2022-04-09 21:00:49
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Chapter Twenty: The Truth Comes Out
Far beneath the Aquamarine Ocean, in the echoing halls of the Obsidian Palace, Empress Renée retrieved a small mussel shell and slipped quietly into a garderobe for privacy. She needed answers—now—before she could face any seafolk. Inside the cramped stone chamber, lit only by the soft glow of bioluminescent algae, she performed the old test in silence. She turned the shell over and, with rampant urgency, did what was required. Then she set it gently on the ledge, careful not to disturb it, and stepped away.Pacing the narrow space, her thoughts raced. Each second felt stretched thin, as if time itself resisted her need. Her breath quickened. Her fingers trembled. The stillness around her was stifling, and she found herself counting heartbeats, willing the answer to reveal itself before her nerves gave way.“Change color,” she growled at the shell. “Change, change!”The shell’s color remained stubbornly unchanged. When the minute passed and still nothing stirred beneath its smooth surf
Chapter Nineteen: The Cataras Springs
The garden of the Cataras Springs was a hidden jewel of Xyntriav. Untouched, unspoiled, and unlike anything that existed aboveground. Gold motes drifted lazily through the air, glinting as they passed between trees ablaze with color. Bushes bloomed in shades too vivid to name, and mossy green vines cascaded down silverstone walls like waterfalls of velvet.Where one might expect stones, there were instead gleaming bubbles, nestled beside the streams like living jewels. The rivers flowed like crystal laced with soft ripples of iridescent light. The air was thick with fragrance: lotus, lilies, lilac, and lavender intertwined in a floral haze so sweet and potent it coated the tongue like honey. And though the garden was deep underground, a cool, blue radiance bathed everything as if a moon hung quietly overhead—a light with no source, soft and eternal.“Me eyes have never beheld such a sight,” murmured Captain Tzatara.“Aye,” Yacomé agreed with his jaw dropped.Just beside the entrance, a
Chapter Eighteen: The Cursed Waters of Carnific
Not long after Ravan had vanished beyond the edge of Roznova, the Mystery Miracle Worker moved with quiet purpose through her lair. She packed lightly with just a cloth-bound bundle of food, a couple of canteens, and two medium glass bottles. She held each one up to the candlelight, examining their strange curves, watching their colors shift like oil in sunlight.Then she wrapped them carefully in a thick swath of velvet, and nestled them deep in her satchel where no jolt could crack them. She draped a gray shawl across her shoulders like a protecting shield, then tugged her wide-brimmed hat low over her brow. Finally, she approached the gnarled black tree in the corner where Stephocra coiled in lazy elegance around a branch. She reached out her hand.“Are you ready, Stephocra?”“I couldn’t be more ready, Miss.” Stephocra slithered up her arm.The Miracle Worker extinguished every light in her lair, plunging the room into darkness. Without a backward glance, she slipped into the smoky
Chapter Seventeen: The Sirens' Threat
Rein circled high above the jungle canopy, eyes sweeping the dense, tangled island of Carnific, but she could find no sign of the empress. So she decided to meet her inside the Cataras Springs instead. Nearly an hour passed in unbroken flight weaving through humid air, over thick stretches of green, and past the mosaic of floral and herbal fragrances. At last, she spotted the grassy clearing centered among towering trees. She descended toward one of them, alighting on a sturdy branch. A quick scan of the landscape confirmed she was in the right place, and with a gentle nudge, she set the seagull free.Rein opened a hidden hatch in the tree’s trunk, and jumped inside. The tunnel swallowed her whole and sent her sliding through darkness with the damp soil closing in around her, and roots whipping past. The speed tugged at her stomach, and though she’d taken this route before, the drop still paralyzed her lungs.With a sharp rush of wind, she burst from an upturned tree root and caught he
Chapter Sixteen: Meet Ravan the Great
The Mystery Miracle Worker retrieved two copper cups from a high cupboard, their muted gleam catching the dim candlelight. She set them gently on the stone counter with a quiet clink that echoed faintly in the still room. Behind her, the mysterious man sank into the chair nearest the hearth. The hood of his silver cloak shielded his face in shadow as the firelight shivered, unable or unwilling to touch him.“You knew I was here all along,” he said, cutting through the heavy silence. “And here I thought you would be surprised to see me again.”“The only thing that surprises me is that you stayed for so long,” replied the Miracle Worker. “I thought you would surely leave after I convinced my last clients to stay. You must really want what you came for this time.”“Indeed, I do.”“So, what is it now?” The Miracle Worker turned to face him. “My instructions failed you?”“You remember everything, don’t you?”Stephocra slithered up the chair across from the man. “How could we forget?”“I eve
Chapter Fifteen: The Deal
Empress Renée was confused. She furrowed her eyebrows, waiting for an explanation from the Mystery Miracle Worker. However, she didn’t get one.“I thought we had already established that I won’t give you the key,” she said.“Yes, and then I figured, ‘what if she didn’t need the key?’” the Miracle Worker replied. “You see, Empress, I know of an entrance into the Cataras Springs where you don’t need one. You can enter from beneath the island.”Renée processed these words. “I still need the key to know how much time I have left.”“How does the key show you?” asked the Miracle Worker. She held out her hand to receive the key.The empress hesitated, but handed it over. “When the rose has completely bloomed, my time is up.”The Miracle Worker examined the silver engraving. “How long ago did you receive it?”Renée glanced up at the cave’s ceiling and thought. “About a year and seven months ago I think.”“At what stage was the rose?”“It was a bud barely opening.”The Miracle Worker calculated
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