40. 40
forty
Orion
Returning to the palace was far more difficult than I had anticipated. Almost like the sea herself is against us.
In our absence while escorting Sarah to the cavern, the kingdom has fallen into disarray.
Panic spreads through the corridors like a blood tide, thick with the taste of fear.
The water itself carries trembling vibrations that grind against my senses.
Guards shout conflicting orders, the words sharp enough to sting.
Servants brush past me with trembling hands and pale faces, their fins fluttering with every rapid breath.
Fear stains every corner, clinging to the walls like a film of oil.
Lord Zevrin is engulfed by the chaos desperately fighting to seize control of the storm.
His commands resound through the hall, but few obey.
Palace aides, once disciplined and orderly, cluster near the stone pillars, their scales dulled with terror.
They whisper only with their eyes, as if speaking aloud might draw the danger closer.
I cut through the space with measured discipline, my strokes long and controlled despite the frantic tides around me.
“Tidewarden, would you care to explain the unrest that floods my palace corridor?”
“Your majesty, my deepest apologies for the disorder,” Zevrin replies, his brittle voice mimicking a current with no pull. “The kingdom’s barrier has been breached. The location of the threat still remains unknown.”
Heat surges through my chest like molten stone. The water around me seems to vibrate with the force of it. “Would you care to explain how you've allowed this to occur, not once, but twice?”
“I have no excuse, your majesty.” He bows immediately, lowering himself so fast the fins on his face scrape the sea stone floor. He refuses to meet my eyes. He knows the weight of his failure.
“What do we know of the fracture? Where along the borders was the breach detected?”
“The diversion was along the northwestern borders,” Zevrin reports, throat tight. “Patrol Captains were completing their rounds when a surge of magic struck. It caused a fracture in the barrier. Someone did not merely pass through it. They disarmed it.”
His words echo through my thoughts, but only one concern thrashes wildly in my chest, demanding attention.
“The northwestern borders,” I repeat slowly.
“Yes, your majesty. That is what the reports confirm. A few warriors acted beyond their orders to test the ward, what remains of it, and that section is completely deactivated.”
I ignore the Tidewarden entirely. My attention locks on Nyxalene. Her eyes are already on me, deciphering the turmoil gathering in mine before I can speak.
“She's alone in the Echo Cavern by the northeastern borders.”
“You know the cavern is shielded, Orion,” she replies, carefully. “No external magic can reach her there. The distance is too far. No one would get to her before you, and no one knows she is there besides us.”
“That knowledge doesn't ease my mind.” My voice drops into a low growl that vibrates through my ribs. “The current shifted earlier. I felt it clawing at me, but I dismissed it, thinking the cavern’s illusions had leaked through. Now, away from the cavern, I feel a disturbance spreading through the sea in a way that unsettles me.”
“Don't let your fear guide you,” she warns.
Nyx exhales, the air bubbles drifting slowly upward before bursting against the ceiling crystals.
Her expression softens into something that feels like shared dread.
“Channel it elsewhere. Go with Lord Zevrin to the site of the diversion.
See the damage yourself. Raise the barrier first. It will keep your mind from wandering to what you cannot change.
If something goes wrong, you'll be close enough to reach her before anyone else can.
I'll restore order here. The kingdom cannot collapse further in your absence.”
Her certainty steadies me, though unease continues to coil through my blood like a tightening whirlpool.
I hold Nyx’s gaze for a heartbeat. The roar of panic throughout the palace fades, and purpose fills the silence it leaves behind.
I nod once. “Very well. Ready the escorts.” I turn to Zevrin. “I will meet you at the northwestern post, but there is something I must do first.”
Time is of the essence. I glide into the archives, the heavy door sealing shut behind me with a muffled grind of stone.
The water grows colder as I press forward.
To the left, a narrow corridor coils downward, spiraling into the heart of Virellan.
The light from the palace fades with every turn until only the glow of embedded runes guides me deeper.
The walls shift from polished marble to ancient volcanic rock, rough beneath my fingertips, as if the stone remembers the first king who carved this sanctum.
The pressure intensifies. The sea grows denser, more formidable, as though the future of the kingdom is sinking onto my shoulders with every passing stroke.
The cavern breathes darkness and power. The walls pulse with a faint radiance, veins of crystal threading through the stone like glowing arteries.
The magic stored here hums in the water, brushing against my skin with prickling awareness.
My heartbeat aligns with the throb of the chamber, each pulse echoing across centuries of guardianship.
In the center rises the Barrier Nexus.
A jagged crown of obsidian cradles it, its edges sharp as shark teeth. The crystal’s glow burns teal, swirling with the same energy that laces the veins in the surrounding rock. It shines brighter with every inch as I approach, as if recognizing the bloodline in my veins.
The water tastes metallic. Power saturates the cavern until it feels alive. Watching. Waiting.
The last time I visited here, my father’s hand rested over mine. His voice had been steady, his presence unshakable. He told me the barrier was the first promise of a king. He renewed it every decade. His duty. His burden. Now the burden belongs to me.
My tail flicks, lifting me through the charged waters.
I extend my hands. The moment my palms touch the surface of the crystal, cold power crashes through me like a tidal wave.
Violent and hungry, it claws up my arms and rifles through my chest, searing each rune etched into my skin.
