The War Room of the Coral Palace was a marvel of hydro-engineering. Unlike the strategic tables of the surface packs, which relied on paper maps and wooden tokens, the Lagoon Kingdom used a massive, cylindrical tank of suspended water in the center of the room. Inside the tank, a three-dimensional, living map of the ocean floor was projected using bioluminescent algae manipulated by current-weavers.
Simon stood by the glass tank, staring at the jagged scar that ran through the projection of the eastern sector. Beside him, King Luke looked grave, his bronze skin appearing almost grey in the dim light of the map. Queen Olivia floated nearby on her dais, her tail twitching with agitation.
"The Midnight Trench," King Luke announced, his voice vibrating through the water-filled room. He pointed to a blinking red light deep within the projected chasm. "Sector 4. The seismic sensor went dark twenty minutes ago. Before it cut out, it registered a temperature drop of forty degrees."
"Freezing," Simon murmured, crossing his arms. The sharkskin strap of Wave-Cutter dug comfortably into his shoulder, a weight he was beginning to crave. "The Void shadows bring the cold. We saw it in the hallway at the Moonlight Pack."
"But this is the deep ocean, Simon," Joanna said. She was leaning against a pillar of white coral, sharpening the tips of her trident with a rough whetstone. She hadn't looked at him since the bite in the Training Atoll, but her presence was a constant, heavy pressure in the room. "The water temperature down there is already near freezing. To drop it further... to make the ocean ice... that requires immense power."
"It's a breach," Queen Olivia said softly. "They are trying to open a gateway. If they succeed in the Trench, the pressure will force the darkness upward. It will poison the currents. The Coral City will be the first to die."
Simon looked at the map. The "Second Pull" in his gut the one that connected him to the ocean was throbbing. It wasn't a call of desire this time; it was a warning. The ocean was in pain.
"I'll go," Simon said.
"We will go," Joanna corrected, finally looking up. Her green eyes were hard, devoid of the playfulness she had shown during their sparring match. "You don't know the Trenches, Wolf. Down there, the pressure is strong enough to crush a submarine. If you panic, if your transformation falters for even a second, you will be paste."
"I won't falter," Simon said.
"We'll see," Joanna replied. She turned to King Luke. "I need a squad of Royal Guards to secure the perimeter."
"No," Simon interrupted. "Stealth is better. The Void feeds on life force. If we send a squad, we're just sending them a buffet. Just you and me."
Joanna raised an eyebrow, a flicker of respect crossing her face. "Strategic. Good. But what about your... shadow?" She glanced pointedly at Evelyn, who was standing quietly by the door.
Evelyn stepped forward. She was dressed in a simple white gown, her silver hair braided back. She looked out of place among the armored warriors and merfolk, but her chin was high.
"I'm staying," Evelyn said clearly.
Simon turned to her, surprised. "You are?"
"Joanna is right," Evelyn said, walking over to the tank. She placed her hand on the glass, looking at the dark abyss of the Midnight Trench. "I can't breathe down there. I can't fight in that pressure. If I go, I'm a liability. You'll spend the whole time worrying about my air supply instead of watching your back."
Joanna smirked. "Smart pet."
"But," Evelyn continued, turning her violet eyes on the mermaid, "I am not useless."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, rough crystal the moonstone her mother had given her. She closed her eyes, and her hands began to glow. The light wasn't the blinding blast she had used in training; it was soft, concentrated, and pulsing. She poured her Starlight into the stone until it shone like a miniature star.
She walked over to Simon and pressed the stone into his hand.
"Take this," she whispered. "Starlight burns them. If you get overwhelmed, or if the darkness gets too thick to see... crush it. It will release a flare that no shadow can survive."
Simon closed his fingers over the warm stone. He looked at Evelyn, his heart swelling. This was strength. It wasn't the physical strength of a warrior, but the wisdom of a Queen who knew when to hold the line and when to let go.
"I'll bring it back," Simon promised.
"Bring yourself back," Evelyn corrected. She looked at Joanna. "And you. Bring him back."
Joanna looked at the Starlight heir, her expression unreadable. For a moment, the tension between the "Shark" and the "Star" filled the room. Then, Joanna gave a short, sharp nod.
"The Ocean protects its own," Joanna said. "Let's move, Wolf. The tide is falling."
The airlock cycle was faster this time. Simon didn't hesitate. As the water rushed in, he let the change take him. The pain was gone now, replaced by a rush of endorphins. His legs fused, his gills flared, and his eyes shifted to the bioluminescent black of the deep-sea predator.
