Submission (#3114) Approved

Underwater auroras

Boreal was admiring the posters pinned on the walls of the museum he had come to visit. It was a temporary exhibition of Ealei. The museums in the area usually only displayed ancient runes, weapons and tools rescued from the ice, so such a different exhibit immediately caught his attention. As soon as you walked in you were flooded by the predominant color of the clear water and manaberries, but he went straight to the coral section. Dozens of photos of corals of all colors and sizes covered that corner. Boreal had never seen corals, there were only rocks, ice and ice-covered rocks there in Strynhalde. Not that he was complaining, but Ealei was in total contrast to his homeland. The sun was sure to caress your cheeks and you certainly didn't get cold, the waters looked crystal clear, and they were sure to be warm too. But the corals... He was speechless. Boreal had only seen rainbows a couple of times, but the corals were permanent underwater rainbows. He imagined himself watching a feast of vivid colors through the clear water sitting on the roots of the great and lush Yggdrasil. Boreal continued to admire the posters. Some of them spoke of certain curious species of corals: some were the same color as manaberries, but were very very rare to find because they were a sea-like blue and could only be distinguished when the sun hit them very directly and they reflected greenish light; other corals were snow white, and were said to absorb pollution and purify it, cleaning the waters and emitting rainbow reflections in the process; others had unusual spongy ends that you could collect and apparently had a texture so pleasant that words could not describe it. But the coral that caught his attention the most was one that was apparently only found in the deep sea, far from the colorful corals that filled the coasts. This coral was dark blue, barely distinguishable in the deep waters, but whenever a being with mana swam nearby, a reflection of the color of auroras ran through it, as if it was the coral responding to the presence of magic. Very few Elnin have been able to swim that deep and find one, but those who have do so say it feels as if Mother Nature recognizes them and emits a heartbeat of bliss.