Camdyn stirred at the sound of metal clanging, sharp and deliberate. He had dozed off with his arms folded against the cold stone wall. Across from him, Saelune was lightly thudding the back of her head against the bricks in a slow, absent rhythm.

  He wasn’t sure Flora had slept at all. She had grown weaker in the enclosed room; being cut off from sunlight and the forest’s soil was taking its toll.

  In that stale, windowless cell, time had lost all meaning. Hours—or days—might have passed.

  Camdyn blinked the sleep from his eyes and met Rellian’s gaze through the rusted bars.

  “Mornin’, sunshine,” Rellian drawled, tapping the bars once more for emphasis. “Hope you got your beauty sleep.”

  “I’ve slept better,” he said dryly.

  “I know these accommodations have been far from accommodatin’,” Rellian said, a smirk tugging at his mouth. “But I had to do my due diligence, you see. Not often we get visitors who ain’t try to kill, steal, or stir up trouble. These are harsh times we’re livin’ in. Trust don’t come easy.”

  Camdyn pushed himself upright, brushing grit from his palms and forcing steadiness into his tone. “What do you want?”

  Rellian tilted his head. “This artifact you mentioned, it's down in one of the lower chambers. Submerged in a crystalline pool. Encased in rock and coral. Never seen nothin’ like it.” He paused, watching Camdyn carefully. “Three men died tryin’ to get it. What makes you think you’ll be any different?”

  “Because I know what it is. And I’m not like those men.” He bluffed.

  Rellian gave a low chuckle. “That so? Everyone thinks they’re different until the water closes over their head.” He stepped back from the bars, hands hooked loosely on his belt. “Still… you’ve stirred up curiosity. My men think you're just another fool with a death wish. I’m not so sure.”

  “And why’s that?” Camdyn asked, tone flat.

  Rellian jerked his chin toward Flora. “Because you’ve got a cheat code.”

  Camdyn stiffened.

  “You think I wouldn’t notice?” he smirked, eyes flicking between them. “Your girl there. She’s not human. She’s otherborn, ain’t she? One of the alien-folk that crawled out from the rubble.”

  Flora’s gaze sharpened.

  “I ain’t never seen one with a human before,” Rellian went on, unfazed. “But hell, I ain’t seen a lot of things.”

  “That’s for sure,” Saelune snorted.

  “Say something, girly?” he growled.

  “Yeah,” she replied, finally bothering to join the conversation. “What’s this knife to you, anyway? You can’t reach it. Your men literally died trying. So unless you plan on growing gills, it’s useless to you. Might as well let us take it off your hands.”

  He tilted his head, studying her. “And remind me again, why’s it so damn important to you?”

  She gestured toward Flora. “Let’s call it an old family heirloom.”

  He looked to the nymph then back to Saelune. “And where do you fit in this pretty little picture, hm? Stray dog?”

  “She’s my sister,” Camdyn cut in.

  Rellian raised a skeptical brow.

  “Step.” she added, flatly. “Does it matter? From where I’m standing, you’ve really got nothing to lose. Let him try for the artifact. Odds are he drowns like the others. If that’s the case, you’ve got one less prisoner to worry about.”

  Rellian cocked his head. “And if he gets the blade?”

  “Then let us leave with it,” she said. “Seems fair. Survive the impossible, earn your freedom. Sounds like a good wager, doesn’t it?”

  “And why would I agree to any of that?”

  Saelune crossed her arms. “Oh, come on. You’re telling me you’re not betting men? No appetite for a little life-or-death gamble especially when the stakes aren’t even yours?”

  Rellian’s gaze lingered on her, unreadable. Then, with a low chuckle, he muttered, “You’re quite the character. You show no regard for your companions. Not even family. A true survivor through and through.”

  “I regard them enough to know when not to play it safe.”

  The leader scratched at the scruff on his chin, considering. A slow grin crept across his face. “Alright,” he drawled at last. “One attempt. He goes in alone.”