He shot out of the palace, his silver-teal tail beating in perfect rhythm with Joanna's emerald one. They moved in silence, communicating only through hand signals and the subtle shifts in the current.
Leaving the illuminated safety of the Coral City behind, they descended into the abyss.
The water grew colder. The pressure increased, pressing against Simon's scales like a weighted blanket. He didn't fight it; he embraced it. He let his internal biology adjust, his bones density increasing to match the depth.
"Sector 4," Joanna's voice bubbled in his ear. "Stay close. The currents here are treacherous. They call them the Whispering Tides because the water moving through the rock formations sounds like voices."
Simon listened. She was right. A low, mournful moaning sound echoed around them. Ooooooooh... heeeelp... ussssss...
"Creepy," Simon muttered, his hand drifting to the hilt of Wave-Cutter.
"Focus," Joanna snapped. "Your heartbeat is speeding up. Calm down. Fear attracts them."
They crested a ridge of black volcanic rock and looked down into the Midnight Trench. It was a gash in the earth, so deep that even their enhanced vision couldn't see the bottom.
But they could see the breach.
Suspended in the middle of the trench, anchored to the rock walls by thick, oily tendrils of shadow, was a tear in reality. It looked like a wound in the water itself—a swirling vortex of absolute blackness that sucked in the faint ambient light.
Around it swam the guardians.
They weren't shadows. They were corrupted sea life. Great White sharks with rotting flesh and eyes that glowed a sickly violet. Giant squids with tentacles made of smoke. Eels that looked like skeletons stripped of meat.
"Hollows," Joanna hissed, stopping behind a rock formation. "The Void corrupts what it kills. Those used to be living creatures. Now they are just shells driven by hunger."
"There are dozens of them," Simon noted, gripping the moonstone in his left hand and his sword in his right. "How do we get to the breach?"
"We don't need to get to the center," Joanna whispered. "We just need to sever the anchors. If we cut the tendrils holding the tear open, the ocean's pressure will naturally collapse the portal."
"I take the left," Simon said, the Alpha in him taking charge. "You take the right."
Joanna looked at him. She bared her sharp teeth in a grin. "Try not to die, Wolf. It would look bad on my report."
"On three," Simon said.
"One," Joanna counted.
"Two."
"THREE!"
They exploded from cover.
Simon shot through the water like a torpedo. He drew Wave-Cutter, the dark steel blade humming as it sliced through the water.
A Hollow Shark a massive beast with half its face missing saw him and lunged.
Simon didn't panic. He remembered Joanna's lesson. Don't fight the water.
He spun, using his tail to create a vortex that knocked the shark off course. As the beast tumbled past him, Simon struck. Wave-Cutter lived up to its name. It didn't just cut flesh; it severed the magic binding the creature together.
The shark dissolved into black sludge with a silent shriek.
"One down," Simon growled.
He aimed for the first anchor a thick, pulsating vine of shadow attached to the canyon wall. He channeled his Dragon heat into the blade. The sword began to glow with a dull, red heat, boiling the water around it.
Ssssshhhk.
He sliced through the tendril. The shadow recoiled, thrashing like a severed snake.
Across the trench, Joanna was a blur of violence. Her trident sang, emitting sonic blasts that shattered the skeletons of the Hollow Eels. She moved with a brutal grace, tearing through the enemy lines.
"Wolf! Behind you!" Joanna's voice screamed through the water.
Simon spun around.
A giant squid a Kraken-Hollow had materialized from the darkness. Its tentacles, thick as tree trunks and made of smoke, were descending on him.
Simon tried to dodge, but the water around him suddenly turned to ice. The Void's cold froze his tail, locking him in place.
"Damn it," Simon hissed.
A tentacle slammed into him.
The force was incredible. It smashed him against the canyon wall, cracking the rock. Simon gasped, his air knocked out of him. The cold began to seep into his gills, freezing his blood.
The Kraken raised another tentacle for the killing blow.
'Starlight burns them.'
Evelyn's voice echoed in his memory.
Simon opened his left hand. The moonstone was glowing fiercely, pulsing against his palm.
"Eat this," Simon roared.
He crushed the stone.
*FLASH.*
An explosion of pure, white Starlight erupted in the depths of the Midnight Trench. It was blinding. It was beautiful.
The light hit the Kraken like a physical wave of acid. The shadow-smoke hissed and evaporated. The creature shrieked—a sound that vibrated Simon's teeth—and dissolved into nothingness.
