Demon continent Alsace in the year 307 in the 10-month Asmodum on the 24th day after the shattering of the empire.

The few steps that separated her from the water had been covered in a few moments, without her being able to do anything in that time against the waterborne who were pulling her into the waters of the river.

With each step, more hands had joined in, pulling her into the waters of the river.

She tried to speak over the excited voices of the waterborne, but she could not prevail and already her legs were in the water.

At the next step, she was up to her waist in water.

She looked around for Lerna, only to see her being picked up by some of the waterborne. Which she didn't seem to like, because she bit at the waterborne, who made it into some sort of game, which only fueled her more.

Already she was up to her chest in water, which was churned up by all the waterborne and occasionally splashed water in her face.

She was just about to say that she couldn't breathe underwater like the waterborne when she disappeared under the waves of water.

And already lips pressed on hers and she looked into the light green eyes of the waterborne, which she had perceived as extraordinary from the beginning.

The kiss left her breathless in the ensuing panic, she tried to gasp for air, but only swallowed water.

Following her natural instincts, she tried to get rid of the water again, but a hand placed itself over her mouth and the waterborne who had just kissed her smiled at her.

"Don't be afraid, concentrate on my voice and breathe in and out normally." She was demonstrating it to her as if she didn't know how, but the waterborne didn't seem to understand that she couldn't breathe underwater like her.

"No no no, not like that." Said the waterborne when she saw that she had closed her mouth to avoid breathing in more water.

The coughing that shook her body was hard to keep under control so she wouldn't lose the last bit of air she had left in her lungs.

"Come on you can trust us we offered you hospitality. Just trust me and breathe like you do above the surface."

She looked around at Lerna who was now swimming freely back and forth between the waterborne.

Which were still pulling her further down.

The river didn't seem that deep to her, and yet they were already several meters below the surface. She could still make it back to it if she freed herself now. After only a few strokes of swimming, she would be back on the surface of the water and be able to breathe fresh air.

Her lungs began to burn and she felt the panic growing. But she would not let these feelings rule her.

What the waterborne had said was the truth, they had offered her hospitality and this they could not break.

Ergo, she was safe here, one more look at Lerna who still didn't look happy but she was now swimming next to the waterborne, not like her who was still being pulled down by them.

The fear of dying again still held her back, even though she knew it was nonsensical, she still had to wrestle with herself to get the control back.

Something she had to do more often lately and something she had to change.

With a jolt that went through her, she had control of herself back.

Slowly she opened her mouth, even though everything inside her was still screaming for her not to. And she took her first breath.

It was not as she had expected, or as it had happened to her only moments before. She was able to breathe without any problems, without water flowing into her mouth or choking on it.

As her domain told her, the air was filtered out of the water so that she could breathe normally.

Relief spread through her.

"I told you that you could trust us." Said the waterborne and smiled at her.

Although they were all surrounded by water, she could still see the waterborne clearly. Even their hair was tossed back and forth by the currents of the river.

"By the way, my name is Lucine daughter of Larraga and Gorka." And already the other waterborne introduced themselves, without even giving her the time to memorize each name and the faces that went with it.

In between all the names, she was asked more and more questions, like what it was like on the surface or if she was really a demon? Whether she had ever seen other members of divine races?

She was asked questions about everything and everyone, even about demons, which she should know. From fishermen who had once lived by this river, to lords and kings who had fallen into this river thousands of years ago and were saved by a waterborne.

The Waterborn seemed to live in their own time, and they did not seem to notice the change of time that was happening outside their river.

However, Demons must have been gone for quite some time, so long that even the Waterborn knew they hadn't seen any for quite some time.

More and more waterborne came and swarmed around her, raining down their questions on her.

She could not perceive a real city as inhabited by humans or demons, but the waterborne seemed to come out of cracks and caves. Also, there were not really many children among them.

Still, she felt that most of the waterborne were young, at least by waterborne standards.

Most were probably older than her two lives combined.

She let her eyes wander over the waterborne still swarming around her, then looked up to see how deep they were.

The water surface was a good fifty meters above her and she knew the river was not as deep as it was wide.

t must have something to do with magic, there is always talk about how visitors of the waterborne are led into grandiose palaces and how they are lost there for ages. And that an entire realm of their own was hidden beneath the waters.

She could only hope that she would not meet the same fate as many others who have dealt with the Waterborn.

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The young probably couldn't sense it, but she could still remember her younger days. When Titans and Gods still walked on Arcane and fought each other.

She looked at the young demoness, which was not one, she had to remind herself again. Appearances could be deceiving.

A glance at her colleagues told her that they too were watching the Jainkoa. Whether they remembered the old times as she did, she did not know. Nevertheless, they seemed to feel something.

At least Iker must have felt it or he could remember, it was hard to say with him, but since he was almost as old as she, it was possible.

It had been good that he had invited the Jainkoa, so they could catch a glimpse of her and see how she would change the world.

Iker approached her when the other three elders had swum a little farther, along with the young ones and the Jainkoa.

"Water doesn't forget, does it?" He asked her with a piercing look, from his dark blue eyes.

"No, indeed water does not forget. At most, it changes form." A smile spread across his features.

"I think we're in for some interesting times." He had turned to the bevy of young ones.

She just nodded silently, hanging on to her own thoughts. Still, she was worried, and she didn't like the fact that they had taken the snake with them.

As if it could read her mind, it looked in her direction and she felt as if it would stick out its tongue when it tasted the water.