31. Currents of Memory
Currents of Memory
Violent currents tore at my limbs, threatening to rip them from their sockets.
My body twisted in directions it was never meant to bend, pressure crushing my chest until I couldn't remember what breathing felt like.
The enchantment on my throat burned with freezing fire, struggling to process the water churning around me.
Then came the visions.
The cyclone's eye trapped me in unnatural stillness, a pocket of impossible calm surrounded by raging chaos. The water shimmered, and suddenly I was surrounded by translucent figures—people in elaborate clothing walking through markets, living their lives in a city not yet claimed by the sea.
A girl chased a boy through what must have been a plaza, both laughing silently. Merchants haggled over glowing crystals and bottles filled with shimmering concoctions. Priests in ceremonial robes processed toward a temple.
Thalor appeared above the city, massive beyond comprehension, water swirling around him in impossible patterns. His form blocked out the evening sunset, casting the entire city in shadow. Below, priests scrambled in panic, some falling to their knees in prayer while others ran for the temples.
Without warning, he raised his arms. Water materialized from nothing—walls of it, torrents beyond imagining.
The deluge crashed down on Memorica with divine fury.
Buildings crumbled under the impact. Streets became rivers, then rapids, then deadly currents that swept away everything in their path.
People ran, screamed, prayed—but there was nowhere to escape.
A voice whispered through the water, through my bones: The city remembers its death.
The vision shifted to a map—pulsing light showing three distinct locations within the ruins. Temple. City center. Amphitheater. Each marked with different keys.
Every truth costs something. The question is what you'll pay.
My fear, which had been simmering just beneath the surface, suddenly exploded—primal and overwhelming. It clawed up my throat and squeezed my lungs until I couldn't breathe. The cyclone wasn't just showing me visions, it was feeding on my terror, amplifying it a thousandfold.
The eye of the storm collapsed.
I was ejected with violent force, tumbling through water until I slammed against stone. Pain blossomed across my shoulder, but the physical hurt was nothing compared to the paralysis of absolute terror gripping my limbs.
A beast loomed above me—no longer the shark-like shadow from before, but an ancient monstrosity the size of a ship. Its skin was obsidian scales layered over each other like armor, its teeth longer than my forearm and sharp as knives.
My fear given flesh and purpose, grown to nightmarish proportions.
I couldn't move. Couldn't think. Could barely process that I was still alive as the creature circled above, its massive tail creating currents that pushed me against the ruined wall at my back. Every instinct screamed to flee, but my body refused to obey .
The beast dove.
Survival instinct finally broke through my paralysis. Starlight exploded from my fingertips, coalescing into a shield just as those terrible jaws snapped closed. Teeth scraped against light, the impact sending me tumbling backward through the water.
The monster circled for another pass, faster this time.
I forced myself to breathe, to think past the blind terror flooding my system. The shield wouldn't hold against another direct hit. I needed to fight back.
The starlight shifted in my hands, flowing like liquid until it hardened into a massive blade that gleamed with cold brilliance. The water around me seemed to constrict, every inch of my skin alive and screaming with awareness of the danger.
The beast charged again, jaws wide enough to swallow me whole.
I met it head-on.
My blade sliced through scales that should have been impenetrable, opening a massive gash along the creature's side. It thrashed in pain, black blood spilling from the wound and dissolving into the water. I felt a strange echo of that pain in my own side, a phantom burning that made me gasp.
The balance tipped inside me—paralyzing terror receding just enough to let rage take its place. This thing had tried to kill me. This manifestation of my own fear thought it could consume me.
"You came from me," I snarled, the words distorted by water but charged nonetheless. "You are mine to control!"
The beast recovered, circling again but more cautiously now. Its wound left a trail of dissolving darkness in its wake. I could feel the connection between us—a tether that grew stronger as my understanding deepened.
It attacked again, coming at me from below. I twisted aside, my blade carving another gash through its hide. The phantom pain flared in my abdomen, but I pushed through it, riding the rush of battle- clarity.
