The water elf’s eyes glimred, sorrow and hope intertwined in their depths. Her long hair, like strands of liquid silver, drifted as though caught in a gentle current that no longer existed.
She turned one last ti toward the lake — toward the Seragon’s Heart — and her voice softened, reverent. "This place shall protect her until the tides turn anew. Until the ancient song of the deep is heard again."
Her other hand rose, tracing a sigil into the air — a symbol that pulsed with layered runes of blue and gold. As the sigil spun, it sank into the crystal, and the slumbering figure within it glowed faintly brighter.
Caria whispered, almost to herself, "She’s... sealing her."
Sophia nodded, eyes fixed on the intricate movents. "It’s an ancient preservation rite. Far beyond anything recorded. She’s binding ti itself around that girl."
The elf drew a deep breath. "I am Sekt’An’bok," she said, her tone both weary and proud. "High Priestess of the Water Elf Clan. Guardian of the tides. If any still live to see this... know that I am no more. My essence shall dissolve with the Heart, to keep her dream intact."
The water around her began to rise, swirling faster, responding to her final invocation. Her voice wove through the chamber — not in Common, but in the old tongue of the sea. The words shimred like lody and rain, resonating with a deep, mournful beauty.
"Wen’ala... si’raen thalor.The tide falls, but it shall rise again."
Her body began to dissolve into motes of light — the form of a woman giving way to pure mana. Her last smile was faint, almost human.
"She will wake when the sea rembers her na," Sekt’An’bok whispered. "And when she does... may the waters once more know peace."
Then she was gone.
The runes that filled the air dimd one by one until only the soft glow of the crystal remained — pulsing faintly like a heartbeat beneath the water’s reflection.
For a long mont, no one spoke.
Finally, Rhys stepped forward. His reflection wavered in the glowing pool as he looked down at the sealed figure within the crystal chamber. "So that’s the heir," he murmured. "The last of her kind."
Sophia exhaled quietly. "A living relic from before the Great Rupture... she’s probably been asleep for thousands of years."
Aria crossed her arms, her voice low. "If this was buried inside a double dungeon, maybe it was never ant to be found."
"Or maybe," Rhys said, eyes narrowing slightly, "it waited for soone who could."
The light pulsed again—once, twice—and then burst outward in a cascade of gentle radiance.
Warm air rushed past them, carrying the scent of salt and sunlight. When the brilliance faded, the obsidian walls and the echoing depths of the double dungeon were gone.
They stood once more within the Seragon’s Heart, but it was no longer the sa. The pool rippled beneath golden beams spilling down from the broken ceiling, and soft sand stretched where dark stone had been. It felt like stepping onto a sunlit shore within the dungeon—a strange, tranquil illusion of a beach beneath the sea.
Aria blinked, shielding her eyes. "We’re... back," she breathed. "The distortion’s gone."
Rhys exhaled slowly, his sword lowering. "Yeah," he said, scanning the shimring air around them. "Back in the present."
Caria looked around, confused but relieved. "That was insane... we actually saw the past."
Sophia’s eyes, however, were drawn to the far end of the cavern—the sa wall where the water elf’s mory had revealed the hidden passage. "Wait," she murmured. "If that echo was real... then the chamber should still be there."
Aria’s lips curved faintly. "Only one way to find out."
They approached the spot where Sekt’An’bok had stood. The wall looked solid at first, but when Aria extended a tendril of mana, faint runes shimred into existence. "Found it," she whispered, tracing her hand over the sigils.
The symbols responded—one by one—until the sa ancient sigil flared to life, golden against blue.
The ground trembled. The hidden wall rippled like liquid, peeling away to reveal a hollow filled with crystalline mist. Inside, just as in the mory, the crystal cocoon floated—its surface glowing softly, faint shapes visible within.
Rhys stepped forward, his expression unreadable. "So it’s true," he said quietly. "She’s still here."
Caria tilted her head. "What do we do now? We can’t just... leave her like that."
Sophia crouched near the seal, examining the faint runic lines. "It’s stable," she murmured. "But not eternal. The outer mana flow’s deteriorating—probably weakened after the dinsional collapse."
Rhys frowned. "aning?"
"aning," Sophia said, looking up at him, "if we don’t reinforce or properly release it, it’ll fail on its own eventually. But that could destroy whatever’s inside."
Aria sighed. "So... careful unsealing, then."
Rhys nodded, stepping closer. "Let’s see if I can interact with it." He extended his hand, gathering a controlled surge of mana—gold and silver threads swirling between his fingers. The seal shimred in response, faint ripples spreading across the crystal surface.
For a mont, nothing happened. Then—
Thrum.
The crystal flared, its glow intensifying. Symbols appeared, spinning rapidly before slowing into a single sequence—the sa sigil Sekt’An’bok had drawn.
A pulse of light spread outward, gentle but insistent. Rhys took a step back as the cocoon cracked, once, twice—then burst into streams of liquid light that scattered into the air.
From within, a faint shape began to take form—a girl, slender and graceful, with pale aqua hair flowing like water and translucent markings glowing across her skin. She looked no older than sixteen.
The girl gasped softly, collapsing forward onto the shallow sand as the crystal’s remnants dissolved.
"Whoa—careful!" Caria rushed ahead, catching her before she hit the ground.
The girl’s eyes fluttered open—iridescent blue, rippling like the surface of a calm sea. She looked around, dazed, before her gaze settled on Rhys and the others. Her lips parted, and she spoke—her words fluid, musical, but utterly foreign.
"$$#$%^ %&&..."
Sophia blinked, frowning. "That language—"
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