Ashara didn't summon her court again that day.
Nor did she return to her chambers or change out of her ceremonial regalia. The Heart of Echoes pulsed so hard at her sternum it was nearly painful, and its whispers were constant now, shifting from vague echoes to clear, urgent phrases:
"Below. Below. Beneath the ash and the seal. Coil of the deep... Coil of the undone."
By dusk, she had chosen her companions.
Ezekiel, ever at her back, didn't need to ask where they were going. When she gave the order to prepare gear and suppress their movements from the Temple guards, he simply nodded and vanished into the shadows to make arrangements.
Caelum, who had lingered too long in the hall after court adjourned, stepped into her path with that infuriatingly unreadable smile.
"I assume you're headed somewhere a crowned empress shouldn't," he said softly.
Ashara stared up at him. "Only if the crown is afraid of dust."
"Or truth," he said, then added, "I'll come."
She didn't argue.
The Temple Archives were guarded by three separate orders of monks, each sworn to a different divine path. The Scribes of Flame, Seers of the Sky, and Hands of Dust kept watch over scrolls and relics buried beneath centuries of sanctified ritual and secret ciphers.
But not tonight.
Ezekiel's careful misdirection had diverted the monks with a staged flame-out in the outer reliquary. While they dealt with sacred water, false alarms, and a conveniently misplaced curse scroll, Ashara, Ezekiel, and Caelum moved through an unseen servants' corridor that led deep into the substructure—where the stone began to feel wet, despite no moisture in the air.
"We're getting close," she murmured.
System Alert:
✦ Relic Signature Approaching
➤ Class: Sealed Leviathan Shard
➤ Warning: Memory Event Imminent
"This area predates even the Archive's first foundation," Ezekiel said, dragging his gloved hand along the walls. "I read once that these tunnels were carved during the original Age of Reclamation—when the gods were still mortal enough to die."
"Poetic," Caelum said from behind them. "Let's hope they stayed dead."
They reached a door. Not a grand one. Narrow, choked with vines and strange bioluminescent growths that pulsed gently like living breath.
It had no handle.
Ashara raised her hand, and the Heart of Echoes vibrated. The vines slithered away, receding into the stone as if in recognition.
Caelum frowned. "That's not god-forged magic."
"No," Ashara murmured. "It's older."
The door opened inward with a sigh, revealing a spiral staircase of obsidian. No torches. No markings. Yet it was warm—unnaturally so.
And at the bottom, something moved.
They descended in silence. Even Caelum had grown quiet, his usual irreverence subdued. Ashara's hand hovered near the dagger at her thigh. Ezekiel had drawn his sword in silence.
When they reached the base of the stair, they found it.
The Sentinel.
It stood unmoving in a chamber of circular design, its form partially human, partially something… not. No skin—just layers of overlapping armor etched with sigils that blurred when looked at directly.
It didn't turn to face them. It didn't need to.
System Alert:
✦ Guardian Entity: Pre-Divine Sentinel
➤ Purpose: Seal Maintenance – Leviathan Coil
➤ Interaction Protocol: Memory Trigger Required
Ashara stepped forward.
The Heart of Echoes rang once—sharply, like crystal struck.
The Sentinel stirred.
Its head turned. One eye socket glowed a faint green.
A voice—not truly a voice—filled the chamber.
"You bear the wound of return."
Ashara tilted her chin. "I bear more than wounds."
"Then speak the name of the First Sacrifice."
Ashara's breath hitched. She had no idea.
Ezekiel stepped beside her, silent as a blade.
Caelum's brow furrowed. "The first… No, wait. It's not a person."
Ashara's thoughts raced.
The name. The First Sacrifice…
The system flared.
Memory Thread Detected:
➤ Origin: Ashara's Final Trial Before Death
➤ Accessing…
Suddenly—her vision snapped.
The high altar.
Blood.
Cold steel on her wrists.
Ashara stood chained, surrounded by priests who chanted words older than their bones.
And then—
A voice in her mind, low and sorrowful.
"You are not the first to die for the Coil. But you are the first to rise from it."
The name had echoed once.
Liralen.
She remembered now.
Back in the chamber, Ashara's lips parted.
"Liralen."
The Sentinel went still.
Then—it bowed.
And behind it, the floor split open in a slow, graceful spiral of stone, revealing a glowing blue coil of impossible length. Not rope. Not serpent. Something alive and dormant.
The Leviathan Coil.
It pulsed once—then again. Like a sleeping heart sensing breath.
Ashara stepped closer, the power crawling over her skin in cold shivers.
System Interface Initiated:
✦ Leviathan Coil: Dormant Fragment of the Sea
➤ Warning: Contact Will Trigger Permanent Change
➤ Loyalty Metrics May Shift
➤ Divine Interference Assured
"Touch it," Caelum said behind her, softly. "And the gods will know."
Ashara turned to them both.
Ezekiel's expression was unreadable. Only his eyes gave away the strain beneath his calm.
Caelum stood utterly still, his posture strangely reverent.
And Ashara?
She reached out.
Her fingers brushed the coil.
The world cracked.
Her mind was filled with water.
Memories surged—not hers.
Ancient visions. Wars beneath oceans. Thrones made of coral. A woman in black robes who tore apart a pantheon with a single scream.
System Overload
✦ Ashara is now a Leviathan Keybearer
➤ New Ability Unlocked: Tideveil – Submerge Memories Temporarily from Divine Detection
➤ Loyalty Mechanic Enhanced: Emotional Imprint Synchronization Active
She stumbled back.
Ezekiel caught her again.
Caelum had drawn his blade—but not at her. At the shadows that now stirred around them.
Above the chamber, the vines began to twist. The Sentinel turned toward the ceiling.
Something else had awakened.
Ashara rose.
And whispered, "It's not just the gods watching anymore."