Ryan hesitated for a moment. "Actually, I don't think no fae except me knows the spell—maybe some do, maybe not—I don't know," he said.

"Anyway, I spent five years of my childhood in Village of Magic, and Tarina trusts me—she, or any other witch don't trust the fae that easily. When Aeron came to take me to my Kingdom, Tarina had told me the spell so that I can come here again." There was a faint smile on Ryan's lips as he talked about the witches of Village of Magic—I could tell they were like his foster family, who had taken care of him when he was young.

"So, no faeries are allowed inside that island, except you?" I asked.

"They are allowed; however, they need to inform first. One of the senior witches will have to come and get them."

"Oh," I sighed, my shoulders slumping. "I assume you cannot tell me the spell then?"

Our conversation was interrupted as Kia cooed out a whistle, attracting both Ryan's and mine attention. I looked down at the dolphin I was sitting on. It didn't take me long to understand that Kia wanted to go underwater— we were on the surface of the sea for quite some time. I got off her back and Kia immediately dove underwater.

"She will come after sometime," Ryan said.

With a nod, I swam to the shallower part of the water, closer to the shore of the island so that I had some footing. I stood over the sand, water coming up to my thighs yet not making me wet.

"Does this underwater spell ever make anyone wet from sea-water?" I asked Ryan.

Swimming closer to me, Ryan let go of his tail and stood over the sand, the water going up to his knees. He did not get wet either. "It will, if you wish to."

"Do you ever get wet in sea-water?"

Ryan gave me a knowing smile. "I can, if I wish to."

"Well, can you tell me the spell to the Village of Magic, if you wish to?" I smirked.

Ryan raised his arms in air in a who-knows gesture. "I don't know," he said, "The magic in the spell prevents us from giving away the spell to whomever we want. I can try, nonetheless."

"Try," I urged him. If the spell prevented itself from being told to anyone, then I was no exception. But, I was human, so maybe Ryan would be able to...

My thoughts were cut short when I sensed a warm breath on my ear and heard a string of gibberish words.

"Vas-mah meik—"

"What?" I scrunched up my nose.

"—vas-meh sik..."

This time a weird mixture of a chuckle and some giggles came out of my mouth. Thank the Gods, the spell I had to chant everyday to breathe underwater, was in English.

"ves duars..."

I put both my palms over my ear. Too much drollery can be torturous too.

"Spark, you know you are behaving like a child?" Ryan mentioned. He was trying to be serious but his laughter laced voice suggested something else.

"Sorry," I mumbled. Then, I realized he could tell me the spell.

I looked wide-eyed at Ryan. Then curving my lips to one side, said, "Now you must be glad I am human. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to say the spell to me."

"You being a ghost wouldn't have made me any less happy," he whispered against the corner of my ear.

I frowned. Certain unnecessary voices always found a way to my ears, no matter how much I tried to cover them.

"Now, remove your hands from your ears," Ryan chuckled. "If you want to know the spell, that is."

I removed my hands from my ears to let Ryan say the spell. This time, the distraction was Ryan's smooth, resonating voice; but I took a deep breath and promised myself to listen to those foreign words carefully.

"Vas-mah meik vas-meh sik

Ves duars swa meh ter."

After completing the spell, Ryan looked at me and said, "This is the spell for lifting the wards. The spell for closing the wards is different."

I nodded.

"Vas-mah meik vas-meh sik

Ves duars dha yat swa ter."

I released a breath as Ryan completed telling me the spell. He came in front of me and added, "One must not forget to close the wards. And we should never keep the wards open for a long time."

I nodded. Then asked, "Do you know the meaning of these...unfamiliar words?" I had to know the meaning or I was definitely going to forget what he said. I doubted that even knowing the meaning, I would remember the spells.

Ryan smirked. "The first one means," he drawled. "'O Keeper of Magic, Open the wards for me to enter' and the second spell means 'O Keeper of Magic, Close the wards since I have entered.'"

I opened my mouth to say something but Ryan's smirk grew wider and his expressions grew smug. "You can chant the spells in English too," he said.

Then what reason did he have to tell me all those unusual words? Vas-mah meik vas-meh sik—I did not even have to know those lines!

"You—you—why?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

Ryan shrugged. "I wanted to see your reaction."

I closed my eyes and crossed my arms. Taking a deep breath, I looked at Ryan. "What was your reaction when Tarina fed you those baloney?"

"Those are not non-sense," Ryan informed. "It is the actual spell in witches' language. And my reaction was refined and mature, even though I was a kid at that time." Each and every word he uttered was smeared with arrogance.

"And now, when you are indeed mature, you behave as if you are a kid," I said with a mock sigh while looking at him with genuine pitiful eyes.

"Says you," Ryan flashed a half-grin.

I narrowed my eyes and opened my mouth when Kia whistled, notifying us of her presence. Sending an accusing glare towards Ryan, I hopped on her back and told her to dive underwater, knowing very well that Ryan had fixed his mind about not taking me to the Village of Magic.

