The battle had ended, but the echoes remained.
After returning behind the protective veil of the Sea Ancestral Temple, the Naga army collapsed into the narrow, blood-streaked trenches around the sanctuary. Thousands of exhausted warriors now lay or sat upon the ground, wounded, panting, or weeping in silence. Their breath fogged the salt-heavy waters, mingling with the reverberations of the divine barrier still humming from its recent activation.
The sacred coral chambers were quickly transformed into makeshift infirmaries. Healers moved among the injured like ghosts of mercy, casting rejuvenation spells, binding flesh with liquid mana threads, and whispering prayers of oceanic gods to calm the screams of the dying.
But one place stood unnaturally still.
Princess Neela's chamber.
