.

There was an abundance of colors in the palace given off by flowers, objects and the sea creatures themselves.

Niana led Waverly through a wide doorway and each time, they would pass by another nixie or a sea creature or a fish person and Niana would gurgle in greeting. Waverly completely forgot she was naked until one light haired nixie got wide eyed and gave Niana a disapproving look. She steered them away from their original path into a small room. Waverly could call the room small because it was half the size of the others. The new Nixie offered her a pair of Human clothes and led her to a cylindrical room. She pointed at a barrier that looked like an iridescent waterfall and formed a sort of doorway. When Waverly walked through it, she realized she was no longer swimming.

That part of the room was completely dry.

Waverly put her clothes on in a hurry and sat down on the bare floor to wait since the room was also empty. The floors were covered with strange ornaments that flashed and gleamed. They looked like marble but they were white and spotless.

Once in a while, a sea creature would swim past the room and regard Waverly then continue on their way as if they had not seen her at all. She could not quite understand why Niana had brought her to an underwater paradise but she knew for certain that there was a valid reason. The whole place felt like an entire realm to her and if it were indeed one, then she wanted to meet whoever the god-in-charge was. She hoped beyond hope that he was friendly.

She waited for a long time, tapping nervously against her shorts. The light-haired nixie had brought her an exact replica of the kind of clothes she had worn on the same day Judson first fell sick - a deep red short-sleeved shirt, brown shorts, and a pair of boots. Waverly could not refuse the clothes even though the memory it brought was not a good one.

At last, Niana appeared behind the waterfall and beckoned on Waverly. It was a disheartening moment crossing over into the ocean and getting wet again but Waverly had no choice. She halted when she noticed another presence in the room, it was a woman. She was tall and very skinny with a serene yet worn out face. Her plain white dress billowed in the water, a golden crown of seashells graced her hair and various priceless stones adorned her arms. Around her neck was a very tiny necklace with an equally tiny pendant hanging from it. It was the sort of unimportant thing that began to look important when one stared at it for too long. Waverly was glad to see that the woman had legs like her.

"This is her then?" The woman asked in an uninterested kind of tone. Her voice sounded thick, almost muffled and it caused tiny ripples in the water. Waverly was shocked that the woman could speak underwater as much as a man could speak above water. This made her wonder who the woman really was. She had to be someone very powerful. Her mouth was very pink as if she had applied lip colorants everywhere including her tongue. It was a disturbing sight, her mouth.

Niana nodded in approval and smiled at Waverly revealing spires of teeth like that of the Muses. Underwater, the Nixie seemed more like a person than the pet the woman in the temple had reduced her to.

The tall woman sighed in exasperation. "He will see her now. Bring her but put a blindfold over her first."

Waverly wanted to protest but Niana gently shook her head in warning. She spoke in gurgles and gestured with her hands but Waverly could not understand a thing with how much she had begun to panic. What if this woman was the same one she had been warned of? Waverly stared at the lady but there was no trace of hostility or evil about her.

Niana swam over to a stone carved drawer protruding from a large stone trunk placed near a mini tornado and pulled out a strip of blue cloth. Waverly gazed pointedly at the tornado when it became a pale, bulky man from the waist up. He stopped twirling, stared at Niana then rolled his bulgy eyes and returned back to being a violent wind.

Niana patted Waverly reassuringly before covering her eyes with the blindfold. It made Waverly wish more than anything that Niana could explain whatever was going on but the creature was not capable of Human speech. She could not find the courage to ask the woman either. As the blindfolds tightened a bit, Waverly began to feel anxious. She hated being in the dark and felt like she was drowning but Niana took her hand and a sense of calm washed over her.

Before she knew it, she was being led out of the room. She could not see anything and so could not tell where she was being taken. She could not even tell if she was about to be killed or thrown into a dangerous pit full of sharks. She had learned all about dangerous sea creatures during her last lesson with Judson. A large part of her feared that whoever she was being led to was definitely the Trial she was supposed to face and whatever it was would kill her instantly. But she remembered that the woman had said it was a "he" that wanted to see her and not a "she". This made Waverly relax only a tad.