  He paused just long enough to let the tension thicken. “But, we up the stakes.”

  “To?” Saelune asked coolly.

  “If he dies, so do the two of you.”

  “Saelune…” Camdyn warned, voice low, already sensing where this was heading.

  She paused, thinking it over. “If we’re raising the stakes, then he gets his gear back.”

  “No weapon.”

  “You know he won’t use it,” she countered. “Besides, he’s outnumbered. What harm can he do?”

  Rellian studied her, then Camdyn. He chewed on the inside of his cheek before giving a nod. “Fine. Do we have a deal?”

  She flashed a grin, sharp as broken glass. “Deal.”

  “What are you doing?” Flora hissed, pulling her aside.

  Camdyn joined in cornering her at the far end of the cell, his voice a harsh whisper. “Are you actually insane?”

  Saelune didn’t flinch under their stares. She shrugged, calm as still water. “What does it look like I’m doing? Buying us a shot.”

  “A shot at what?” Flora said sharply. “Dying together?”

  “At living,” Saelune shot back, her voice low but firm. “Camdyn, do you really think they were going to let us sit in here and rot peacefully? They were going to bleed us for information until there was nothing left.”

  Camdyn’s jaw clenched. “So your plan is to rush that timeline along?”

  “No,” she said, locking eyes with him. “But I am rushing our time in here along.”

  Flora shook her head. “You gambled all our lives without asking.”

  “Diplomacy was taking too long. And I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think he could pull it off.”

  “And how would you know that?”

  Saelune tapped the side of her cloudy eye. “Consider it a divine hunch.”

  Camdyn ran a hand through his hair, breathing hard. “And what if I don’t make it out?”

  Flora turned to him, grabbing his hands, firm, but gentle. “You will make it.”

  Camdyn looked down at their hands. Hers were so much smaller, yet steadier than his had ever felt. He wanted to believe her. He needed to.

  But the weight in his chest didn’t budge.

  “How can I succeed,” he said quietly, “when I don’t even know why the others failed?”

  “Like you said, you’re different, Camdyn.” She offered a small smile, one that trembled at the edges but held. “Intention matters. And your intention is pure.”

  He met her eyes.

  “When the time comes you’ll know what to do. Listen to your mind. To your heart. To your breath. This is not where your story ends, Camdyn.”

  For just a beat, the fear in him quieted.

  A sharp knock on the cell bars made them flinch apart. Rellian stood there, bored and smug. “So, do we have a deal, boy?”

  Flora nodded.

  Camdyn drew in breath. Then let it out. “Deal.”

  The walk through the undercroft was slow, silent like a funeral march. Two raiders flanked Camdyn on either side, their expressions a quiet amusement, while behind him trailed Saelune and Flora, each with wrists bound and guarded closely.

  Neither nymph nor Sirin spoke, but he could feel their presence like gravity.

  Flora’s gaze burned into his back, and when he turned briefly, her eyes wide and storm-lit met his. A tremor passed through him. She wasn’t supposed to be here. Neither of them were. But Rellian had insisted.

  He wanted witnesses.

  Camdyn’s thoughts thudded in his skull like footsteps as they descended the stairs to the chamber. A torch-bearing raider motioned for him to enter.

  The room beyond was colder than he'd expected.

  At the far end, a circular pool waited still and crystalline, the surface like polished glass. But beneath it, something shimmered.

  Light pulsed faintly from within.

  Bioluminescent coral lined the inner walls of the pool, casting soft hues of violet, cyan, and green that rippled across the room. It was as if stars had sunk beneath the water, lighting it from below in waves that danced gently across the stone walls. The entire chamber pulsed with that quiet glow, like the breath of something sleeping.

  At the pool’s center rose a large stalagmite, fused seamlessly with the coral. It breached the water’s surface like the horn of some ancient creature.

  The raider closest to him threw his pack to the ground in front of them.

