She was drowning.
Uruake gasped for breath in the thick, airless sea of water she had been pulled in.
She felt the water flooding her lungs second by second, flowing into her system, her vision blurring.
"Stop resisting, child." A sharp voice snapped, as a scaly something clapped over her mouth, hissing softly.
Uruake immediately stilled, her vision focusing. She realized she could breath suddenly.
"Where- where am I?" She stammered, floating in the deep, dark waters.
"In the Tidal Realm, child." The voice hissed softly. A faint flicking movement caught Uruake's eye.
"Who are you-?!" She called into the depths.
"That is not important," the voice said impatiently. "Follow my light, and you shall be guided..."
Uruake was about to ask where exactly the light was when a strong, glowing, pale blue ball of light appeared in front of her, then started to sail away.
Wary, she started swimming after it, feeling more like a fish the longer she stayed in this realm.
The orb floated on and on, and just when she started to think that it would never end, the orb stopped abruptly and sharply dived down.
"Hey- wait!" She called after it, shooting down into the unsettlingly clear waters.
The orb stopped and waited as she felt her feet touch the floor, though it wasn't sand she felt.
It was cold, and hard. She peered down. It was stone, a circular stone platform raised above the endless sands in this Tidal Realm.
She raised her head and shot back, her hands covering her mouth.
A skeleton lay in a throne in front of the stone platform, a woman's corpse.
Well, at least it looked like that at first.
Gathering her courage, Uruake swam closer to the skeleton. She saw it was not a HUMAN woman, as she thought, but it had the torso and head of a human lady, but below that...
The skeletal structure resembled more of a fish.
The skeleton held something in it's bony fingers, something glowing and blue; a large, brilliantly shining electric blue rose.
The orb disappeared and Uruake was left alone in the semi-darkness, scared and uncertain. She looked at the rose hesitatantly.
She didn't want to touch it, but with no way out...
Uruake reached out to the rose and it latched immediately onto her hands, as if it had been longing for her touch for a long time.
She yelped, but she instinctively held it close to her chest and closed her eyes.
It was quite warm and comforting, and she caressed it's leaves in a loving manner.
There didn't seem to be any thorns on the rose, which Uruake thought puzzling, but didn't think much of it.
She felt the left side of her neck starting to grow colder than the rest of her body, but paid no attention to it, completely entranced by the warmth of the rose.
After a while she opened her eyes to see the rose wilted and dead, it's petals drooping.
Her heart skipped a beat as a hot, fierce breath hit her from behind.
Slowly, silently, she turned her head.
A large, leviathan like sea serpent was behind her, it's golden eyes staring at her menacingly.
She screamed and scrambled back, hitting the mermaid skeleton. However, the serpent did not move, simply observing her.
Uruake's breath was quick and shallow, but started to calm. She reached out one hand to the serpent's scales and ran her fingers along it.
The serpent cooed contentedly.
"Hey there, little fellow..." Uruake whispered to the serpent.
More fantastical sea creatures swam out of the darkness; a group of mer people, a large sea spider, and more.
All of them looked up at Uruake, floating serenely in the middle of the stone platform and bowed their heads immediately.
One of the mermaids swam up to her and smiled, extending one if her slender hands.
Her skin was blue, her dark green hair flying wildly around her face, her eyes bright blue orbs.
Uruake took the mer's hand and the mermaid gently led her back through where she came from.
The mirror was lying there, peacefully, waiting for her to step back in and into the real world.
The mer bowed their heads and smiled at her, the spider chittered, and the serpent bumped her in the sides as a goodbye.
The soft hissing voice rang out through the waters.
"They have recognized you as the Mother Of The Oceans, child," it whispered.
"You now rule over the Tides. Seek the Nightmare Lord and the Queen Of Flames, and the disaster shall be formed again."
Uruake nodded, not fully understanding the omens, and swam out through the mirror, emerging on the other side, dry, and very much alive.
She looked back into the mirror and froze.
A bright blue mark was on the left side of her neck, a mark the shape of a lotus.
The end of Chapter 6