The Guardians remained at the threshold of the collapsed cavern, staring into the void where Dreygor and the Shadowborn had disappeared. Surrounding them, the currents relaxed, and the injured reef glowed with pale light—testimony that the Coralveil Nexus still breathed, but just barely. Islael's pendant glowed softly, its link thinned, as if a slowed heartbeat from fatigue.
Tydral sheathed his trident. "We repelled them… but Dreygor was looking for something. He didn't just come to fight."
"He was attempting to awaken the Shadowborn completely," Islael said, her brow creased. "But there is more. I sensed it when Vulcron arrived—something deeper has awakened."
As though responding to her thoughts, the Echo Warden returned, its shape indistinct and shuddering. "The Abyss has made an alliance," it spoke gravely. "An older-than-sun alliance is stirring. The Maelstrom Seal has fractured."
Kael blinked. "That's a myth. An underwater prison beneath the ocean where the Devourers are being kept—monsters so incredibly powerful, they almost destroyed the sea itself.
"It's no longer legend," the Warden said. "Dreygor aims to shatter the last shackles. If he is successful, the ocean will collapse."
A low, steady hum appeared in the water suddenly—distant, and increasing. A light orb whirled towards them, showing a hooded messenger of the Spirit Channelers, a reclusive people who dwelled past the outer trenches of Monniverse.
You are called," the messenger replied. "The Eldertide Conclave is prepared to unveil the Forbidden Memories."
The Guardians looked at each other. The Eldertide Conclave had not been heard from in a thousand years. For them to call now could only mean one thing: war was unavoidable.
The party journeyed for hours along the twilight depths, the messenger leading them into a secret trench shrouded by anemone veils and bioluminescent fog. Within a dome of crystal, the Eldertide Conclave resided—ages-old merbeings whose bodies glistened like water seized by moonlight.
An elder stepped forward. “We know why you’ve come. The Maelstrom Seal weakens. But it was not Dreygor who first broke it. Long ago, one of your own cast the first stone.”
A vision materialized before her—an image of a young mermaid who looked strikingly similar to Islael, her eyes filled with grief as she inserted a glowing shard into the seafloor.
"My ancestor?" Islael breathed.
"Her name was Nerysa," the old man said. "She intended to defend the Nexus by providing a false balance—but she attached the Devourers too tight to our plane. Dreygor's shadow is merely expediting what was meant to fray."
The room went quiet with shocked incredulity until Serin pushed forward. "Then we restore the seal. Explain how.
"To repair the seal," the elder replied, "you need to find the Tidemarked Stones—five scattered across the ocean, protected by beasts of legend and tests of will. Only together can they rebalance."
Tydral nodded. "Then we go after them. One by one."
"But be careful," the elder cautioned. "Dreygor pursues the same. And he has found a partner more vile than Vulcron.
A shivery chill ran through them. Vision changed to portray a figure that loomed there in kelp-like robes, its visage concealed by an ancient bone mask.
"Give way to Caltheron," the elder continued, "The Abyssal Oracle. Former Guardian, current defector who croons to Dreygor along the fringes of time.
Islael felt the weight of destiny pressing down harder than ever. Five relics, a broken seal, a traitor among their kind… and the clock ticking toward the ocean’s undoing.
“We’ll find the Stones,” she said. “But if Caltheron dares to stand in our way… we’ll remind him why the ocean chose us.”
To be continued…Next Chapter: "Trial of the Tidemarked – The Beast Beneath the Singing Shells"
