The moment Emma and Leo stepped into the Temple of Aetherial Waters, it was as if the water itself awoke, heaving into a ring around them in swirls, thrumming with energy. The ancient chamber seemed to hum its walls as if it spoke some old, forgotten tongue. She shivered-the currents playing against her, almost whispering against her skin. Every instinct in her body screamed caution, yet the soft glow of the pendant at her chest assured her, its warmth a steady reminder of why they'd come.
Leo stuck close, his hand hovering near his weapon. They were surrounded by the water, but the tension was as if the air was heavy with an impending storm. He cast a glance at Emma, searching her face for doubt, and all he saw was determination.
The pulse, in the very next instant, came from the ornament to illuminate a series of murals across the chamber walls-scenes that took Emma's breath away. Figures draped in robes woven of light, flung their hands up in some sort of ritualistic gesture as beams of energy linked them in unison. While opposite them, lurking at the edges, were sharp, inhumanly formed shadows with their claws outstretched as if to tear at brilliance.
Emma, look at this," Leo said, his finger to a depiction where the central figure was standing on the edge of a cliff, waves crashing below them as if in an offering to the sea gods. And hanging from its neck was a pendant just like hers. This figure held back a wave of darkness; its eyes bore a frenzied glow in them, almost as if alive.
"It's like they were protecting something," Emma whispered, running her fingers along the mural. Her touch sent a soft hum through it, and she whipped her hand back as if burned. She had time to say nothing before the floor they were standing on shifted beneath them, grudgingly stirring from a long sleep.
The humming grew louder, the water around them beginning to swirl. Leo's grasp on Emma's arm tightened. "Be ready for anything," he said, squinting narrowly as the light around them started to dim. The chamber was growing dark; only the light from the pendant and the glowing runes around the pillars illuminating it.
Then, out of nowhere, a great, rumbling voice echoed through the water. You seek the heart of the Aetherial Waters, but the heart guards itself against the unworthy. Prove your intent, or the abyss shall swallow thee.
The runes on the walls pulsed with a sickly green light, and monstrous shapes came out of the shadows. Very long, sinuous forms, scales of blackened coral glowing with eyes of unnatural yellow, slid from hidden crevices. Their hissing filled the chamber, a sound that vibrated in Emma's bones and chilled her blood.
Serpent wraiths," Leo muttered; the tightness in his voice was recognition. He drew his dagger, its metal gleaming faintly even in the dim light. Emma swallowed hard, feeling the pulse of the pendant thrum faster as if it mirrored her fear.
One of them sprang, streaking through the water with the speed of lightning. Leo reacted in an instant, shoving Emma aside and slashing out with his dagger. The blade bit home, slicing through the scaled body of the creature. It recoiled, its silent scream echoing through the chamber as dark, inky blood dissipated into the water.
Emma's head spun as she braced herself, the pendant clutched in one hand, the other raised to concentrate the light. The heat surged from her chest to her fingertips and coalesced into a ball of brilliance that she launched at the closest wraith. It hit its mark, and the thing puckered, disappearing into dark wisps that oozed into darkness.
But there were more-many, many more. The chamber seemed to reverberate with silent wails of the creatures as they closed in around Emma and Leo, their eyes aglow with predatory malice.
"Emma!" Leo yelled as he blocked another wraith, quick, but laboring against the attack. Emma's heart raced, the beats synchronous with the frenzied shine of the pendant. She shut her eyes, sending every scrap of concentration she could muster inside. The heat surged, and opening her eyes, the light broke free in a flood, scouring through the room like a tidal wave.
The wraiths froze in the reach of the glow. For one moment, silence reoccupied the temple as the creatures dissolved to shadowy nothingness once more, leaving behind only the thinnest of dark tendrils that crumbled into nothingness.
Emma drew a deep breath, her effort draining her. Leo was at her side in an instant, steadying her as she swayed. "You did it," he said, voice filled with equal parts of relief and awe.
She nodded wearily, and a shaky smile broke through her exhaustion. Her respite was short-lived, however. The runes around the altar flared once more, this time deep blue as if in acknowledgement of her success. The air shifted, and a whirlpool formed in the basin at the very center of the altar, spinning with an unnatural force that made the water around them shake.
What now?" Leo whispered, eyes fastened on the vortex that seemed to be beckoning them.
Emma's fingers clamped on the pendant. "We go deeper," she said, the words both a statement and a promise.
It was here, on the threshold of this whirlpool, that suddenly Emma felt tugged by a force stronger than any current she had ever pulled. The water seemed to distort reality, torqueing light and shadow in a spiral that sucked them in. Without a second's hesitation, she stepped forward and let the vortex take her. Leo pressed in right after her, his eyes fixed on the cutout of her silhouette.
The world blurred into a swirl of blue and green; their bodies tumbled down a tunnel humming with an ancient, resonant song. It wasn't a song of welcome or warning but something deeper, more primeval, an utterance directed toward the very heart of the sea.
The huge underwater cavern lit by bioluminescent plants and shimmering crystals came alive before Emma's senses as they emerged. The undulating shadows danced like ethereal specters across the walls from the glow. Set into the center of the cavern was a pedestal of glittering stone, upon which runes were inscribed-matching those in the temple above.
Leo exhaled sharply. "This place. it feels alive," he muttered, eyes wide with wonder.
Emma nodded, cautiously stepping forward. The pendant began to heat up since it responded to the energy in the cavern. "This must be where the heart is hidden," she said, her voice echoed softly.
There came a rumble in the water then, and a low growl filled the cavern. From out of the darkness behind the pedestal came a creature no man had ever seen: a leviathan, his scales a deep, opalescent blue; and its eyes flashed bright with a terrifying intelligence. It unwound the sinuous length of its body, its fins rippling as it pierced them all to the very soul with its gaze.
In their minds, the voice of the creature rumbled with resonance, imperious command etched within its tone. Who dares seek the heart of the Aetherial Waters?
Leo stepped forward. His dagger clutched defensively, he said, "We do." His voice was firm but rimmed with caution. Emma's heart leaped at his bravery, even as the Leviathan's gaze turned upon her, its eyes narrowing.
And thus, prove thy worth, light-bearer," it spoke with a voice like the echoing crash of waves upon stones. The pendant on Emma's chest suddenly flared to life in a blistering heat. She winced as its glow burst high, illuminating the cavern in blinding light.
The leviathan roared and lumped forward, the body contorting in a free-for-all of pent-up energies. Emma merely had enough time to raise an eyebrow before the force hit her and sent her tumbling backward.