There is only so much Pi’ve could say about being dragged through the ocean for a long time. The sheer force of the water enveloping him felt like a continuous, never-ending beating. Pi’ve had hoped that he would have the same experience as he had when being transported to Thergiam. Back then, he was inside a hard bubble made of a glass-like substance protecting him from the water outside, but he had understood that the merman who had come to get him had no magical capability like that. So, through the water he was dragged, with speed that made his eyelids turn inside out. His mouth was filled with water, and he tried with all his might to not let any get down to his stomach or lungs.

  He saw nothing. It was dark and he had to keep his eyes closed so it would not to feel like they were being attacked by a million mosquitoes with iron suckers. He had no control of his limbs. They flailed and flapped as the water rushed past him.

  After what felt like hours underwater, Pi’ve finally saw light in the distance in between his eyelids flapping. His eyes had become more accustomed to the water, yet it still burned as they were exposed to the salty water, though they hurt when he managed to close his eyes too. Suddenly, the merman spoke as intelligibly as if they were above water.

  ’We are here,’ he said, and passed through a veil in the glass dome into the infrastructure of Tharthillion.

  Pi’ve was left outside, and he did not know if he should wait or go inside. Panic started to creep upon him, and he could feel that the liquid in his lungs which made him able to “breathe”— while not actually breathing— would soon evaporate completely. He tried going in through the same place where the merman did, but he could not get through the veil. He was tracing his hands on the veil, knocking on the glass progressively harder and faster, while only being able to see faint lines of anything around him through the water. Something ahead of him was coming closer and closer on the other side of the veil. Pi’ve tried to shout as he felt the remaining liquid come up through his throat.

  A hand came through the veil and dragged him inside. It was like being dragged through a thin layer of skin, which gave in and let him pass. A little water seeped through the hole Pi’ve had made, before the hole shut and the weight of the ocean was kept at bay again. The rest of the dome was thick. Only the wall where Pi’ve entered was thin enough to pass through.

  ’Unfortunately— or, I do not want to assume the fortuitous nature of it, but Gaudol is indisposed at the current moment with the King,’ the merman said while Pi’ve stood with his hands on his knees, staff on the floor, trying to compose himself. ’As it is, the King would very much would like to meet you, but that is up to you to decide,’ the merman said, having now transformed into his human form, that being having two legs instead of one large fin.

  ’… I can’t go to the king like this… I’m drenched. Additionally, I think I may have had my share of kings for the moment, but I want to see Gaudol—’

  ’So it might not be too much of a sacrifice to see the King, if that leads to also meeting Gaudol?’ the merman said.

  ’Does he really want to see me that badly?’

  ’There is nothing bad about seeing you, Pi’ve. You are highly respected here in Thergiam.’

  ’Oh,’ Pi’ve said taken aback. In Thergiam, he had felt his reputation had started rather low, at least with some wizards, yet some had been surprised, and even impressed by some of his feats. One of them being able to achieve wizardom at the age he had, or the fact that he had been to the farthest Island widely known and bringing back the old king. Yet by the end, he could not gauge what his general reputation was, other than a disturber of peace. ’Why do I have respect here? I’ve barely been here.’

  ’Why? You are a representation and evidence of how far we merpeople have come, and it shows us that we are capable of greater things than we and others previously had thought. Not only were we able to reach for something we had not before had, that being having wizards of our own, but we have now proof that we are able to further develop that, and teach others how to become wizards. As I know, normal wizards are not capable of mentoring another wizard.’

  ’So I’ve heard… Right,’ Pi’ve said, but he had a sinking feeling in his stomach. It was not Gaudol’s doing that he had become a wizard. Not really. He had had a book in his library which he did not know he had, and that book was the origins of these powers. Gaudol would help Pi’ve cultivate his powers from now on, yes, but to make the leap that merpeople were higher magical beings might be taking it too far, but Pi’ve could not disprove that. They did seem like higher magical beings to him.

  ’Let me show you around in Tharthillion while we venture towards the palace,’ the merman said, which was when Pi’ve noticed that he had not exchanged names with him.

  ’My name is Pi’ve, as you know. What is yours?’

  ’My name is Kathenom, but you can call me Kenol. We have two names down here. One for us, one for you.’

  ’I see,’ Pi’ve said, and as they started walking, he saw for the first time that his preconceived thoughts about the underwater city were wrong. Gaudol’s house, where they had entered, was separated from the larger dome by a glass tunnel. It was very hard to see through this separation as there was water between the domes, creating visual distortion.

  Once out of the tunnel, Pi’ve saw a great dome open up, and his mouth dropped open. The dome was probably the size of three of the large wizard squares in Vesen which he had just visited, but the size was not the only thing that surprised him. From the bowed roof hung various types of vines and plants which grew downwards. Flowers sprouted from them, and they hung down like chandeliers. There were trees growing from the ground reaching great heights. These surely did not grow here naturally… The ground itself also surprised Pi’ve. It was not flat as he had expected, but curving with naturally with the seabed, and there was even a rock face, or a small cliff emerging out of the wall of the dome at their right.

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  The ground was not covered in chiselled stone, wood or plain pebbles, but with grass and very fine sand which made up the paths going through the flower and bush-laden floor. There were no buildings here, but Pi’ve thought that this place in particular was not a place of residence for the merpeople of Tharthillion. It looked more like an exhibition garden, or the backyard of a wealthy person. Gaudol would be someone like that, and it was indeed right outside his home.

