King of the Seven Seas (EMH) Chapter 23: Journey Through Otherworld (1)

[Third Person POV]

Arthur stepped out of the gateway and into the Otherworld Dimension. The moment his foot touched the soft emerald grass, a sudden gust of wind swept past, carrying with it a faint, otherworldly fragrance—like rain after a storm mixed with the sweetness of blooming flowers. The blades of grass bent and twirled in playful waves beneath his boots, as if bowing to the newcomer.

He paused to take in the change. The difference was immediate and almost startling. The air here felt alive, cleaner and cooler than anything he had ever breathed on the mortal plane. Each inhale filled his lungs with a rejuvenating freshness that made his body feel lighter, his senses sharper. Above him stretched an endless sky of pure, crystalline blue, unmarred by pollution or haze. The clouds drifted lazily across the firmament, their edges glowing like silver in the bright sunlight, unlike the night from which they had just came from.

Arthur stepped forward slowly, letting the surreal beauty settle in. Ahead, Mera was already surveying their surroundings with a sharp, cautious eye. They stood in the middle of a vast, rolling prairie, the soft hills crowned with countless ancient stone circles. Great monoliths—resembling Stonehenge but larger, older, and humming faintly with arcane power—rose from the earth.

“Can you feel it?” Mera asked suddenly, her voice breaking the tranquil stillness. She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes, as though tasting the very essence of the realm.

“Feel what?” Arthur replied, tilting his head as the cool wind ruffled his hair. A few strands danced across his forehead, tickling his skin. Behind him, the sound of hooves clattered lightly as Dane emerged from the portal beside his winged steed.

“There’s magic in the air…” Mera sighed, almost dreamily.

Arthur couldn’t help the grin tugging at his lips. He turned toward her, eyes sparkling with amusement. “Sorry, but that sounded a little… corny,” he said with a soft chuckle.

Mera blinked, tilting her head in confusion. “Corny? How do my words sound like food? I don’t understand.”

Arthur groaned, rubbing a hand over his face while Dane burst into laughter behind them. “That’s not what I—never mind,” Arthur muttered, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

Dane urged his winged horse a few steps closer, still grinning. “I understand what she meant, though. Her statement wasn’t entirely wrong. Magic does flow through this land—beneath our feet, through the stones, and even in the air we breathe. For practitioners of the arcane, this place is the ideal crucible. Spells come easier here, and the land itself seems to lend you strength.”

Arthur and Mera exchanged a glance and nodded in understanding. The air truly did feel charged, almost electric, as though every breath carried a faint vibration.

“Anyhow,” Dane said, swinging himself smoothly back onto the saddle of his magnificent steed, “we’ve got a long journey ahead. I know you’re both in a rush, so if we want to make good distance before nightfall, we should set off immediately.”

“Lead the way,” Arthur replied, stepping onto the back of Mera’s conjured seahorse. The ethereal creature shimmered with a faint aqua glow, water-like fins spreading elegantly as it hovered a few feet above the grass. Mera climbed in front of him.

Dane guided his mount into the air, the winged horse beating its powerful feathered wings with effortless grace. As the group began to rise, he called back over the rush of wind, “At the moment we’re at the complete opposite end of where we need to be. To reach Lady Vivienne’s castle, we’ll have to travel through the Valley of Wailing Mist, cross the borders of Avalon, and pass over the floating fields of Fairy Land before finally arriving at her sacred lake.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow as the names echoed in the sky. “Valley of Wailing Mist, huh… that sounds cheerful,” he said with a dry sigh, earning a faint smile from Mera.

“It isn’t too bad,” Dane shouted, his voice carrying over the rushing air as they gained altitude. “If all goes well, I’ll see you both safely to your destination in a single trip!”

Arthur and Mera expressed their gratitude, their voices nearly lost in the wind, as they followed Dane into the open sky. The endless prairie began to shrink beneath them, the ancient stones fading into specks of gray against the vibrant green. Ahead, the horizon shifted, and within minutes the atmosphere changed.

A wall of mist appeared in the distance, rising like a phantom curtain that stretched far into the heavens. The fog churned and writhed as though alive, a pale gray veil that seemed to devour the sunlight. Even from afar it exuded a faint, mournful sound—like whispers carried on a distant wind.

Mera narrowed her eyes, curiosity shining within their depths. “What exactly is the Valley of Wailing Mist?” she asked, her voice tinged with both intrigue and caution.

Dane tightened his grip on the reins, his expression darkening slightly. “Its true origin is lost to time,” he admitted. “But the legends say the mist was born to shield the old castle of Morgana Le Fae, which lies somewhere to the northwest. The fog is said to confuse travelers, twisting their sense of direction and hiding paths that don’t wish to be found. As for the ‘wailing’…” He paused, glancing back at them. “They say it comes from the creatures that dwell within—beings that were once men and beasts, warped by Morgana’s black magic. Experiments left half-finished, waiting for release.”

Arthur and Mera exchanged a long look, the faint wail of the approaching mist echoing in their ears like a distant lament.

“How lovely,” Mera muttered dryly, her voice cutting through the growing chill as their mounts carried them closer to the haunted valley.

As they soared deeper into the Valley of Wailing Mist, the world around them dissolved into an endless sea of shifting gray. The fog thickened with every passing second until it became a suffocating wall of white, swallowing the sky, the ground, and even the faint glow of the ancient stones behind them. The air grew damp and heavy, clinging to their skin.

