The bubbles are gone.
And so is the struggle.
34
KAEL
She disappears beneath the surface.
One heartbeat she’s there—the next, only the ripples remain.
“Seren!”My voice bounces off the cavern walls and dies.I’m moving before I can think—boots skidding on slick stone, hands clawing at my tunic as I lunge for the water.The chill of the room sends goosebumps crawling over my skin.
My foot finds water, not solid ground.The cold shock gives way to white-hot agony that shoots up my leg.I recoil, a choked curse escaping my lips as I stumble backward and collapse to the floor.
My flame flickers as if touched by a phantom breath.As I clutch my foot, a sickly plume of steam rises from the surface, but the skin—red and slick—shows no blister.It justburns.
It isn’t heat.It’s a warning.Light-etched into the water itself, designed to reject anything that isn’thers.
I stare at the spot where I last saw her.No ripples break the surface.No bubbles burst.It’s just still.Quiet.A cold dread in my stomach mirrors the chill of the water.
Eira stalks behind me, pacing frantically.Her eyes, wide and filled with a fearful intelligence, lock onto the surface.She dips her head, sniffing the edges, before letting out a cry that echoes through the vault.
But her whines are met by only silence.
Behind my eyes, snapshots of the past burn and dissolve, one into the next, in a silent, blinding sequence.
Three sisters, wearing a different crown.The sound of their giggles ring in the distance.Then, the blinding light.The piercing screams.Wisps of black torn apart.
Then, nothing.
What’s happening to me?
I shake the vision free, my focus snapping back to the pool.A single, perfectly round bubble rises from the depths, bursts soundlessly, and vanishes.
Above, the shadows swirl in a grotesque dance against the cavern ceiling.The tendrils suddenly freeze, locking into a single, sharp point that slices headfirst into the violet light.The water parts like a curtain to receive it.
A pounding drumbeat fills my ears—a roar that blots out the world.My eyes stay fixed on the spot where they vanished.Time stretches into a sickening slow-motion, turning every movement of my head into a monumental, sluggish effort.
No matter the power that lives inside me, I feel utterly useless.
The darkness stirs, and a voice from another life rises to meet it.Daren’s voice, echoing through the gloom.
* * *
Listen to the light,my friend.It’s there to guide you.
We were perched on the bar stools at the Lighthouse Tavern, sipping ale and trading stories of our days in the trenches.Around us, guards laughed, boasting of the Triarch’s ‘victory over darkness’—the test they had just performed on Seren.Lately, our bond had become a strained thing, a political wedge driving us further apart.
Daren stared at me over the rim of his glass, a moustache of pale foam coating his lip.He was waiting for my response.
I lifted that anchor years ago.My ship has been sailing dark waters ever since.
“Sometimes I feel the darkness is too hard to avoid.”I said.Heat bloomed in my cheeks at the error of giving my thoughts a voice.Daren isn’t just a friend; he’s a devout follower of Solan.I should have been careful, especially as his allegiance has shifted as of late—a consequence of favouring prestige over friendship.
I shifted my gaze to the ale, not wanting to see my words land like a slap.I watched the bubbles rise to the top like a miniature universe: whites were the privileged, born into the creamy, cushioned head, destined to sit at the top of the world for as long as the foam lasted.Then there were the endless hopefuls churning in the depths, convinced their hard work would earn them a place in the glorious, effervescent crown.
“Be careful what you say, my friend.The walls are always listening.”Daren’s voice had been a warning, low and sharp.“I’ve given too much to be where I am, and I intend to keep it that way—friends or not.Spend too much time in the darkness, and you’ll forget what the light looks like.”
