"The water spirits will offer different protection than earth," Professor Nyala explained as they began their descent from the shrine. "Water flows, adapts, conceals. But it also demands honesty from those who would partner with it."
"Honesty?" Osa asked, though something in his tone suggested he already understood what she meant.
"Water reflects emotional truth, Mr. Hann. You cannot hide from it, not your fears, not your doubts, not your deepest emotions. If you approach the mixing pool with false pretenses or unresolved conflicts, the water spirits will sense it immediately."
They made their way along a narrow cliff path that wound toward the jungle's edge. The mixing pool lay where freshwater streams met the salt spray of the bay—a place of convergence that had been sacred long before Teluk Jati was founded.
"What kind of conflicts?" Osa pressed, though his casual demeanor was clearly forced now.
Saguna glanced at his friend, noting the way Osa's hands trembled slightly as he gripped the blue pouch. There was more to Osa's question than simple curiosity.
"The kind that make you fall in love with the wrong people," Professor Nyala replied pointedly. "The kind that make you run from commitment. The kind that convince you surface connections are safer than deep ones."
Osa's step faltered. "How did you—"
"Water calls to water, Mr. Hann. Your elemental affinity reveals more about your nature than you might prefer." Her tone wasn't unkind, but it was unflinchingly direct. "The water spirits will ask why you fear emotional depth when you can control physical depth with such ease."
Behind them, another howl echoed from the village, closer this time. When Saguna looked back, he could see dark shapes moving along the shoreline, following their path.
"They're tracking us," he warned.
"Let them try," Radji said with surprising confidence. "The earth tells me where they are. I can feel their weight on the ground, their disturbance of the natural patterns." His connection to his element had clearly emboldened him. "They won't catch us by surprise."
The path descended into thick jungle foliage, the air growing humid and alive with the sounds of unseen creatures. Ancient trees formed a canopy overhead, filtering the afternoon sunlight into dappled patterns that danced across the forest floor. Saguna noticed that some of the larger trees bore scars, old markings that looked almost like the shadow script they'd seen in the tunnels, but weathered by years of growth.
"Even here," Professor Nyala observed, following his gaze. "The shadows have left their mark over the years. This incursion has been building for far longer than we realized."
"There," Professor Nyala pointed ahead to where the sound of running water grew stronger. "The mixing pool."
They emerged into a natural clearing where a freshwater stream cascaded down a series of rock shelves before meeting the tidal waters that surged in from the bay. The pool itself was perfectly circular, carved into the stone by centuries of flowing water. Its surface reflected the sky above while depths below seemed to extend far deeper than should be possible.
But what caught Saguna's attention were the symbols carved into the rocks around the pool's edge. Not the ancient ward runes they'd seen at the shrine, but flowing, organic patterns that seemed to shift and change as the water level rose and fell with the tide.
"Water script," Professor Nyala identified. "It changes with the flow, never quite the same twice. A reminder that water adapts but never forgets."
Osa approached the pool's edge slowly, the blue pouch in his hands glowing faintly in response to the proximity of so much elemental energy. As he knelt beside the water, his reflection wavered and shifted, showing not just his face but glimpses of things deeper — moments of heartbreak, times he'd chosen safety over vulnerability, faces of people he'd cared for and then pushed away before they could leave him first.
"I can see it," he whispered, staring into the pool with growing unease. "Everything I've tried to hide."
Saguna saw it too, rippling across the water's surface like memories made manifest. A girl with laughing eyes who'd reached for Osa's hand only to have him pull away. A friend who'd offered deeper friendship, only to be met with casual deflection. Pattern after pattern of Osa choosing the shallow end, the safe harbor, the easy escape.
"Why do you run?" Professor Nyala asked gently, settling beside the pool. "When someone offers you their depth, why do you swim for shore?"
Osa's reflection in the water showed him younger, maybe thirteen, standing beside a grave with tears streaming down his face. "Because everyone leaves," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "My father left. My brother went to work in the Ember Isles and never came back. Even my mother... she loved us, but the sea took her when I was fifteen." He looked up at Professor Nyala, his usual mask completely gone. "It's easier to leave first than to be left behind."
"Then you're ready to begin," Professor Nyala said gently. "Open your pouch, Mr. Hann. The water spirits are waiting to meet you."
A new sound reached them from the jungle, the crack of breaking branches, the whisper of shadows moving through undergrowth. Their pursuers were closing in.
"They're almost here," Radji warned, his connection to the earth allowing him to track their approach. "Perhaps two minutes, no more."
Osa's hands shook as he untied the blue pouch, but his jaw was set with new determination. "Then I better work fast." He looked at the water, at his reflection showing all his fears and walls and carefully constructed distances. "Time to go swimming in the deep end."
Inside the pouch were crystals that looked like frozen teardrops, each one containing what appeared to be a single drop of pure water. There were also dried kelp fronds that smelled of the deepest ocean, and a vial of something that shimmered like liquid moonlight.
"The tears of the first water-marked," Professor Nyala explained quickly. "The kelp from the Azure Depths' sacred groves. And essence of tidal harmony. Pour them in sequence as you open your heart to the spirits."
Osa held the first crystal above the pool. "I'm sorry," he said to his reflection, to all the people he'd kept at a distance. "I'm sorry for being afraid." The crystal dissolved as it touched the water, sending ripples across the surface that seemed to carry his words into the depths.
The kelp followed, unfurling in the water like reaching hands. And finally, the shimmering essence, which turned the entire pool into a mirror of liquid silver.
The lapis stone at Osa's throat blazed with blue light, and the marks on his chest evolved — another line of his triangle completing itself. But more than that, Saguna could feel the change in him, a depth that hadn't been there before, a willingness to let others see beneath the surface.
"The second anchor is set," Professor Nyala announced, but her words were nearly drowned out by the sound of shadows breaking through the jungle canopy above them.
The darkness that hunted them had finally caught up.