"Wearing a hole through the ground wont make it any faster you know." He glared at Eva and continued to pace before the large ornate doors that led to the sacred garden. Their priestess was taking her precious time diving the name of his mate and his patience was wearing thin.
He snarled the moment the door was opened, scaring the poor rat shifter acolyte that opened the door, the small girl quickly lowered her eyes and shook before the Prime, "The lady says you m-may come in now."
Eva quickly stepped forward and moved the girl out of the way as he powered through the door and into the underground temple. The paused the moment the door was closed behind him, allowing his night vision to kick in. The room he'd been waiting in had a window that opened into the outside, letting the midday sun.
The sacred garden was a cavernous room that was dug into the ground, immediately after the door, the room angled down. Dozens if not hundreds of steps cut into the ground and followed it. Eva following behind him and the acolyte coming up last. At the foot of the stairs was the reason why the room had the name.
A garden full of magical plants that only bloomed in the night. The room was dark for the most part, but the path from the door was lit with big fire basins. He followed it for a few minutes, garden hedges on either side of him until he reached the underground pond fed by a stream in the woods above it.
Beyond the stream, knelt a woman dressed in diaphanous white, her long white hair trailed from her scalp into the pond and got lost in it's dark depth.
"Come closer son of Athel," the rasp voice said, the woman began to undulate to a beat he couldn't hear. He did as she said and moved closer, with one hand he gestured Eva to stay behind.
The woman began to hum and he felt shivers climb up his spine as he felt magic unfurl in the air.
From the shadows came slow moving figures carrying bowls atop their head. They moved till they stood around the pond. The woman stopped humming and moving and there was a short terse moment of silent.
"Take off your shoes, step in the water." She whispered and the girls with the bowls echoed her words, their bodies moving slowly from side to side.
He quickly did as asked, he took off his shirt as well and removed his phone from his pocket, knowing they were about to ask him to take a dip. He moved carefully, there wasn't a smooth path into the water and he didn't want to slip. He moved carefully to the center.
As the alpha for the past century and a half, he had held counsel with the priestess of the moon mother for countless reasons, but he had never met her to help find his mate, he had no idea what else would be asked of him.
"Lie back," she ordered and he carefully lowered himself into the water, lying face up, slowly floating above it, the girls began to circle him, pouring in the content of their bowls into the pond as they did.
"Close your eyes and see." he frowned, wasn't it supposed to be the other way around? He closed his eyes and nearly swallowed water when he saw images, bright ones.
He got control of himself and repeated it, this time he paid attention. It felt like he was looking at the sun, he was looking at the sun. His body floated above the earth and he slowly turned to look at the planet. He could see it laid out like a map, complete with every country and continent being labelled. Suddenly his body was hurled towards it and he held his hands up at the force, looking away just as he was about to smash into the ground. When he felt no impact he opened his eyes to see himself in a house full of flowers, he was still floating in the air, and waved his hands around to gain traction, feeling the water of the pond move around him.
There on a table was a wallet, closed. He reached for it and was shocked to feel the product solidly in his hands. He opened it and took the identification card out. ELINA HARAGOVA. The name sounded regal, he noted her address and had decided to look around when he heard movement and dropped the wallet. Someone padded out of a room, tall, her a strange shade of blonde, barefoot, she yawned and scratched a rib. Everything happened in the dead silence of the strange magical dimension.
She stretched, showing a delectable amount of leg, he waded towards her, and reached out. Just as he was about to touch her he was wrenched away with the same force that pulled him in till he was slapping at the water in the pond gasping for air.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" The priestess asked and he spent a few seconds coughing up the water he had swallowed.
"Yes," he coughed. "I found her."
"The moon mother blessed your hunt." She finally lifted her face to him, showing him a smile with teeth half turned. Her face moved, the features of her animal through.
He bowed at her and swam to the edge of the pond where he lifted himself out with one powerful jump. He didn't bother shaking off the water, he moved doggedly towards the steps, dripping water in his wake. Eva caught up just as the acolyte from before held the door open and they stepped through.