When it came at me a third time, I met it with vengeance. My star-blade sliced clean through its massive body, the wound searing with celestial fire. The beast convulsed, thrashing wildly as light consumed it from within.
Then it stilled, hanging in the water for one suspended moment before dissolving completely. Not a single scale remained to mark its existence.
Victory surged through me, fierce and triumphant. I'd defeated my own fear, conquered the monster the trial had created from my weakest emotion. I felt lighter, clearer, as if a weight I'd carried my entire life had suddenly been lifted.
Thatcher.
I reached for our bond, immediately feeling his relieved response.
Thais! Where are you? Are you hurt?
I'm fine, I sent back. Better than fine, actually. The cyclone showed me where to find the keys—whisper keys at the temple, memory keys at the city center, echo keys at the amphitheater. And Thatcher, I saw what happened to Memorica.
What do you mean?
It was Thalor. He drowned it.
A pause. But why?
I don’t know.
We've been searching for you, Thatcher continued. Marx's with me. We'll find you and go together.
No time, I responded, already swimming with purpose. Meet me at the temple. I'm going ahead.
Thais, wait! It's dangerous to go alone ? —
I'll be fine, I cut him off, impatient. See you there.
I ignored his continued protests, pushing forward with single-minded determination. Why wait when I could be collecting keys?
The temple rose before me—a massive stepped pyramid with carved figures adorning its sides. Unlike the rest of Memorica's coral and crystal architecture, this structure was darker, older, built from volcanic stone .
I swam inside without hesitation, entering a vast hall supported by columns carved to resemble ancient sea creatures.
Pale green light filtered through gaps in the ceiling, creating dappled patterns across the stone floor.
Whispers surrounded me, coming from everywhere and nowhere—some in languages I recognized, others in sounds no normal throat could make.
The disorienting mass of voices made it difficult to concentrate, but I pressed on, searching for the keys.
Corridors branched in multiple directions, each leading deeper into the temple's shadowy interior.
I chose one at random, following it until it opened into a circular chamber dominated by a stone altar.
There—hovering above the altar—a whisper key rotated slowly in the current. Its opalescent surface constantly shifted between solid form and streams of tiny silver bubbles that dissolved before escaping its influence.
I smiled, swimming forward with confident strokes.
Just as my fingers were about to close around it, movement flashed in my peripheral vision. I twisted aside just in time to avoid the spear of translucent matter that shot through the water where I'd been moments before.
A contestant hung in the doorway. I recognized him instantly. Vance. The energy-wielder from the Proving. The one whose power had erupted in deadly bursts. The one I'd nearly killed before Miria stopped us. His hands pulsed, spheres of purple-white energy swirling around his fingers.
"Well," he said, voice distorted but clearly pleased. "If it isn't the star girl. Miria isn't here to save you this time."
I laughed. "I don't need saving. But you might."
"That’s mine," he said, nodding toward the whisper key. "Leave now, and I might let you live."
"You're welcome to try and take it."
He attacked without warning, launching three energy bursts in rapid succession.
The orbs streaked through the water, leaving trails of superheated bubbles in their wake.
I called starlight to my hands, forming a shield that the projectiles slammed against. The impact sent shock waves through the water, but my shield held.
Before he could form more, I counterattacked, hurling a sphere of compressed starlight toward him.
Vance dodged, but barely—the sphere clipped his shoulder, spinning him through the water. His face contorted with pain and rage as he steadied himself.
"You'll regret that," he snarled, spreading his arms wide.
Power surged from his hands in a concentrated beam that caught me directly in the chest, sending me tumbling backward.
Every nerve in my body fired at once, muscles contorting in agony as shocks coursed through me.
My limbs refused to obey, temporarily paralyzed by the overload.
"Not so confident now, are you?" Vance taunted, gathering a spear of energy between his palms. "I've wanted to finish this since the Proving.
" I struggled against the paralyzing effect, my muscles twitching uselessly as he approached.
"I've been looking forward to this," he said, positioning the spear directly over my chest.