Arthur narrowed his eyes, straining against the haze. Even with his enhanced vision, Dane’s silhouette ahead was fading, becoming little more than a wavering shadow on the horizon. The beating of the winged horse’s wings was the only thing keeping him grounded in direction. Mera’s conjured seahorse glided silently beneath him, but even her sharp Atlantean eyes struggled to pierce the veil.

A sudden flash of red slashed through the mist. Dane jerked his reins sharply, his steed twisting aside just as a crimson beam of energy cut through the air where he had been a heartbeat earlier. Another flare followed in rapid succession, forcing him to weave left in a tight spiral.

Arthur’s heart kicked into overdrive. He leaned over and instantly saw a red beam charging beneath them, he tapped twice against Mera’s waist. She immediately understood, tilting their mount sharply to the right just as a scorching red beam hissed past, grazing the tip of their glowing seahorse’s fin. The air sizzled where the blast had passed.

More beams came in a sudden barrage, streaking upward from below. The mist lit up in brief, violent flashes of crimson. Arthur glanced down, catching a flicker of movement in the swirling fog. Red lights pulsed within the murk like predator eyes charging for another strike.

“What’s attacking us?!” Mera shouted over the roar of rushing air, twisting their mount to avoid a beam that narrowly missed Arthur’s shoulder.

Dane’s voice echoed back through the mist, distorted but still commanding. “If I had to guess—Mindless Ones! Creatures of the Dark Dimension, summoned by Le Fae herself! Stay close and follow me, I’ll guide you out!”

Arthur swerved hard to avoid another blast, his teeth gritted. “That’s easier said than done—we can barely see you!”

“Then follow the sound of my voice!” Dane barked back. “Don’t lose me!”

Arthur leaned close to Mera, lowering his voice to a sharp whisper. “Can’t you do something about this fog? Mist is just water vapor, right?”

Mera’s eyes sparked with sudden realization. “Good thinking,” she praised, releasing the reins and raising both hands to her sides. A soft blue glow ignited behind her pupils, intensifying until her entire gaze shimmered like the depths of the ocean.

The mist around them began to churn violently, twisting in great spirals as though the sky itself had come alive. Wind howled through the valley as Mera pulled the fog away, stripping it from the air in great, sweeping motions. Streams of vapor spiraled toward her palms, condensing into swirling torrents of water that crackled with power.

She lifted her arms higher, her magic gathering like a rising tide. The mist recoiled, parting in a widening corridor around them as the water coalesced into solid form. From the roiling vortex emerged sharp, gleaming tridents of hardened water, their edges glistening like polished crystal. They hovered beside Arthur, humming with lethal energy.

“Think your aim is good enough to strike them down?” Mera asked, her voice steady despite the chaos.

Arthur reached out and snatched the nearest trident from the air. Its slick surface was cold and wet against his palms, thrumming with Mera’s power. He smirked confidently. “Is that a challenge?”

The fog thinned just enough for him to spot their attackers—hulking, stone-skinned creatures lurking below. Their bodies were jagged and crude, like walking statues carved from volcanic rock. Their eyes glowed with malevolent crimson, the source of the deadly beams that still cut through the mist.

One of the creatures tilted its head back, red visor blazing as it charged another shot. Arthur drew his arm back, muscles coiling, and hurled the trident with all his strength. It sliced through the fog like a bolt of lightning, whistling through the air before striking the creature square in the chest.

The impact detonated with a deafening crack. The golem-like monster erupted in a shower of stone and molten shards, the blast leaving nothing but its shattered feet planted in the earth.

“Nice shot!” Mera shouted, already conjuring more weapons.

Arthur and Mera moved in perfect harmony. She summoned, he threw—each trident becoming a streak of blue light that rained down upon the enemy like celestial artillery. Every strike shattered another Mindless One, reducing them to rubble before they could unleash their deadly beams.

The air around them cleared rapidly under Mera’s control. The swirling fog peeled back in great ribbons, revealing Dane ahead. His sword flashed like a streak of darkness as he deflected an incoming beam with pinpoint precision, the reflected blast ricocheting back to annihilate another stone beast.

“Follow us!” Arthur shouted with a grin as they surged forward. “We’ll lead the way out!”

Dane laughed, even as he parried another blast. “Do you two even know where you’re going?!”

“We’ll end up somewhere if we keep going straight!” Mera called back, her brow furrowed in concentration as she bent the mist to her will, carving a path through the cursed valley. More tridents swirled into existence, floating like a deadly halo around Arthur’s waiting hands.

Together, the three of them charged through the shifting gray, undeterred by the relentless beams or the monstrous wails echoing from the depths of the fog. Stone bodies crumbled to dust in their wake.

At last, the oppressive mist began to thin, breaking apart into pale ribbons of vapor. Their mounts burst through the final veil of cloud and into open air, where a vast expanse of white and brilliant blue stretched across the sky. Sunlight poured down on them like a blessing, warm and blinding after the cold darkness of the valley.

Mera slowed her seahorse, her breathing heavy but controlled. Dane caught up with ease, his winged steed gliding beside them as he flashed a triumphant grin. “Good work, you two. We’ve not only escaped the valley, but we’ve covered more ground than I expected. At this pace, we’ll reach Avalon sooner than I’d hoped. Our journey might actually be quicker than planned.”

Arthur and Mera exchanged a satisfied glance before letting Dane take the lead once more. Together, they soared onward, leaving the haunted valley behind as the bright skies of Avalon beckoned them forward.