They ignite in response, teal fire blazing along my bones. Every inhale feels razor-edged.
The Nexus tests me. It pries into my thoughts, my fears, my weaknesses. The urge to pull away screams through my nerves, but I anchor myself. I force my breathing to steady. I will not falter.
I will not fail my kingdom.
The chamber trembles. The veins in the walls flare brighter, the entire cavern reacting to the bond forming between us. The magic coalesces around my heart, a scorching coil of fate tightening until I feel I might break.
The Nexus releases a final pulse of approval, a thundering surge of energy that bellows through the water like a war cry.
I don't hesitate.
I launch upward, threading through the archives and shooting back into the palace corridors.
Order has already begun to return under Nyx’s command.
Servants collect stray seaweed and loose shells that the panic scattered across the floor.
Guards sharpen their stances, fins firm, eyes focused.
The water no longer tastes of fear. Panic retreats like a receding tide.
Nyxalene remains at the center of it all, poised and unwavering, exactly as she promised.
I don't stop moving. The open sea welcomes me with a chilling silence.
No creatures stir in the outer waters. My people, those not bred for war, have vanished into their homes, shadows behind shuttered coral gates.
With the barrier weakened, Virellan is vulnerable.
Any creature from the deep could slip through unseen, and the knowledge that a threat already lurks within our borders makes every dark crease of rock feel suspicious.
My escorts swim close, weapons ready, fins slicing through the water with silent precision.
Power hums beneath my skin. The runes along my chest and arms pulse with the Nexus’s renewed magic, each beat a promise that I will protect what is mine—what is ours.
The diversion happened hours ago. Well over half a sea day. Which means Sarah is already deep into her final current. Each moment that passes brings her closer.
Soon, I will see her face again. Feel her lips against my own again.
Focus, Orion. Your kingdom must come first. She's safe in the cavern. She has to be.
Ildrina joins our formation, her movements sharp with urgency.
Nyra flits beside her, Sarah’s Snapdragonis never straying far due to the bond that connects them.
Since bonding with Sarah, she refuses to return home, always darting through palace halls like a spark of living curiosity.
I have not yet asked how deep their trust has grown.
I suspect Nyra would defend Sarah with teeth and flame if necessary.
Since Sarah is sealed within the Echo Cavern, Nyra cannot follow her. So she follows me instead.
My luck.
The barrier surrounding Virellan is a secret held only by our people. Outsiders don't even know it exists. It's our strongest line of defense, our safety.
Whoever this intruder is . . . they knew. They knew exactly where to strike.
The northern border stretches into a wasteland of jagged boulders and dying coral, farther than sight can travel through the muted blue gloom.
Zevrin has warriors scouring every ridge and crevice for any trace of the weapon or magic used against us.
I sweep through groups of my warriors in wide arcs, gathering brief reports, sending orders, directing Ildrina and Nyra into cracks in the landscape where larger fins cannot maneuver swiftly enough.
Every stretch of stone whispers danger. Every ripple feels wrong.
“Status, Tidewarden.” Zevrin meets me halfway, his tail flicking with impatience.
He bows his head, frustration rippling through the water around him. “Nothing as of yet, your majesty. We're still investigating all areas where the attack could've come from.”
“Well, in the meantime, we cannot remain exposed.” The weight of command coils around my chest, squeezing with familiar dread. “Move aside.”
My father would've never waited on others to restore the barrier. He was unshakable. Unyielding. When he renewed the shield, the very sea trembled in respect. I had watched him do this once during king lessons. He guided my hands to the crystal, told me that a kingdom’s safety rested in silence that no one ever thanked.
That silence now rests with me.
Power thrashes beneath my skin as I rise to the nearest anchor point. It juts from the ocean floor as a jagged obsidian monolith, split by a glowing vein of crystal. Every anchor along our borders mirrors it, an unbroken ring of magic carved into the land long before my birth.
Except now, the line is broken. Cracks spiderweb along its surface, the flow severed. The shield is undone.
My palms meet the stone.
Cold pressure slams into me, as if the ocean itself is trying to crush me for daring to take responsibility.
The borrowed power from the Nexus erupts outward in a burst of teal brilliance.
The boulder convulses under my touch, rumbling deep enough that my bones vibrate.
Coral shatters from nearby ridges, scattering through the tide like brittle stone.
The runes on my chest and arm ignite. The light beneath my skin burns so fiercely that my vision blurs. It feels like the sea is trying to rip the magic out of me as fast as I channel it in. I grind my teeth and push harder, refusing to falter where my father never did.
The ocean holds its breath. A thunderous boom rolls through the seabed, the sound of raw magic stitching itself back together.
The barrier surges outward, sealing Virellan in shimmering protection once more.
A dome of teal energy stretches into the dark until it vanishes beyond sight.
Only when the final thread snaps into place do I let myself breathe.
My hands fall away slowly. The magic ebbs from my skin like a receding tide, returning to the moon’s pull. My strength falters, but relief floods through me. My kingdom is safe again. For now.
Salt-heavy anticipation loosens in my chest. I rake both hands through my hair, brushing it from my eyes as the tension bleeds out of me. The ocean feels quieter. Steadier. As if even the water understands what has been regained.
I turn to Zevrin, renewed purpose burning beneath my ribs. “Now we find who dared to threaten my home.”