***

While underwater, I could not shrug off the fact that Ryan did not take me to the Village of Magic—maybe I did not deserve to know about Odalis' politics but when it involved my family and myself, I had every right to delve into the matters of Odalis. I did not know if Ryan was trying to keep me away from everything for my supposed own good or if he did not want me to know certain things about Odalis. Faeries couldn't lie but they could conceal parts of truth and not probing for Odalis' information was clearly good for me.

But I did not care. I knew the spell now—if I wanted to go there, I could. And I really wanted to go to the Village of Magic—here, in Kingdom of Water, I was tired of hiding all the time, of not being able to go out, of being stuffed up in a room all day.

When I had first arrived here, I thought that after my wound healed, we would go find my family, or better, confront Aeron; but ever since I learned from Myra how powerful Aeron was, I knew we had to be careful. I knew we could not let him know about our whereabouts here, and I also knew that Aeron was aware of our presence in Odalis. He had to be. He was the King. But for some reason he was not acting up.

I needed to stir Aeron up.

After staying a couple weeks in the Kingdom of Water, I came to know that I would not be able to find my family if I continued hiding. I had only one option—going inside the castle, and that was what I had intended—it could have got me killed, but I had willed myself to take that risk.

However, another door opened up ever since Ryan told me about those flags—the door that would lead me out of the Kingdom of Water and to the Village of Magic. If he was right that some kind of flags existed, then who knew what those could do? Before making the rushed decision of going to the castle, I needed to at least know what the flags were capable of and more importantly, if there even existed a flag or not.

Ryan said he was unable to find any documentation about any kind of flag in the libraries of Kingdom of Water. So, going to the libraries in the City would be useless for me— I needed to go out of the Kingdom of Water. To the Village of Magic.

Even though I knew the spell that would help me enter the island, I would not be able to go there at once. My actions would seem desperate. I really was desperate, however acting upon my desperation would give Ryan all the more reason to keep me out of his schemes.

I needed a pretext to go to the Village of Magic.

In other words, I needed to create a pretext to go to the Village of Magic.

Smiling to myself, I looked at the mesmerizing decoration of the canal we were going through. I could tell we had reached the Starwater Canal. The enrapturing sight of the canal never failed to enthral me. I glanced at the mers and faeries passing through the same canal, going about their work, some on backs of dolphins, some travelling in sea-weed boats while some floating slowly taking all the time in hand.

We came in front of Queen Everiene's statue and I urged Kia to stop. She halted with a click. I caressed her fin and looked at the statue, admiring the Queen's courage and bravery. "Let me be determined and fearless like you," I whispered.

The smile in her face soothed me. It looked almost motherly to me, doing wonders for someone who was missing her mother a lot. Although she was only present in the form of a statue, standing in front of Queen Everiene gave me an assurance and it was all I needed to comply with my plan.

I told Kia to go to the City. She made a clicking sound and did not move. "Kia, please, I need to go there," I pleaded. Kia clicked again, hesitation evident in her clicks. Before I could doubt my intentions, I patted her on the side urging her to go ahead and after hesitating for a few moments she moved towards the City.

The wide canal leading to the City was decorated with bioluminescent, corals, colourful sea-grass with the long curtains of kelp on either side of the canal giving it a regal touch. To my distaste, the sea-floor was polished and devoid of any moss, bones or sea-weed—different layers of stone and crust covered the floor of the canal. That I needed something to protect myself in case any harm came my way was realized by me when Kia had already taken me to this canal, and looking at the sea-floor, I knew it was impossible for me to find any sort of weapon for my own protection.

I told Kia to take me to the City Market— maybe I would be able to conjure up a bone or two there.

I had not yet decided what I was going to do at the City, where was I going to go from the market—the lack of a reasonable plan nagged at my brain and I tried to shove that sensation away before I backed away. I needed to do this.

I needed to let my presence known in the Kingdom of Water.

That would make Aeron act. And—

—Occupied with thoughts I failed to realize the surroundings had become darker, devoid of any creature, and a ghostly silence had fallen over us. Coldness crept over my body making me shudder.

Kia stalled—she, too, might have felt the strangeness encompassing us.

This cannot be the market.

"Kia, did you not come to the City before?"

A faint clicking sound gave me my answer. No. That was why she hesitated at the Starwater Canal. Panic bubbled up inside me, making me tremble. The sharp spikes of silence cut through me, filling my mind with ceaseless sounds of terror.

"Kia, can you go back the way you came?" I asked her, trying to calm myself.

A louder click this time. Yes, she could. I released a breath that I was holding.

"Okay, let's go back then. We will go straight to Myra's house."

Two clicks.

Kia was about to turn around when, noticing bones of all sizes strewn around us, I made her stop. At least, I would be able to gather the bones from here. However, I should have realized how bizarre it was for so many bones to be laying around like that, for as I bent down to collect a bone, I sensed a movement behind me.

_____________

Hi! How are you all? Hope you are fine. ♡

Sooo... Did you like the witches' language?😂

Also, Venus is getting bold XD. I guess she was bold from the start and it is now that she is herself realizing that.🤷‍♀️

Oh, and what could be that creepy movement?👀👀

Please recommend this story to someone who you think may enjoy this.♡

And Thank you for your votes/ comments/ reads. 🧚‍♀️