Maren's POV - Present Day
"Don't touch it."
Vaelen grabbed my wrist before I could reach the glowing doorway. His grip was painfully tight, and his face had gone pale as death.
"Why not?" I tried to pull free. "You said it might be a way to break your chains!"
"I said it MIGHT be." He yanked me back. "The Heart of the Oath isn't just some magical lock we can pick. It's where the original binding was forged. Where Thessaly chained me two thousand years ago."
The name hung between us like a ghost.
"The woman you loved," I said quietly.
"The woman who destroyed me." Vaelen's eyes were distant, lost in memory. "She brought me to that chamber. Told me she'd found something important. Something that would change everything." His laugh was bitter. "She was right. It did change everything. Just not the way I thought."
I looked at the doorway, really looked at it. Now that I knew what it was, I could see the traces—old bloodstains on the stone, scorch marks from ancient magic, and carved into the threshold, names. Hundreds of them.
"What are those?" I pointed.
"Every person sacrificed to maintain the chains." Vaelen's voice was hollow. "Every soul trapped here has their name carved into the Heart. Including your sister."
My chest tightened. "Lira's name is in there?"
"Yes. Added three months ago when they threw her into the abyss." He finally released my wrist. "That's how the oath works. Each sacrifice strengthens the binding. Their life force feeds directly into the chains through that doorway."
"So if we go inside—"
"We see exactly how the binding was created. How it works. And possibly—" He hesitated. "—how to break it."
"Then what are we waiting for?" I moved toward the door again.
"The price!" Vaelen stepped in front of me. "Every powerful magic demands a price. The Heart of the Oath will show us the way to freedom, but it will demand payment. And I have no idea what that payment might be."
"I don't care." I met his eyes. "My sister's name is carved in there. My father just died trying to seal you forever. Marcus and Selene are out there planning their next attack. We're running out of options."
"You could die."
"I could also save everyone." I pushed past him. "Besides, I'm already dead according to the surface world. Might as well make it count."
Before he could stop me, I pressed my hand against the doorway.
The world exploded into light.
I was somewhere else. Somewhen else.
The palace looked different—new and beautiful, not ruined. Bioluminescent gardens bloomed in every corner. The water was crystal clear, not the murky black of the Starless Sea. And there were people. Dozens of them, swimming through the halls, laughing and talking.
"What is this?" I whispered.
"My memory." Vaelen appeared beside me, but younger. His chains were gone. He smiled easily, moving through the crowd with casual grace. "This was two thousand years ago. Before everything fell apart."
I watched memory-Vaelen stop to help a young mermaid who'd dropped her scrolls. Watched him joke with passing sailors who'd come to leave offerings. He was so different—warm, open, kind.
"You were happy," I said.
"I was naive." The real Vaelen stood beside me, watching his past self with something like grief. "I thought humans and sea folk could coexist peacefully. I thought my power was meant to protect, not to be protected from."
The memory shifted. Now memory-Vaelen stood in this very chamber—the Heart of the Oath, though it looked nothing like the dark room we'd just left. It was bright and golden, filled with singing crystals that hummed with pure magic.
And there she was.
Thessaly.
She was beautiful in a quiet way—dark hair braided with shells, eyes like storm clouds, wearing simple priestess robes. But it was her smile that caught me. She looked at memory-Vaelen with such love it made my heart ache.
"I have to show you something," memory-Thessaly said, her voice trembling. "Something terrible."
"What's wrong?" Memory-Vaelen took her hands. "You're shaking."
"The Guild—my Guild—they're planning something." Tears streamed down her face. "They want to bind you. Drain your power. Use you as a source for their magic."
"That's impossible. The Guild protects the seas. Why would they—"
"Greed." She sobbed. "Pure greed. They've discovered that divine essence can be harvested, concentrated, sold. With your power, they could control every ocean, every trade route, every storm. They'd be unstoppable."
Memory-Vaelen pulled her into his arms. "Then we'll stop them. Together. We'll expose their plans—"
"I already tried." Thessaly pulled back, her face anguished. "They know I know. They've given me an ultimatum." She couldn't meet his eyes. "Perform the binding ritual, or they kill everyone in my temple. Every priestess, every child learning the sea songs. Three hundred innocent lives."
The real Vaelen's hand found mine. Squeezed tight.
"So I ran here," memory-Thessaly continued. "To warn you. We have to flee. Tonight. Before they—"
The chamber doors exploded inward.
Guild soldiers poured in, surrounding them. And leading them was a man who looked disturbingly like my father—same build, same cold eyes. But older, crueler.
"The first Grand Magister," Vaelen whispered. "Your father's great-great-grandfather."
"Going somewhere, Thessaly?" the Magister asked pleasantly. "I thought we had an agreement."
"Please," Thessaly begged. "Don't make me do this."
"You have a choice. Bind the serpent, or watch everyone you love die screaming." He smiled. "Actually, you'll watch them die either way. But if you cooperate, it'll be quick. Painless."
"You monster," memory-Vaelen snarled, moving to attack.
The soldiers raised weapons that glowed with dark magic. Not to kill—to paralyze. Memory-Vaelen collapsed, conscious but unable to move.