She was led through twists and turns and ups and downs until at last, made to halt.

Something about where she was had changed drastically. It was dry like the previous room she had changed in. The room buzzed and crackled quietly, like the foremath of lightning.

Powerful lightning.

It sent Waverly's hair standing on edge and threatened to smolder her. She flinched at intervals and arched her ears to listen for the sound of thunder but the room was utterly quiet.

Waverly affirmed that she was now in the presence of the god-in-charge and from the feel of the room, a dangerously powerful one at that.

"Greetings, My Lord." Waverly heard the woman say from somewhere near her right.

"Rose, my dear." A masculine voice said calmly, almost affectionately. Waverly perked up. The voice sounded strangely but pleasantly familiar.

"We bring the mortal girl as you requested, Sire." The woman, Rose, said.

Waverly was taken aback. She had been requested for?

"Yes, i can see that. And may i know why her eyes have been blinded?" The man asked in a tone of sincere surprise.

Rose anxiously searched for words to say and ended up with an anxious stutter. "She cannot. . .. she cannot look upon you. . . the ancient laws, Sire."

"Nonsense. Remove the blindfolds. The girl can withstand my presence as much as you can." The man ordered quite gently.

Waverly felt hands working to untie her blindfolds. The cloth fell off and she blinked repeatedly. The room came into focus rather quickly. It was relatively smaller than the last one she had been in which was why that buzz of power had felt stronger and closer. The room was bright and beautiful, decorated with every living undersea plant Waverly could think of. It felt and looked like an underwater jungle.

There was a dais at the end of the room where a splendid yet small throne stood. It was designed to look like a simple wooden chair but Waverly doubted that it was. Every inch of it was covered in lichen and a few stones of priceless nature.

When Waverly looked up, she could not see the roof as the entire room opened up into the world of the ocean but strangely, not a single drop of water fell into the room. Several animals swam above leisurely while some rested in the corners. A large whale swam past plunging the room into a temporary darkness.

Waverly heard a sigh before she finally fixed her gaze on the person who was sitting on the chair. She wondered how she had not seen him the first time she looked at the chair.

"Ceta still cannot find her babies. The poor thing." He said with a light chuckle. When he stood up, Waverly had a full view of him. She concluded that he was big - very big. His voice sounded familiar but she could not say the same about his features.

His body rippled with muscle, five times the size the bulkiest man on earth could have. His hair and beard was a rich mane of grey and white, and his glad eyes were ultramarine. He had a tender look that made him handsome and fatherly. He wore a dark green cloak over a light brown shirt and dark brown trousers and his boots could have contained Waverly's feet twenty times over.

He took giant strides over to Waverly, beaming at her like she was his long lost daughter. His features occasionally rippled to that of another form as he walked but Waverly could not clearly see that other side of him. Her eyes already threatened to pop out just by looking at him.

Although his white smile relaxed Waverly at once, the hum of power that surrounded her as the god approached made her want to run. It screamed danger. It could have killed her without him having to do anything at all.

Waverly was not sure what to do. Rose and Niana curtsied on either sides of her (Niana was outside the waterfall barrier since she had no legs). Feeling the need to do likewise, Waverly bent down slowly in an attempt to kneel but the man's large hands gently grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up. Her bones concatenated painlessly.

"None of that, Ms. Stump."

Waverly gasped in realization. The man's smile widened even more.

"It was you." She said with wide, glad eyes. She had forgotten to talk reverently but the man did not seem to notice or even mind.

"Indeed it was, Ms Stump. My name is Gayl, and welcome to my abode, the realm of Alzul Serephis, or as I prefer to call it – The Bluest Depths."

The Honor of Light|
Book 02