  “Take what you will,” Rellian said, stepping forward. “Not that it’ll matter. This pool has claimed better men than you.”

  Camdyn ignored him. He sifted through his belongings, until his hand met the butt of his blade. He put it at his side before standing back up.

  The air near the pool was humid, rich with the scent of minerals and salt. The edge of the pool was lined with ancient carvings, etched by hands long gone. He stood at the threshold, the knife gripped firmly in one hand.

  “It speaks of sacrifice–” Flora started.

  Rellian was quick to silence her. “You are here to observe. Not interfere.”

  Then he turned to Camdyn, his lips curling into a sneer. “On with it, then. Let’s see if you really are the chosen one,” he mocked, voice thick with disdain.

  Camdyn closed his eyes. One breath in, one breath out.

  He stepped in. The chill seized him at once, gnawing up his legs like teeth. The silence in the chamber vanished beneath the rush of something ancient pressing in on him. He waded forward. Waist. Ribs. Chest. The water rose, cold and heavy. He drew one last breath and held it.

  Then the floor disappeared beneath his feet.

  And he sank.

  The water swallowed him whole. Camdyn kicked downward, the cold clinging to his skin like a second layer. The light from the coral shimmered around him, painting the crystalline pool in eerie, rippling hues.

  At the heart of the central stalagmite rested the Covenant Blade, half-buried in a narrow hollow. Coral ringed the vessel like teeth, gripping the weapon in a gleaming maw.

  He reached for it. It couldn’t be that easy… Could it?

  The moment his fingers grazed the hilt, the coral snapped shut around his wrist like a trap. He jerked instinctively, but it was no use. The coral held him fast.

  Bubbles burst from his mouth as panic bloomed in his chest. He twisted, yanked, clawed—nothing. The coral only tightened, its edges slicing into his skin. His lungs screamed.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  His vision blurred.

  He grabbed his knife in desperation, intending to loosen the coral’s grip by force. But then, he remembered Flora’s words: Sacrifice.

  It couldn’t be a life. Three others died in this exact place. It must mean something more…

  Through the haze, he saw it.

  An opening in the coral. A narrow slot, carefully carved. Not natural. Intentional.

  A single symbol etched above it. He couldn’t read it but he knew.

  An offering.

  Camdyn stared at the knife in his hand—Roenen’s blade. Worn. Weathered. Familiar. The last piece of his brother.

  He froze. To give it up felt like losing Roenen all over again. But maybe that’s what it demanded. Significance.

  Still, he hesitated, but The coral didn’t budge.

  Its jagged hold was unrelenting, pulsing now with a strange rhythm as if it waited. As if it judged.

  Camdyn’s lungs burned. He didn’t have time. Trembling, he guided the blade toward the slot.

  A beat passed. Then another.

  The coral stirred. It uncurled from his arm, letting go with the gentleness of a sigh. And in the same moment, the relic blade rose from the coral, drifting up as if beckoning him to take it.

  Camdyn reached out, and this time, it came freely into his hand. The moment he touched it, a warmth pulsed through his palm, silencing the panic in his chest. The Covenant Blade was heavier than Roenen’s, but balanced—alive, almost. Ancient and waiting.

  He kicked upward toward the surface, heart pounding, Blade in hand.

  Camdyn burst through the surface with a ragged gasp, water cascading down his face.

  He raised his arm high, the Covenant Blade clutched in his grip. Gleaming, ancient, and undeniable.

  For a moment, silence. Then came the murmurs from the raiders.

  “Impossible…” Rellian breathed, eyes wide.

  “Hell yeah!” Saelune cheered.

  And Flora—quiet, watching—let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

  Her lips curled into a smile.

  Relief. Awe. Pride.

  He had done it.

  Rellian clapped slowly, his boots clicking over the damp stone as he approached the edge of the pool.

  “Well, well, well. Gotta say, you’ve surprised me, kid,” he said with a smirk. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”

  Camdyn made his way out of the pool, water sluicing off him in rivulets.