  The way that these domes were constructed, in which he had no idea how, it made it difficult to see all of it from the outside. That is if you are a human without the ability to see through water. It was both difficult for Pi’ve to envision a larger dome than this, yet he could not believe that a city like this was composed of purely domes of this size. People needed places to live, and to make a hundred of these domes would be more cumbersome than making five absolutely gargantuan domes which could house the majority. He made these assumptions without knowing how many merpeople actually lived here.

  Coming closer to the other end of the exhibition garden-dome, Pi’ve saw faint lights through the water. They entered another glass-like tunnel, but before they did that, Pi’ve looked to his right and left and saw that other tunnels exited from this dome, and he understood that these domes were probably innumerable, branching left and right and probably stacked even above them. He wanted a map.

  Inside the next tunnel, he looked up and saw many different water creatures. Some of them he knew, yet this was so deep under the surface of the ocean that there were some he had never seen. And the size of them! Squids, whales and sharks. Some fish were smaller than any he had seen too, having colours which he had never seen on paintings even.

  ’Come now,’ Kenol said. ’The fish will stay, but Gaudol might move.’

  Pi’ve cleared his throat, readying himself to ask questions about the various fish which swam above them, but as he cleared the tunnel, his was unable to make any sound. What opened up was something he had theorised, but he had not anticipated the sheer scale. It was like the feeling you get when you shut your eyes, and it seems like you stand in the middle of an infinite void, yet you know that there are walls.

  There were still vines hanging down from the roof of the dome, but you could not see where they were connected. The walls going from Pi’ve’s side curved so slowly that the walls seemed flat, although he could see that it curved all the way around. There were four heights— hills— in the dome, and on top of these hills stood four identical buildings made of yellow rock. They were made of great pillars holding up a vast roof and there were no walls.

  The ground was covered in mostly grass with trees, fungi and flowers, with bees and butterflies flying around. It was hard for Pi’ve not to think about the stories his mother had told him about; paradise. But questions remained about how they had managed to bring these plants and insects down here… Or did they just appear once the conditions for life sustained it?

  They walked the fine-sand laden paths, and they moved past many smaller buildings. Here and there he encountered tall buildings with many windows. They were taller than any building he had seen above ground. He saw smithies, bookshops, vegetable shops, clothing stores, and here and there were the odd stand selling various fish and spices.

  As they traversed this place, Pi’ve could not seem to look past the amount of people— merpeople— that walked about, and he wondered if they all naturally had the ability to change from fins to feet, or if there were merpeople out there who could not live here because they were stuck with fins. If they did, why then was there not any merpeople living in Thergiam? They looked as human as any human did. Maybe they did live in Thergiam too, or maybe they just preferred to live down here with their own kind.

  Many merpeople looked Pi’ve’s way, and none of them seemed to notice that he was any different than them. Maybe they did, but did not care. It did seem like they knew he was different, but they did not approach him.

  ’We had a large celebration for Gaudol after you left,’ Kenol said. ’He tried hiding the fact that he had taken a human as apprentice to wizardom, but…’

  ’But, what?’

  ’It did not take long until Garol told others. He was the one who brought you to Thergiam in that bubble, remember?’

  ’Yes, I do remember,’ Pi’ve said, smirking. ’So, Gaudol wanted to keep it hidden, did he?’

  ’Yes. He is kind of shy— well, at least when it comes to his own achievements. He wants to make it happen, and let the world go on.’

  ’I see… Just a question,’

  ’Yes?’

  ’Three of you have names which end in “ol”, is there any significance with that?’

  ’It means feet,’ Kenol said. Pi’ve squinted as he did not expect that. ’That is, if you suffix it onto a name or word. It does not mean anything on its own, but it is added to our other-name to know who is a merperson or not.’

  ’Ah,’ Pi’ve said. He had noticed it as soon as Kenol had said his name, but two people can obviously have the same ending to their name. But then there was Garol also. ’So, do you know of Magnol? Funny guy. Wizard.’

  Kenol looked at Pi’ve, and Pi’ve thought that he saw him smirk. ’No.’ Then they walked through another tunnel. This time, the tunnel did not open up into a new dome, but seemed to lead directly into some underwater mountain, as everything was carved in stone. He did not see this mountain outside owing to how dark it was outside.

  As the hall started to open up, he saw a spacious hall come closer and closer. As they approached it, a huge staircase with a green carpet became visible to their left. It went up and up, until Pi’ve saw that the stair ended at a wall with a huge set of green doors.

  ’This is where I leave you. Gaudol is through that door,’ Kenol said. He nodded to Pi’ve, and Pi’ve nodded back. He had looked forward to seeing Gaudol and to finally learn some new spells. As Kenol turned and left, Pi’ve turned and walked up the stair.

  The stair could fit at least five people side-by-side in its width, and it was at least sixty steps high. It was huge, but then again, this was the kings palace. He reached the door, and before he could make the decision to knock or not, the large doors swung open. The walls rumbled as the large doors slowly opened up. There stood pillar upon pillar in this room. It was rather empty beside a few large vases and some statues here and there, and at the end of the hall was another staircase.

  Inside the vast hall five people could be seen. He knew Gaudol by his looks. The king must be the one on the throne. Two guards stood with armour beside the king, but the fifth person he did not know. They all turned to look at Pi’ve.

  It was Magnol.

  ’Pi’ve?’ Gaudol said.