Lady Black stood there in stunned silence, waiting for the howling to cease. When it did, she found there was little more to say.

“Lead the way, my Lady.” Hadwin requested.

Around the camp, they marched southward, to the coast that stretched out before them like a black carpet. The Yuan Sea was so vast and the night so dark, that the horizon and sky seemed to fold together as one. The ocean looked like a layer of ink, salted with white spots under the blanket of sparkling stars; only the gentlest of ripples disturbed the waters sharp edge. Saurus and his soldiers snaked over a crescent hillock that overlooked the ships in Leeside’s dockyard. It reminded Saurus of the scout back at the Whitegull Inn— “Ghost Ship, my Lord.”—the scout had said.

When they reached the water’s edge which was gently dusted with reeds, it was Hadwin that stepped into the water first, his heavy frame disturbing the mirrored surface with great splashes. When his legs became submerged, he said to Saurus, “Hand it ‘ere, my Lord.”

The other twenty-three all froze to observe. Saurus handed him the veil of water-breathing and watched as he removed the cork. Doubt still hung in the air like an odour as Hadwin raised the veil over his tongue.

“Just a couple drops.” Reminded Lady Black, who seemed to be growing more anxious the closer they came to break of dawn. As instructed, Hadwin let two drops pinch from the veil to land deafly on his tongue. He swallowed and waited for something to happen; they all did. After a few heartbeats, Hadwin looked at the Lady Black, confused.

“Perhaps there’s something wrong with the potion, my Lady.” He said, looking awkward among a tangle of seaweed. Black did not seem perturbed by the comment, hastening a reply.

“The potion is perfect,” she snapped. “Place your head under the water and breath in deep.”

There was a look of apprehension as Hadwin slowly lowered his bearded face into the freezing depths. Saurus watched and waited, waiting for Hadwin to rear up choking on seawater. Hadwin submerged, then as expected, immediately reared up violently, his head flinging rivers of seawater to shower them. Hadwin breathed in deep and for a heartbeat, Saurus wondered what they were all going to do? Now that potion had not worked, but instead, Hadwin smiled.

“It works!” he cried as if unable to believe it himself. To verify that he hadn’t imagined it, he submerged himself again, this time longer, and then come up laughing even harder.

“It works Saurus, it works!” he bellowed. So much so, that Saurus and Black had to silence him with a hand wave—the walls to Leeside were not far off.

The twenty-three behind Saurus all shuffled forward eager to try the potion themselves, and one by one Saurus fed each of them—two drops on the tip of their tongues. He watched as they dunked themselves, only to return drenched, smiling from ear to ear. Lady Black crawled down into the water and looked to be about to dive when Saurus called out.

“My Lady?”

She turned to look at him, then up at the sky which was growing steadily lighter now the sun was desperate to break the horizon. Saurus held out the draught confused. Black took it and Saurus watched as two drops landed carefully on her tongue, then she dived and Saurus watched as the rippling water simmered.

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Saurus took two drops of the potion himself, grateful that it only tasted as salty as the sea itself. He clambered down into the water feeling the anxiety wash over him like the ocean itself, its cold embrace swallowing him up. His boots sunk into the soft mud below and as he was about to hold his breath, he stopped himself. The twenty-three looked at him eagerly, all wanting him to experience the same sensation they had. Saurus looked at his reflection in the water, then submerged.

It felt not different below the surface of the water, and Saurus applauded Hadwin for having the courage to suck in the water despite this. He didn’t breathe the water in at first, rather, let it flow into his mouth. The taste of salt was strong on his lips and tongue by the time he took a breath. The water went in and instead of burning his lungs, he felt a sweet release, as if taking a much-needed breath. The sensation was so surreal, he remained dunked, taking heavier and heavier inhales to test the extent of the potion. When he was satisfied, he broke the surface and issued his own laugh.

“The Lady was right. It truly is a Water-breathing draught, can you believe it Saurus.” Said Hadwin, energetically. Saurus looked around to find the Lady Black who had seemingly disappeared. Then she floated upwards clutching something in her hand. The seawater had caused her hair to flow even glossier and as she raised a pale arm, Saurus and his followers caught sight of what she was holding. A band of hempen rope, as thick as a man’s wrist; she tossed the rope to Saurus who clumsily caught it in his heavy armour.

“The rope leads to the sewer tunnel we require.” Announced Black. “Simply pull yourself along its length and we’ll be in the city before you know it.”

She did not wait for a reply as she dived, vanishing beneath. Hadwin shrugged when Saurus looked at him and one by one they all dived, pulling at the rope to guide them. Saurus found the journey terrifying if he was to describe it perfectly. The rope went deeper than Saurus had predicted, and at one point, it ran over a ledge that plummeted down to at least thirty feet below sea level.

Walking along the bottom of even the shallowest ocean floor, in armour, was enough to convince Saurus he had died and awoken in a nightmare. All around him was nothing but blackness and fear. A few times he almost felt the rope slip between his grip and thought, if he dropped the rope and lost it, he would be doomed to walk around in this abyss forever, or until the potion wore out and he drowned.

Even the sound was distorted and queer this far below. Spectral shapes swam around him like shaded snakes and at one point, Saurus thought he disturbed something underfoot. Something like a tail, or perhaps a tentacle, wriggled free from below his boot and Saurus felt a large pocket of water shift before him, as if something monstrous just bolted away.

When Saurus had counted his seventy-fourth footstep— ‘an activity he found help keep his fear under control’—he stopped. Something cut the water beside him like a blade, something that looked human at first with long copper hair and pale female breasts that sparkled like the mirage of sunlight on water. As the creature dashed off to disappear among the strings of kelp, Saurus saw the coiling of a fishtail. It had come and gone before Saurus had processed just what he was seeing.

A few dozen steps later, he saw an archway of stone. The rope led him inside the tunnel, where Saurus passed jagged iron rods woven into the floor and ceiling. These were all that remained of the iron bars that once barred the tunnel; before someone (or something), had cut its way through them.

His journey began to ascend upwards until he broke the surface of the water. He was standing in a dark cavernous sewer tunnel. Lady Black, Hadwin and seven men stood awaiting him. Two men grabbed and dragged him safely from the pool, water dripping noisily from his armour. The air stank of something foul but Saurus felt relief in the knowledge: They had made it, they had arrived in Leeside undetected.