Thalassia is home to countless ponds and springs. Shallow, blue waters, surrounded by flourishing gardens, and visited by Thalassians once a day. Unlike mainland Arla, these bodies of water are special. These waters are sentient beings imbued with the power to heal.

The Goddess Skyra, long before she departed, blessed these waters as a gift to those she chose to live with her on Thalassia. These waters were meant to be kept a secret from the outside. But after her departure, the rulers of the Isle turned these waters into a commodity and created the water trade.

However, unknown to the outside, there is one body of water on Thalassia that remains hidden, and that is Elusa Pond, hidden in Poysk Galacial Cave. It was Sharra’s grandmother, Queen Shioban, who created this pond in her last moments….. and where she has been lost since.

But many years after Sharra’s ascension, weird things, weird to Arla, have been happening in Elusa Pond. Bodies and bodies keep floating to the surface. Bodies of beings unknown to the living world.

It was the day Sharra discovered she was pregnant when her foot brushed a dead being with an elongated body and eight tentacles. For peace and quiet, she had trekked off to the Poysk Galacial Cave, an underground ice cave…one of the most marvelous sights in Arla. Two minutes in the pond, she let out a harrowing scream and darkened the skies. Tyran, who was waiting outside, rushed in, and was stunned by the sight. The day after, Sharra and Tyran went back to Elusa. Sharra, desperate to know where it came from, dove to the bottom, where she saw the Staff of Skyra, believed by the outside to have been destroyed in the war, glowing for the first time in 45 years. Later that night, Sharra made Tyran her number one in her Royal Guard and Guardian of Elusa Pond.

Now here they were, quickly making their way to Elusa Pond, while Emmar was sneaking off to Diala. As they did, they engaged in small conversation.

“How was the coronation?” Tyran asked.

“Beautiful.” Sharra answered quickly.

“Yes?”

“Mesyla turned into a sea green hummingbird. A beautiful bird.”

“Maybe, she’s here watching.” Tyran joked.

Sharra gave him a pointed look. “She wouldn’t dare fly in my skies.”

After ten more minutes of walking, Sharra and Tyran finally reached the entrance to Poysk Galacial Cave. After another five minutes inside, they reached Elusa Pond…and the body next to it. A pale being with burned palms and soles.

“What is this?” Sharra whispered. “It looks like us.”

“It’s teeth, your majesty. You should see its teeth. ” Tyran whispered back.

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“Go on, then.” Sharra encouraged.

“I’m sorry?” Tyran asked, eyebrows raised.

Sharra lifted her left hand and pointed towards the body. “Show me the teeth.”

Tyran let out a sigh before walking towards the body, Sharra following.

When they both reached the body, Tyran knelt and pulled the body’s upper lips back.

Sharra bent over to get a closer look.

“Is that metal?” She asked. “Why would someone put metal on their teeth?”

Tyran removed his hand and shrugged. “It has to be painful, right?”

Instead of answering, Sharra walked away and made her way to an ice bench. As she sat, she took a huge breath.

“Where do you think these bodies are coming from, Tyran?”

Tyran, still kneeling, shrugged his shoulders.

Sharra pursed her lips together. “You still think I should remove the staff, don’t you?”

“Do you want to be honest, your majesty?”

Sharra nodded.

“I think the piece of Skyra that lives within you is not telling you the truth on what exactly is that staff.” Tyran confessed. “And I think you should remove it … .before something else, much bigger, and alive appears.”

Sharra closed her eyes and lowered her gaze. For a minute there, she pondered the possibility that maybe he was right. But the Goddess, the piece of Skyra that lives within her, kept telling her, ‘In time, you’ll see.’

After a minute of silence, Sharra stood from the bench and walked towards Tyran.

She turned around and motioned for Tyran to unzip the dress.

Once he was done, she turned back towards him and reached out to cusp his cheek. “You haven’t seen what I have seen.” She whispered.

“And what is that?”

“That staff could be Shioban’s only way home.”

Tyran narrowed his eyes. “Why are you so sure that Shioban’s alive?”

“Tyran. Shioban’s body was never recovered after the war, because there was not a body to recover. Shioban created this pond and drowned herself, thinking it was going to be her final resting place and force Skyra out. But…..”

Sharra paused.

“But what, Sharra? What did you see?”

“Light.” She mouthed. “She turned into light and disappeared.”

“And you are sure she didn’t ascend into the afterlife?”

Sharra nodded. “I think…I think that Skyra sent her away through the staff….and she won’t confess to me for some reason.”

Tyran returned to a standing position.

“You’re saying….you think Shioban is alive and in another realm.” He stuttered.

Sharra slowly nodded. It was her first time voicing her thoughts about this to Tyran. “The staff is a portal, pulling in tons of ocean. Where are the oceans coming from, Tyran? It has to be another Arlan realm.”

“Sharra, your majesty. We also have to consider that the staff is opening up Arla to worlds we do not know of. You know the stories?”

“I know.” Sharra sighed.

Tyran started pacing, but then something came to him.

“Wait.” He blurted.

“Yes?”

“You can see Shioban’s final moments here, right?” He asked.

Sharra nodded.

“Was the staff glowing when she opened it and released the Great Flood?” The catastrophic event that left half of Arla underwater.

“Yes, why?”

“And when she came here, was it glowing?”

Sharra shook her head.

“When she rode Eylis back here, she closed the staff.” Sharra paused for a moment. “But before she disappeared, the staff was glowing again. Then it stopped when she was gone.”

Tyran started to pace again.

“Tell me, what are you thinking?” Sharra urged.

Tyran, without thinking, took a seat on the ice bench.

“Oh my!” He yelped. “And your body loves that?!”

“Tyran, what are you thinking?” Sharra shouted.

“Sharra, my Queen. The staff is glowing.”

“I’m aware.”

“My Queen, if it is glowing, that means someone opened it.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Sharra mumbled.

“Then who did?”

At that moment, it started to rain.

To be continued.