The Leviathan Coil pulsed with a heartbeat that wasn't hers.
Ashara stood before it, trembling from the weight of what she had touched. The energy from the Coil was still humming across her skin, like a forgotten lullaby sung beneath the waves. Her mind stung with residual visions—a thousand years of rage, love, war, and silence drowned in saltwater and forgotten gods.
System Notification:
✦ Status: Leviathan Keybearer
➤ Memory Seal Lifted
➤ New Passive Trait Unlocked: Tide-Linked
➤ Active Ability: Tideveil – Cloaks thoughts and presence from divine surveillance for 5 minutes (Cooldown: 1 hour)
Behind her, Ezekiel's breath was uneven.
"What did it show you?" he asked.
"Not show," she whispered, turning to face him. "It remembered me."
Caelum had gone still, blade half-raised. His sharp eyes scanned the vines curling unnaturally up the walls, their glowing edges now flaring a sickly violet. The chamber seemed to shrink around them, as if the Coil's awakening had drawn the attention of things that had once looked away.
Ezekiel unslung a small talisman from his belt. "The wards are breaking."
Caelum stepped beside Ashara, close enough that she could feel the tension in his frame. "There's movement above. Three sources. At least two are divine enforcers. We have minutes—if that."
System Warning:
✦ Divine Enforcer Proximity: Tier II
➤ Interference Level: 84%
➤ Court Detection: Rising
Ashara's jaw clenched. "We can't fight them here."
"No," Ezekiel said quietly. "Not if you want to live long enough to use what you've found."
She pressed a hand to the Heart of Echoes. The Coil had awakened something, not just in the world, but in her. The ability to vanish—not physically, but from divine notice. It was a terrifying power.
And it came at a cost.
The Tideveil could hide her.
But not all of them.
Ashara's mind raced.
"I can use it," she murmured. "Tideveil. But only on one."
Ezekiel stepped forward immediately. "Then you cloak yourself."
But Caelum laughed—a short, humorless sound. "Of course you'd say that."
Ezekiel's eyes narrowed. "She's the one the gods want. Without her—"
"They'll kill both of us just to make a point," Caelum said. "And probably send her back to the void in pieces."
Ashara raised her hand.
"Enough," she snapped. "This is not a debate."
They fell silent.
The weight of her decision crushed the air from the room.
System Prompt:
➤ Use Tideveil on:
— [1] Self
— [2] Ezekiel
— [3] Caelum
She stared at the options, and then—
Chosen: Ezekiel
The system blurred around her choice.
Light shimmered, invisible to the naked eye, cloaking Ezekiel in a shell of nothingness. Even Ashara could barely feel his presence, as though the world had forgotten him mid-breath.
His brows knit together. "What—?"
"You'll get us out," Ashara said. "You always do."
Caelum looked at her, stunned. "You didn't choose yourself?"
"I have the Coil's mark," she said. "And I've died once already. Let them try."
They didn't have time to plan.
The vines above exploded inward—unnatural growth shattered by a blast of golden force. The first enforcer descended in a blur of light and armor, face hidden behind a mirrored helm. Divine sigils spun in the air around it, like hungry glyphs.
The second followed a moment later, taller, its eyes visible through a cracked mask of ivory. Its gaze burned.
They saw Ashara.
And they moved.
"Go!" she shouted.
Ezekiel was gone, already flanking around the chamber like a ghost in smoke.
Caelum grabbed her wrist. "Are we fighting or running?"
Ashara drew her dagger.
"Both."
The divine enforcers moved with impossible speed.
Ashara's heart thundered as she parried a strike from the taller one. Its blade shimmered between reality and light, each blow bending the air around her. Caelum dueled the second, his silver blades flashing in rapid succession as he wove between sigils trying to lock him in place.
Ashara whispered a single word.
"Remember."
System Command: Heart of Echoes Activated
➤ Skill: Echo Reversal – Temporarily copy last move of an opponent
She mirrored the enforcer's last strike, catching it off-guard. Her blade met its chestplate with a shriek of metal—and found a seam.
It reeled back.
Caelum seized the moment to slam a blast of raw force into the wall, carving an exit path through ancient stone.
"Go!" he shouted again.
Ashara followed.
They fled.
The Temple's under-chambers were no longer asleep.
Walls bled sigils. Floors cracked with pressure. Statues that had stood still for centuries now turned their heads as she passed.
Some watched her.
Some wept.
And behind them, divine fury howled.
Caelum slowed only once. "Ezekiel—"
"Already ahead," Ashara said, breathless. "He'll find us a way out."
He nodded. "You really trust him."
"With my soul."
They reached a sealed doorway—one Ashara hadn't seen before.
But the Heart of Echoes pulsed rapidly.
System Alert:
✦ Entry Authorized
➤ Domain: Echo Chamber
➤ Use: Emergency Divergence Passage
The door split down the center.
Inside: a mirrored corridor of whispers and memory. Every surface shimmered with fragments of her past lives—images of her as queen, prisoner, warrior, child.
In the center stood Ezekiel.
"I found it," he said, voice low. "We're not just escaping. We're diverting."
Ashara stepped through the mirrored gate.
And the world behind them closed.
They emerged in a place that defied space.
A bubble of existence cut from time, hidden between the layers of memory and fate.
Ashara collapsed to her knees, panting.
The Coil burned in her chest, still pulsing. Her vision blurred.
Caelum knelt beside her, fingers brushing her hair back.
Ezekiel stood silently, watchful.
System Update:
✦ Escape Successful
➤ Enforcer Proximity Lost
➤ Tideveil Cooling Down: 47 min
✦ Loyalty Mechanics Updated
➤ Caelum: Emotional Bond Increased (Trust – Conflict)
➤ Ezekiel: Loyalty Rank Strengthened (Unshakable)
Ashara looked up at both of them.
"We've crossed a line," she said.
"Yes," Ezekiel replied. "And now we find out what's waiting on the other side."