"Now then." The Magister handed Thessaly a knife. "You know the words. Speak them."
"I can't," she sobbed. "I love him."
"Love?" The Magister laughed. "Love won't feed your people when the seas run dry. Love won't protect them from storms. But power will. Divine power, bound and controlled, used for the greater good."
"This isn't good! This is slavery!"
"It's necessary." The Magister's face hardened. "Speak the words, or I start killing hostages. Starting with the children."
I watched Thessaly's face crumble. Watched her look at memory-Vaelen with heartbreak and desperation.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Forgive me."
Then she began to chant.
The golden chamber turned dark. The singing crystals screamed. And chains—glowing, burning chains—erupted from the floor, wrapping around memory-Vaelen's wrists, neck, chest.
His screams echoed through time itself.
"THESSALY, DON'T! PLEASE!"
But she didn't stop. Tears poured down her face as she carved runes into the floor with her own blood, binding him tighter and tighter.
"I love you," she sobbed. "I love you, I'm sorry, I love you—"
The binding completed with a flash of light. Memory-Vaelen collapsed, chains burning into his flesh. The water around them turned black. The palace began to crumble.
"Excellent work." The Magister smiled at Thessaly. "Your sacrifice will be remembered."
Then he slit her throat.
Thessaly fell, blood blooming in the water. She reached for memory-Vaelen one last time before her hand dropped.
"NO!" Memory-Vaelen's scream shattered the golden chamber completely. "YOU PROMISED! YOU SAID IF SHE COOPERATED—"
"I lied." The Magister shrugged. "She knew too much. Couldn't risk her talking." He turned to his soldiers. "Spread the word. The serpent tried to destroy us. We barely managed to contain him. He's a monster who must be kept chained for everyone's safety."
"Liar!" Memory-Vaelen thrashed against his chains. "I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!"
"There's the monster now." The Magister smiled. "Much more convincing than the gentle god you pretended to be."
The memory dissolved into darkness.
I came back to the present gasping, tears streaming down my face. Vaelen knelt on the ground, his whole body shaking.
"She didn't betray you," I said. "She tried to save you."
"And she died for it." His voice was barely a whisper. "They used her love. Twisted it. Made her choose between me and everyone she'd ever known. Then killed her anyway."
"Just like they used me to get to Lira." I knelt beside him. "They're still using the same playbook. Still forcing impossible choices. Still destroying anyone who stands against them."
Vaelen looked up, and I saw two thousand years of pain in his eyes. "Now you understand why I don't trust humans. Why I couldn't trust you."
"But you do now." I took his hands. "Don't you?"
He stared at our intertwined fingers for a long moment. "You're either the bravest person I've ever met, or the most foolish."
"Can't I be both?"
That surprised a laugh out of him. "Yes. Yes, I think you can."
The doorway blazed brighter, and new words appeared on the stone:
"TO BREAK THE CHAINS, BREAK THE CYCLE. TRUTH FOR LIES. LOVE FOR HATE. SACRIFICE FOR GREED."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
Vaelen stood slowly, reading the words. His face went very still. "It means the only way to break my binding is to do the exact opposite of how it was created."
"So... tell the truth instead of lying?"
"Yes. Show love instead of hate. And—" He stopped, his jaw clenching. "—sacrifice willingly instead of being forced."
The way he said that last part made my stomach drop. "What kind of sacrifice?"
"The binding was forged with Thessaly's unwilling sacrifice. Her blood, her magic, her life—all taken by force." Vaelen wouldn't meet my eyes. "To break it, someone would have to give those things willingly. Knowing exactly what it would cost."
"Cost?" My voice came out small. "What would it cost?"
Finally, he looked at me. And I saw the answer in his face before he spoke.
"Everything."
Before I could respond, the palace shook violently. Cracks spider-webbed across the walls. Lira's sphere swung wildly.
"What's happening?" I grabbed Vaelen for balance.
His face went pale. "They're back. But this time—" He closed his eyes, sensing something I couldn't. "This time they brought the entire Guild fleet. Fifty ships. And they're dropping something into the water. Something that feels like—"
He didn't finish. He didn't have to.
Because rising from the darkness beyond the palace came not one corrupted guardian.
Not two.
But seven. Seven massive serpents with dead eyes and glowing runes, all converging on us at once.
"They're going to kill everything," Vaelen whispered. "Everyone trapped here. The entire abyss. They'll destroy it all just to make sure we never escape."
And standing on the deck of the lead ship, visible through the murky water, was Marcus. Beside him stood Selene, her hands glowing with dark magic.
But between them stood someone new. Someone I'd never seen before.
A woman in black robes, wearing a crown made of bones.
"Who is that?" I asked.
Vaelen's face went white as death. "That's impossible. She's supposed to be dead. We killed her a thousand years ago."
"Who? Vaelen, WHO IS THAT?"
He grabbed my shoulders, his eyes wild with fear. "That's Morgassa. Thessaly's sister. The one who taught the first Guild how to bind gods in the first place."
My blood ran cold. "Her sister helped create your chains?"
"Not just helped. She invented the entire system." Vaelen's hands shook. "And if she's alive, if she's here—"
The woman in black raised her hands. All seven corrupted guardians roared as one.
"—we're already dead."