The light didn't stop there. It washed over the trench, burning away the smaller Hollows and illuminating the entire canyon in a brilliant, momentary day.
Joanna shielded her eyes, stunned by the raw power of the surface magic.
Simon didn't waste the moment. The ice around his tail shattered in the light's warmth. He shot toward the final anchor on his side.
With a roar of effort, he channeled everything he had Dragon Fire, Wolf Strength, and the momentum of the Ocean into one strike.
He severed the vine.
At the same time, Joanna drove her trident into the anchor on the right.
With the tethers cut, the breach destabilized. The vortex began to wobble. The ocean pressure millions of tons of water slammed into the opening.
CRACK.
The sound was deafening. The breach collapsed in on itself, imploding with a force that sent a shockwave through the trench.
Simon and Joanna were thrown backward, tumbling through the water like ragdolls. They were slammed into the sand, the debris of the battle raining down around them.
Silence returned to the Midnight Trench. The cold began to recede, replaced by the natural chill of the deep.
Simon lay on the sand, breathing hard through his gills. He checked his limbs. Bruised, battered, but whole.
A shadow fell over him.
Joanna hovered above him, looking down. Her armor was scratched, and her hair was wild, but she was smiling. A genuine, adrenaline-fueled smile.
"Not bad, Wolf," she said, extending a hand to help him up. "You swim like a brick, but you hit like a landslide."
Simon took her hand. "And you scream like a banshee."
Joanna pulled him up. She didn't let go of his hand immediately. The adrenaline of the fight, the proximity of death, and the shared victory created a heady mix. The "Second Pull" flared between them hot and undeniable.
Joanna looked at his hand, where the moonstone dust still glittered on his scales.
"That light," she murmured. "That was her?"
"That was her," Simon confirmed. "She saved us."
Joanna nodded slowly. "Perhaps... the pet has teeth after all."
She looked at the spot where the breach had been. "We closed it. But Simon... did you see what was inside before it closed?"
Simon frowned. "I saw darkness."
"No," Joanna whispered, her green eyes haunted. "I saw an eye. A giant, yellow eye. It was looking at you, Simon. It knew your name."
A chill that had nothing to do with the water ran down Simon's spine. The Void wasn't just an encroaching force of nature. It was intelligent. And it was hunting him.
"Let's go home," Simon said, his grip on Wave-Cutter tightening. "We have to tell the King."
The return trip was slower. They were both exhausted. But the dynamic had shifted. They swam side-by-side, perfectly synchronized.
When they entered the airlock of the Coral Palace, Evelyn was waiting. She stood right against the glass, her hands pressed to the surface, watching for them.
When the water drained and Simon stumbled out, shifting back to his human form (and gratefully accepting a towel from a guard), Evelyn launched herself at him.
"You're alive!" she cried, burying her face in his chest.
Simon hugged her tight, wincing slightly at his bruised ribs. "Thanks to you, little star. That stone... it saved my life."
Evelyn looked up, tears in her eyes. Then she looked past him to Joanna.
The mermaid princess had also shifted back to her legs, though she still wore her black scale armor. She looked tired, her green hair dripping on the obsidian floor.
Evelyn hesitated, then stepped away from Simon. She walked up to Joanna.
The court went silent. The Star facing the Shark.
Evelyn didn't bow. She didn't flinch. She reached out and took Joanna's hand.
"Thank you," Evelyn said simply. "For bringing him back."
Joanna looked at Evelyn's hand, then at her face. The contempt that had been there before was gone, replaced by a grudging curiosity.
"He fought well," Joanna admitted. "He is... adequate."
She pulled her hand away, but not aggressively. "Rest, Wolf. Rest, Star. Tomorrow, the Council meets. The breach is closed, but the war has just begun."
As Joanna walked away, Simon wrapped his arm around Evelyn's shoulders. He watched the mermaid go, feeling the strange, triangular tension in the room.
He had the Love of the Star.
He had the Respect of the Shark.
But as he remembered the yellow eye in the darkness, he knew that to survive what was coming, he would need the Fire of the Dragon.
"Two down," Simon whispered to himself. "One to go."
"What?" Evelyn asked, leaning into him.
"Nothing," Simon kissed the top of her head. "Let's get some sleep. I have a feeling the Dragon Kingdom isn't going to be nearly as welcoming as the Lagoon."
And miles above the ocean, in the volcanic peaks of the Dragon Nest, the fires were already being lit.