  “I guess you thought wrong.”

  Rellian took another step closer, eyes fixed on the relic .“Now that you were so kind as to fetch it, I’ll be taking it off your hands now.”

  Camdyn didn’t move. “That wasn’t the deal.”

  “Well, it seems that the deal’s off. Nothin’ personal, truly.”

  His gaze flicked to Camdyn’s grip on the relic. “Before you get any ideas… my men are ready to kill your companions if things start to go south.”

  Camdyn’s heart slammed against his ribs. The raiders seized Flora and Saelune arms locked in chokeholds, blades pressed to their throats.

  “Don’t give it up,” Flora said, voice steady.

  “Shut up,” her captor hissed, pressing the blade harder. A thin line of blood welled at her neck, but her eyes stayed locked on Camdyn, unyielding.

  His gaze shifted to Saelune. “Now” she mouthed. The signal.

  He nodded.

  In a flash, Saelune stomped hard on her captor’s boot, elbowed him back, and spun, driving a foot into the raider holding Flora. The impact knocked him off balance.

  Then, with a sharp breath, she pulled back her hood.

  Gasps rang out as the illusion dissolved. Her true form was revealed in full, shimmering defiance. Confusion erupted in the crowd.

  “What the hell is she?” one raider called out.

  She smiled, predatory and confident.

  Then she moved.

  Agile as a cat, Saelune twisted midair, flipping over a raider’s outstretched arm. Her wrists still bound, but that didn’t stop her from turning their confusion into an advantage. She ducked low beneath an axe swing and delivered a solid kick to a raider’s chest, sending him stumbling back into the pool’s edge.

  Camdyn caught a break in the chaos. He grabbed for his pack.

  Rellian lunged for him, but Camdyn ducked and drove his shoulder into the man’s gut, knocking the wind from him. Rellian cursed, staggering.

  Camdyn didn’t stop. He bolted for Saelune. “Hold still!” he barked, skidding beside her.

  She dropped to one knee, pivoting her back toward him just as a spear narrowly missed her. Camdyn sliced through the binds at her wrists. The cord snapped free.

  Saelune exhaled with a wicked grin. “Finally.”

  She surged to her feet, now fully unleashed, and rejoined the fray with renewed ferocity, spinning, striking, and leaping through the narrowing ring of raiders.

  Camdyn turned to Flora. She was braced against the cavern wall, alert and doing her best to stay out of the way. Blood trailed down her neck in a thin red line, but she didn’t seem to notice.

  He was at her side in an instant.

  “Hey, look at me,” he said softly, eyes searching hers. “You’re bleeding.”

  He gently brushed her hair aside to get a better look. The cut was shallow, but seeing her hurt still twisted something in him.

  “I’ll bandage it later,” he murmured, voice low and steady. “Right now, we need to get you out of here.” He cut her binds with one swift movement.

  Flora gave a small nod, rubbing her wrists.

  Saelune, still in motion, spun into a low sweep, knocking a raider flat before flipping over another’s blade and landing in a crouch. Her grin widened. She was enjoying this.

  “Go!” she called over her shoulder. “I’ve got them.”

  Camdyn took Flora’s hand and turned toward the tunnel exit, but Rellian saw.

  “They're getting away!” he bellowed.

  Saelune took down the last of the men between her and Rellian, then sprung straight for him.

  Camdyn stepped in just as Rellian struck, intercepting the blow with his knife. But Saelune was already in motion. She vaulted onto Rellian’s back, her teeth sinking into his shoulder with a snarl.

  Rellian let out a pained roar, and with the distraction, Camdyn and Flora broke away, ascending the stone steps to the temple above.

  They barely made it through before four more raiders blocked their path, weapons drawn.

  Camdyn stepped forward instinctively, blade raised, shielding Flora.

  “Stay behind me.”

  He blocked the first blow, twisted, and drove his shoulder into the next attacker. But they were outnumbered.

