{"Not all tides are made of water. Some pull at the soul, and once they rise, there is no turning back."}
The journey south was hard and hurried. We reached the Emerald Gulf route to the Citadel of the Council at dusk. The citadel of the council rose from the cliffs like a tide-born crown, white stone veined with green, wrapped in coral balconies and hung with wind-chimes made from bone and shell. Its towers curved like shells cracked open to the sky.
As we approached the central hall, I saw Ellowen stiffen beside me, and she cursed low under her breath. "Godsdammit. Of all people…"
I did not have to ask, but I saw them too. Lady Nerisca stood at the head of the chamber, wreathed in a shawl of sea-serpent scales, her silver hair twisted like the foam on a breaking wave. Her presence was tide-heavy, calm on the surface, but deep and full of things that could drown you. Pale eyes flicked toward us as we entered, and a slow, knowing smile curved her lips. To her right stood Zynarion Lae, a Prince of the sea. His skin gleamed like wet pearl, and his gaze burned with an old fury barely restrained behind courtesy. And behind them both, half-shadowed and silent, was General Kallion. He stood like a tidebreaker, massive, still, and braced against some storm only he could see.
Ardanis stepped forward, his posture rigid and formal. "Council of the Emerald Gulf," he said, his voice clear and echoing in the chamber. Thank you for assembling on such short notice. I first stopped by the Sanctuary to confirm what I felt was true, and once I did, we rushed over to deliver the news."
Lady Nerisca's expression darkened, but she nodded. "We felt it."
Zynarion gave a dry laugh. "The fish are dying along the coral roads. The kelp forests are turning black. The sea no longer obeys the moon. This is no ripple but a wave."
Ellowen muttered again, half to herself. "We should've let him rot."
I shot her a sharp glance, but Zynarion only smiled wider. "Lovely to see you too, Ellowen. I see you still clinging to your rank like a raft in deep water."
"I still wear mine," she said coolly. "You threw yours away."
Before either could bite deeper, Ardanis raised a hand. "Enough. This is not the time for old wounds. The threat we face does not concern our titles or grievances."
Kallion finally spoke, his voice like a landslide underwater. "Tell us what you found."
"The Sanctuary is compromised, the sigils are cracking, and the wards are failing. Something old has stirred, and it is not content to stay buried." Lord Ardanis responded.
General Kallion's jaw tightened. "Then we are already behind, as the corruption is spreading faster than expected. Fishing villages near the southern reefs have begun reporting hallucinations, and the sea beasts are washing ashore with their eyes turned inside out. "
Zynarion leaned on the hilt of his blade. "We need to go out there and deal with whatever is awakening."
Ellowen crossed her arms. "If it could be killed that easily, it would not hide well. "
Ardanis took a breath. "We don't know what it is yet, but only that its influence is growing."
Nerisca moved forward, and the chamber seemed to tilt toward her, as if pulled by a tide. "There is one option," she said softly. "We could send someone with the power of illusion and the control of the elements to check on it." Her eyes slid to me.
Ellowen stepped between us. "No"
Nerisca gave a faint, amused smile. "Dear girl, who are you to object?"
Ardanis did not look at me. His fists were clenched behind his back. "I agree this could be a good idea, but that is not an option, and a no from my end. "
Lady Nerisca's voice came, soft but slicing." The other option is to go to the Pearl Castle and ask for help."
Ardanis's jaw tensed. "Don't say his name."
She turned slowly. "We have no choice, since you don't want us to use your pet witch-fae."
Ardanis shook his head. "He can't." And they pointed at me. "He does not have the power to face whatever is stirring."
The chamber had fallen into silence, heavy and tidal, and she continued, "We have to ask Morkai Vaelan."
Ardanis's face hardened. "You know the danger of asking him anything."
Nerisca's pale eyes sparkled with the weight of tides. "He knows the old forces, and he was one of them. Before the gods turned their faces, before the kingdoms fell beneath the sea."
"He is cursed," Ardanis snapped. "Bound. Morkai Vaelan is no prince; he is a wraith in a drowned castle, barely clinging to what remains of his name."
Zynarion's voice came low and sharp. "And still more powerful than any here."
Lady Nerisca gave a slight nod. "He may have forgotten the realm, but he remembers the ocean. The tides still speak to him, and he still commands them. He would know what is causing the corruption; he would feel it like rot in his bones."
Ellowen stepped forward, eyes blazing. "You want to ask the Abyssal Sovereign for help?"
Nerisca did not flinch. "Yes"
Kallion's voice rumbled like distant thunder. "This is a mistake. If we provoke him, do you know what that would mean for the Emerald Gulf?"
"Which is exactly why we don't provoke him," Ardanis said coldly. "He is a forgotten prince turned into elemental fury. You would bring his storm here?"
The chamber churned with words, accusations half-swallowed, arguments curling like sea mist in the cold air. But I remained silent, watching the tide of it all twist around her, around Lady Nerisca, who stood like a coral reef wrapped in silk and secrets. She moved no more than a breath, but I saw how she waited, watched, and counted. Her words had been cast like nets, and now she was watching to see which of them thrashed and which drowned.
Zynarion said nothing ever since Nerisca named Morkai. He stood rigid, like a spear embedded in rock, but his silence was not peaceful. His pearl-toned skin had taken on a storm light gleam, and the fury in his eyes burned cold, older than any feud with Ellowen, deeper than politics. He had seen what the sea was becoming, and he knew the price of delay.
Still, he held his tongue, and it was Kallion who finally broke the silence, his voice low and unrelenting, like stone grinding beneath waves.
"We are going to Morkai."
Ardanis stiffened. "Kallion—"
"You brought us here to act," the general cut in. "Not to cower behind sigils that are already failing. If you know of another who commands the abyss, name them."
No one spoke up.
"He is a risk," Kallion continued. "But the enemy we face, this thing, is older than any of us. We need more than spells and swords; we need a force of nature."
"You mean to unleash another force," Ellowen snapped.
Kallion turned to her. "Better a force we choose than one we let rise unchecked."
Zynarion's jaw clenched. His voice, when it came, was as calm as ice cracking. "Morkai is not a choice. He is a last resort."
Lady Nerisca's smile was faint but satisfied. "The tides have already turned. The Pearl Castle waits. I have informed Morkai that we would be coming as the promise to choose an Abyssal Consort still stood. This would be an excuse to get to the Pearl castle, and then we can ask him about whatever is stirring in the realm.
I looked past them, through the high windows, where the sea boiled black and silver under the rising moon. I listened to my power and felt its attention shift, just a flicker like something ancient rolling in its sleep.
Morkai Vaelan, I could sense that he knew we were coming.