The waves whispered as they pulled him back into the sea, like a lullaby laced with teeth.
Ren Everhart drifted half-conscious, his body heavy, breath shallow. The curse of the Firegate had torn something from within him. His strength had bled into the earth and sea.
Now, the sea claimed him.
The water closed over his body—cool, quiet, endless.
Then... breath.
He gasped suddenly, lungs expanding. But instead of choking, he inhaled clean, cool air that shouldn't have been there.
Eyes flying open, Ren found himself submerged in glowing blue depths. The water shimmered like moonlight made liquid. His heart thudded in confusion.
"Why… can I breathe?"
A voice like song, soft and melodic, echoed through the current.
"Oh... you finally wake up."
He turned sharply, still weightless, dazed.
A figure glided toward him from the shadows — sleek, elegant, wrapped in moonlit shimmer. She moved like music, effortless and fluid.
Long lavender hair floated freely, framing a face carved with royal poise. Her eyes were like honey and starlight. And beneath her waist…
A tail. Covered in scaled jewels. Flowing, alive.
Ren's heart skipped.
"Wait… what— You…" He swallowed, eyes wide. "You're a mermaid?"
The woman smiled, amused. "If that's the word you still use."
His head spun. "Your kingdom... it's real? Thalorine exists?"
She drifted closer, tail flicking softly, body glowing with a soft halo of light. "More real than the myths that birthed it." Her voice lowered. "And you're lucky I found you first."
Thalorine – The Ocean Kingdom
They swam downward through ancient coral arches veined with glowing runes. Thalorine revealed itself in waves of color and movement — a kingdom of harmony and danger, both beautiful and unknowable.
The city rose from the sea floor like a dream built by gods:
Towers of living coral spiraled upward, glowing in shades of blue and rose-gold.
Kelp bridges stretched across crystal domes, swaying gently with the current.
Shell-lights, suspended in the water, drifted like stars in a midnight sky.
Merfolk swam through open windows, their tails trailing like silk ribbons.
At the city's center, the Royal Spire gleamed — a twisting tower of pearl and obsidian, shaped like a seashell, guarded by serpents of glass and reef. Banners woven from ocean silk streamed in the currents, each bearing the Sigil of Thalorine — a moon encircled by twin waves.
Every stone, every shimmer pulsed with ancient tide-magic — magic that listened, waited, remembered.
Aeyla led Ren to a quiet sanctuary inside a cave chamber wrapped in bioluminescent moss. Smooth stones pulsed with calming energy beneath them. Above, clusters of jellyfish cast warm, golden light through the water.
"You were found two days ago," she said. "Unconscious, drifting past our warding trench. The guards took you. They thought you were dangerous. My father — the king — ordered you fed to the sharks."
Ren sat against the glowing reef wall, stunned.
"And you… saved me."
Aeyla nodded, her eyes unreadable. "I healed you. Hid you. I broke three royal decrees."
Ren's voice cracked. "Why?"
She drifted closer, tail swirling around her like wind. "Because the sea whispered your name before I ever saw your face."
"You cannot leave yet," she warned. "Not until the full moon rises."
"Why?"
"Because the tides obey the moon — and the ocean only grants passage when it's fed."
"Fed what?"
"A sacrifice."
Ren stared. "Sacrifice?"
Aeyla's smirk curled. "A secret. A memory. A piece of your soul. Or…" She floated closer. "Your virginity."
Ren nearly choked. "Wait, what?!"
She laughed, tail flicking as bubbles swirled between them. "I'm joking."
She paused. "Mostly."
Suddenly, the water vibrated with a sharp hum.
A ward cracked. Lights flickered.
Aeyla's eyes sharpened. "No… they found us."
Five royal guards burst through the coral gates, blades forged from hardened kelp, breastplates carved from shark bone. Their eyes glowed blue with ocean authority.
"By order of King Nerion," the leader called, "surrender the landborn."
Aeyla raised her hands. "He's under my protection."
"You defy royal command."
"I honor something older than law."
She raised her arms — and the water obeyed.
The sea roared.
Coral spears erupted from the walls. Waves crashed inward. The guards fought through it with tridents spinning, but Aeyla danced through the current, bending it like silk.
Ren tried to move — but the ocean fought him. His arms were slow. His lungs burned.
"Ren!" she shouted. "You can't fight the sea! Ride it!"
She summoned a creature with a whisper.
From the deep came a giant sea horse, glowing with mystic runes, tail thrashing like a cyclone. It whinnied underwater, eyes fierce and loyal.
Ren mounted. Aeyla gripped its mane. They shot forward like a comet.
Water split around them. Blades clashed. Tides howled.
Aeyla summoned whirlpools, barriers of pure moonlight. Ren swung Noctalia from the sea horse's back, his blade slashing in glowing arcs.
One final strike from Aeyla cracked the coral wall behind them, and they slipped through into the open sea.
Safe — for now.
Above: War Awakens
Far above, the world no longer slept.
The Dravaryn Empire had begun its march.
Thousands of armored knights rode ash-scaled beasts, fire-breathing and flamebound. Warlocks hovered above the army, chanting spells to blacken the sky.
At the front, Countess Virella, draped in red silk and obsidian armor, rode a war-dragon with wings like torn banners. Her eyes glowed like coals.
Iveryn's silver legions assembled behind crystalline walls.
Winged drakes circled the skies as Queen Ivera watched from her tower. Light-mages forged storm glass into blades, and the forests of her realm bloomed into living sentinels.
Elaris moved in silence.
Sand-runners blurred across dunes. Illusionists cast mirages of whole cities.
Queen Elara whispered to the wind, her army invisible until it strikes.
Three empires. One war. And beneath it all, the boy with the blade — lost to the sea.
Back in the reef chamber, Ren sat beside Aeyla.
"I still don't understand why you helped me."
She touched a glowing pearl. "Because sometimes, the sea remembers something we forget."
"And what if I can't give it what it wants?"
She leaned closer. "Then it will take."
He blinked. "And what will you take?"
Her voice dropped, sultry. "You'll find out tomorrow."
Then... the sea stilled.
The glow faded. Fish disappeared. The current went cold.
From the blackness beyond the reef, a presence stirred.
A shadow larger than a city glided past. Its eyes glowed like suns beneath a dying sea. The reef walls trembled.
Aeyla's face went pale.
"No… it can't be."
"What is that?" Ren asked, hand on Noctalia.
Her voice cracked.
"The Leviathan."
But then — something deeper echoed through the ocean trench.
A voice. Not the Leviathan's. Not mortal.
"Ren Everhart… you do not belong in the Deep."
Ren turned to Aeyla.
"That wasn't the Leviathan."
She whispered, shaking:
"No. That was something older."
End of Chapter 17