Inhuman Relations #10
"One of that arsehole's past prizes managed to bring it with him," she says dispassionately, swishing her tail in lion-like discontent. "He tried to hide it, but the genie knew, of course he knew. I can only assume that he was lured into challenging the genie and was swiftly dispatching. At any rate...since he vanished, the bow has been drifting around the bottom of the lake. It has some shiny jewel adorning it, which is how I know: when I fly over, I can see it glinting through the water."
Deciding not to question the sphinx further - you have to get on with the task - you warily wade into the water, which is as pleasantly warm as bathwater. You swallow your nerves and dip your hands below the surface as the water creeps up your thighs, then above your waist, not becoming any cooler in the deeper reaches. Thankfully, there are very few stones littering the bottom of the lake, at least where you are walking, so your hooves are able to gain a better grip in the thick layer of silt and sand, sinking slightly under your weight.
Emboldened, you strike out into deeper water, working your limbs into an ungainly breaststroke, struggling to look down while swimming forward. Your arms and legs just don't seem to work together anymore and your progress is slow and tedious with long, labouring strokes of your gangly limbs. You gulp as the lake floor slopes down sharply, disappearing into a muddy tangle of weeds and scattered rocks, the bottom seeming near a league away, although you know it cannot be so.
There! Something sparkles far below you, nestling in what seems to be the crook of two sturdy rocks, sunken into the sandy bed of the lake...what else could it be but the searched for bow? You call back to Sadhana for confirmation and she bobs her head once in acknowledgement, yawning widely like a lioness.
"Yes, it was about there I saw it last," she shouts carelessly, studying a shiny pebble with undue concentration. "You should dive now."
Taking your last, deep breath of fresh air for a while, you sink swiftly below the surface, trembling as the warm water closes over your skull, mane and tail drifting gently underwater. You fight your natural buoyancy until you manage to point your muzzle down, using your arm muscles more than your legs to work out a rhythm, which, although unsightly, propels you at a greater pace down to the grainy bottom of the lake. Thick, kelp-like plants wave jovially as you swim past and catch at your legs with a lingering caress, though the slimy feel makes your skin crawl unjustly.
The bow is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship that is easy to decipher even with mud coating its back, the wood indistinguishable beneath the layer of filth. It is encrusted with elaborate gemstones - rubies, emeralds, sapphires and a myriad of miniscule, flawless diamonds - with only the middle band of the bow free of adornment so that it may be used for its intended purpose. So beautiful...yet you cannot reach out to grasp it.
Written by Amethyst Mare on 20 June 2012
