The sun was a pale, molten coin above the jagged ruins of Gravesend as the trio emerged from the Vault. Ash clung to their boots. The scent of scorched metal and old magic hung heavy in the air. Behind them, the obsidian vault door had resealed itself, its runes now dormant. The flame trail that had once lit the path down was extinguished.
Darion carried the Core of Wakefire with both awe and unease. Its power hummed against his palm, hotter now, more alive—like it was breathing.
"So," Kellen broke the silence, rubbing his bandaged hand. "You fought a flaming version of yourself in a pit of lava, passed some spooky trial, and now you're glowing like a lantern."
"That about sums it up," Darion muttered, his voice low, distracted.
Seraphina's eyes were fixed on him—not with distrust, but with scrutiny. "You've changed. Something's settled in you since the Vault."
Darion didn't answer at first. He looked toward the harbor below, where their stolen cutter waited bobbing in the tide. "Something… woke up. It showed me what I could become. What I might already be."
"You're not alone in this, Darion," she said, stepping closer. "Power doesn't have to mean corruption."
Kellen groaned. "Can we do the soul-searching after we're off this cursed island? I'd like to not be eaten by skeletons or set on fire again today."
Darion cracked a grin despite himself. "Fair."
As they made their way down the jungle path, vines rustled overhead. Seraphina's blades were out in a flash, but it was only birds—strange ones with feathers like fire-glass and obsidian beaks.
"The wildlife here is… wrong," she whispered. "Twisted."
"Like the island's been soaking in something dark for too long," Darion added.
The closer they got to the ship, the more that feeling deepened—a sense of being watched. The sky above them had darkened despite the early hour, and the tide surged unnaturally high. Kellen pointed toward the bay.
"Uh… please tell me the sea's not supposed to look like that."
The water shimmered with a sickly hue, streaked with green phosphorescence. Dark shapes moved beneath the surface—large, slow, deliberate.
"Get on the ship. Now," Darion said, picking up speed.
They sprinted down the path, emerging at the rocky shoreline where their cutter bobbed anxiously. Seraphina vaulted aboard first, then Kellen. Darion paused only long enough to scan the waves before leaping onto the deck.
"We set sail now?" Kellen asked, already hoisting the sail.
"Set the heading east—away from the island," Darion ordered.
They pushed off, the cutter catching the wind and slicing through the surf. Gravesend shrank behind them, the cliffs and ruins sinking into a blanket of jungle mist.
But peace was fleeting.
The Sea Awakens
A massive tremor rocked the sea.
The cutter jolted as if struck from beneath. Darion grabbed the mast for balance as waves erupted outward in a perfect circle from the ship.
Then came the sound—a deep, hollow screech, like the ocean crying out.
"That's not normal," Kellen whispered, eyes wide.
The water beneath them split open—a massive form rising from the depths, its body coiled and scaled, with eyes like twin abyssal stars.
"By the Flame…" Darion breathed.
The creature was a serpent, hundreds of feet long, its body layered in barnacle-crusted plates and seaweed-like fins that fluttered like banners. Its head rose high above the mast, fangs gleaming, and its roar shook the rigging.
Seraphina was already pulling rope, tightening sails. "It's not attacking yet. It's circling."
"It's testing us," Darion said. "Drawn to the Wakefire. I can feel it—like it's listening."
The serpent's body coiled beneath the ship, its movements sending waves that rocked them side to side. Then it dived again, vanishing into the depths.
Silence.
For a heartbeat.
Then the serpent exploded upward beside the ship, jaws snapping inches from the hull.
Darion reacted instinctively. He thrust the Wakefire Core toward it, and a stream of golden flame surged from the artifact—scorching the serpent's snout. The beast screeched, writhing midair, then slammed into the sea.
"We can't kill that thing with fire alone!" Seraphina shouted.
"No, but I can buy us time," Darion said grimly. "Kellen, steer toward the shoals—we'll use the reef for cover!"
"Aye, Captain Fireball!"
The cutter veered toward a cluster of jagged rocks that jutted from the water like the spines of a drowned beast. The serpent followed, undeterred.
Darion knelt at the bow, Core in hand, focusing.
He reached inward—into the memory of the Vault, into the trial, into the flame within.
"Guide me… show me how to wield you."
The Core pulsed once, twice, and then unleashed a torrent of flame—not at the serpent, but into the sea. Steam burst skyward as the surface boiled. The serpent reared back, shrieking, and slammed its tail against the reef in a rage.
"Keep us moving!" Darion yelled.
Kellen spun the wheel, dodging rock after rock as the serpent flailed, unable to maneuver in the narrow passages. For a brief moment, the cutter had the advantage.
But the serpent was cunning.
It dived again—and the sea turned calm.
"Where did it go?" Seraphina asked, blades at the ready.
Darion looked down.
"Below."
With a shuddering impact, the serpent burst up from underneath, snapping the hull in two. The cutter splintered like driftwood, throwing all three of them into the sea.
The Depths
Salt water filled Darion's lungs.
He kicked upward, disoriented, blood in his mouth. All around him, wreckage and bubbles swirled. He saw a flash of Seraphina's hair, Kellen's cloak sinking into the dark.
And then—the eye.
The serpent's gaze locked on him in the water. It opened its jaws.
Darion reacted on instinct, throwing the Core forward. It ignited underwater, surrounding him with a burst of gold flame that blasted outward in a sphere of energy.
The serpent recoiled. Darion grabbed Seraphina's arm and kicked for the surface, gasping as they broke through.
Kellen bobbed nearby, coughing violently. "Not a fan of swimming! Haaaate swimming!"
A piece of hull floated nearby, and they clung to it.
"We're stranded," Seraphina said, coughing seawater. "No ship. No weapons."
Darion looked toward the horizon—and saw a faint silhouette in the distance. A larger ship. A galleon.
"Not for long."
He raised the Core once more, aiming it toward the sky—and fired a burst of golden fire upward.
It flared like a beacon.
"With luck, they'll see it."
"And if they're pirates?" Kellen asked.
"Then we convince them we're more valuable alive than dead," Darion said grimly.
Seraphina nodded. "Or we take their ship."
The serpent, wounded and furious, dove back into the deep.
But in the darkest depths, far below even it, something else stirred—something older.
Watching.
Waiting.
Drawn to the flame.