  Saelune exploded into the fray, sliding between Camdyn and a charging raider, her talons skimming the floor, twin daggers flashing as they met steel.

  “Get to the other side,” she barked, never breaking stride. “I’m bringing this place down.”

  Without waiting for a reply, she launched upward, grabbing hold of the massive sea beast skeleton suspended overhead. With a grunt, she ripped one of its rib bones free.

  Rellian reappeared, blood streaked down his arm. His eyes locked on Camdyn.

  “You have something that belongs to me, boy.”

  They clashed, knife to knife, Camdyn straining to keep up. Rellian pressed forward, faster, stronger, and far more practiced. Camdyn faltered, his heel skidding back.

  Then—crack!

  Flora struck Rellian from behind with a jagged rock.

  He stumbled.

  Camdyn didn’t hesitate. He lunged forward, driving a powerful kick into Rellian’s chest. The man flew backward into one of the stone sculptures lining the temple floor. It shattered beneath the impact, rubble cascading over him.

  “Saelune. There!” Camdyn shouted, pointing to the fissure splitting the ceiling. “Do it now!”

  Above, Saelune answered with a sharp cry, wings flaring as she swung the rib bone down against a support beam. It cracked, groaning beneath the blow.

  Then again, harder this time. The ceiling shuddered. The long fracture spread, stones beginning to rain down.

  She darted back, snatching her charango from where it lay forgotten. Slinging it over her shoulder, she sprinted across the collapsing chamber, leaping just as the ceiling collapsed.

  Rocks thundered down behind her.

  She hit the ground hard and rolled, landing in a cloud of dust and splintered gravel.

  Silence fell.

  Saelune glanced back at the wreckage, a smirk tugging at her lips. She then looked down at her charango and pressed a loud, exaggerated “mwah” to its surface.

  The dust was still settling when Camdyn stepped forward, offering a hand. “You really saved our backs out there. Are you alright?”

  She gave him a breathless nod, her grin smeared with ash but still defiant. “Don’t worry, most of this blood belongs to someone else.”

  He chuckled, “Right. Remind me to never cross your path.”

  The three turned and descended the temple steps, light seeping in from the cave mouth ahead. The tide was beginning to roll in, the air sharp with salt and steadily clearing. Behind them, the rumble of the collapse faded into distant memory.

  They paused at the edge, eyes falling on the same footholds that had brought them here, once treacherous, now familiar.

  One by one, they began the climb back down to the beach, muscles aching but hearts lighter. Relief swelled as their feet met the rocky shore again, cool and uneven beneath them.

  Safe.

  For a long moment, no one spoke. Only the wind answered. The cry of gulls overhead. The rhythmic pulse of waves striking the distant cliffs.

  Camdyn glanced back at the ocean, its vastness unchanged by everything that had happened. Then he turned to Flora and Saelune, bruised, bloodied, and very-much alive. A flicker of gratitude passed through him.

  They had made it out.

  They were still together.

  They didn’t speak much as they made their way along the winding edge of the cliffside. The sun had begun its descent, casting long shadows across the ragged rocks and bathing the world in muted gold.

  They found a hollow tucked just beneath an outcrop. A natural pocket of shelter walled by stone and shielded from the wind. It wasn’t much, but it was dry, and it was enough.

  Saelune sat, stretching out her legs and leaning back against the wall. She winced as she touched the bruise blooming along her ribs.

  Flora sat a few paces away, drawing her knees to her chest, arms wrapped loosely around them. Her hair was still tangled with ash, her skin streaked with blood and dust, but her eyes were clear, watching the horizon. Breathing in the sea air like it steadied her.

  Camdyn crouched near the fire pit he’d begun to gather stones for, flint in one hand. He paused, looking at both of them. “We’ll rest here tonight. I’ll start the fire.”

  No one objected.

  The silence between them wasn’t heavy anymore. It was worn and warm, a shared quiet that came after survival. After loss. After something hard had passed and they were still standing.

  The fire crackled to life, soft and orange in the fading light. Camdyn sat beside it, finally letting his shoulders drop. The Covenant Blade—Rellian’s prize—rested in his palms. He hadn’t had the time to take it in until now. He turned it over in his hands, admiring the craftsmanship. Although it was only half the blade, it still looked whole on its own.

  Saelune handed him the twin blades she had picked up from earlier. “You probably shouldn’t be using the relic to defend yourself. Probably sacrilegious or something if you care about that sorta thing. You can have these.”

  Camdyn looked up, surprised. “Are you sure? You’ve more than earned them.”

  She gave a casual shrug. “I choose not to carry weapons. Where’s the challenge in that?” A smirk pulled at her lips, her eyes glinting in the firelight.

  “Where did you learn to fight like that anyway?” he asked, still a little in awe.

  “I’m centuries old, with time to kill and unlimited knowledge at my fingertips. I’ve picked up a thing or two,” she said, almost bored.

  He took the blades from her hands with quiet appreciation. “Thanks, Saelune.”

  “Eh, don’t mention it.”

  His gaze flicked to the cuts and bruises along her limbs, the smear of blood on her cheekbone, the split in her lip. “Do you want me to take a look at those?”

  She waved him off. “I’ll just rub some dirt in ‘em.”

  “Please don’t actually do that,” he called after her as she strolled away, head high and easy.

  “Aye aye, Captain,” she tossed over her shoulder before dropping onto the edge of the platform. One leg dangled over the side, her gaze fixed on the sea swallowing the horizon.

  Camdyn turned to Flora. “Let me have a look at that wound.”

  She nodded, wordless. His touch was careful as he brushed aside her hair and tilted her chin. He expected the jagged gash to still be raw, but was surprised to find it already beginning to knit together, the edges less angry than before.

  “The sunlight brings healing for my kind,” she spoke, answering the question he hadn’t voiced.

  “That must come in handy,” he murmured, offering a faint smile.

  “And that leaves you,” she said with a teasing lilt, “a healer with no one to heal.”

  “Not entirely true,” he replied, pulling his bag closer. “I’ve still got me.”

  He turned his wrist toward the firelight, revealing where the coral had torn into his skin, jagged and inflamed. With steady, practiced care, he began to clean the wound, his touch clinical, almost detached.

  Flora’s expression turned solemn. “What sacrifice did it ask of you?”

  “An offering.”

  “And what did you give?”

  He hesitated. “My brother’s blade.”

  She looked at him then, the weight of it settling in her chest. “This was important to you?”

  “Yeah,” Camdyn said, his voice rougher now. He cleared his throat. “He, uh… died about two years ago.”

  Her hand came to a rest gently on his. “He was taken too soon.”

  “Yeah, he was…”

  She allowed the silence to linger—an invitation, not a demand—but he didn’t continue. Or perhaps, couldn’t.

  Softly, she said, “We’re not meant to mourn the way you do. We don’t form attachments the same way. Death, to us, is fated, meant to be embraced. A part of the natural rhythm.”

  She paused, her gaze distant.

  “But still, when seasons turn before their time. When frost steals the bloom too soon. When storm sets fire to the woods. It unbalances everything. It wounds deeply. Wholly. Tragically… We feel the forest’s suffering. We may even grieve for her…”

  She looked back to him.

  “But if the roots endure, and time is given… life returns. Scarred, yes. Changed. But stronger. The forest finds a way to rebalance. To flourish again. We must remember this in times when the land looks barren. And we must trust it won’t stay that way forever.”

  Camdyn let out a shaky breath. His eyes drifted to their joined hands, then out toward the ocean. He didn’t say anything, not right away. But the tension in his shoulders eased. Just a little. And in the hush that followed, her words lingered.

  He didn’t speak, but he didn’t need to. Not then.

  She stayed beside him, letting the silence do what words sometimes couldn’t.