The journey to the Shattered Reach was not a path through forests or across open roads. It was not a trail that could be followed with simple maps or human feet. It was a descent into the heart of two worlds that had never truly belonged to one another.
Rhen felt it first.
The air around them grew heavier as they left the safety of the open sea behind. The tides shifted beneath their bodies, drawing them closer to the edge of the world, where the currents no longer obeyed the law of the moon, where the waters twisted unnaturally and the sky fractured into jagged clouds.
Nymera, too, could feel it. She had been born to the tides, to the pulse of the ocean, but here—here she felt something old. A song, soft but insistent, tugging at her from the depths. It wasn't a melody of hope or beauty. It was a song of broken things. Of forgotten promises.
Her hand trembled as it brushed the jagged rock they were climbing, a relic of a world before time—before even the first mermaids had risen from the deep.
"Do you hear that?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, as if speaking too loudly might disturb the quiet.
Rhen, whose senses had long been attuned to the wild, nodded. "I do."
They had been traveling for days, moving as swiftly as they could through the wreckage of half-submerged lands and tide-torn cliffs. Nymera's strength was fading, the toll of the bond with Rhen taking its toll on her. For all her power as the Voice of the Tides, she was not immune to the pull of the Convergence. It weakened her every time their sigils flared, every time their connection deepened.
"We'll need shelter," Rhen said, looking over the horizon. The water ahead churned darkly, and the wind carried an odd scent—one that spoke of salt and ancient bones.
The Shattered Reach had never been a place of comfort. It was a wasteland—a place where the sea met land only to tear both apart, where magic had once been abundant but had long since turned sour. Some said it was a prison for creatures too dangerous for either the sea or the land. Others said it was a forbidden place where gods had come to die.
It didn't matter what the legends said. The Reach had always called to Rhen. It was a place where he could disappear and be forgotten, where the blood in his veins could drown out the call of both the land and the sea. And Nymera—she had never wanted to belong anywhere. Not in the depths of the Sapphire Court, not in the world of men. She had only ever wanted freedom.
Together, they would find it here—or die trying.
By the time they reached the cliffs of the Reach, Nymera was barely able to stand. Her legs shook with exhaustion, and her breath came in sharp, shallow gasps. Rhen kept his arm around her, steadying her, but even his strength wasn't enough to keep the ocean's power from draining her.
They had made camp in the remnants of an ancient cave, one that had once belonged to a sea king. Inside, the walls were lined with strange carvings, too old for either of them to decipher. But there was one thing about the cave that was undeniable: it was a place of power.
It was here that Nymera felt it—the presence that had been calling to her.
"I don't like this place," she whispered, shivering despite the warmth of the fire. "It's wrong. This place was never meant to be."
Rhen sat beside her, his back to the cave wall. His eyes were distant, looking toward the horizon. "I don't think we're supposed to be here either," he said quietly. "But we have no choice. If the Convergence is real, if the bond between us is what we think it is, then this is the only place we can be safe."
"But what if it's not?" Nymera's voice trembled with the weight of a question that had been gnawing at her since the first time they touched—the first time their marks had flared.
"What if we're just part of some old, broken story?"
Rhen didn't answer immediately. He couldn't.
Because deep down, a part of him believed it. He believed they weren't meant to be anything more than the sum of old curses and prophecies. A wolf and a mermaid who would destroy the world if they didn't destroy each other first.
But there was another part of him—the part that had held Nymera's hand, the part that had felt her struggle, the part that wanted to protect her from the storm inside her soul. That part believed in them.
And in the quiet between them, a sound broke the silence.
A voice.
A real voice.
It was like a song, but it wasn't Nymera's.
It came from the deep, from the heart of the sea.
"You are not welcome here."
The words echoed in the cave, low and dangerous, a sound older than the earth itself. The walls trembled under the weight of the voice's power.
Nymera's eyes widened in terror. "That's… no… it can't be…"
The voice spoke again, this time more clearly, more directly. "Leave this place, or I will make you pay the price of your trespassing."
Rhen stood, his body bristling with the instinct of the wolf. "Who's there?" he demanded, his voice sharp.
A shape appeared in the water just outside the cave—a figure, barely visible, but unmistakably other. It shimmered, like a reflection that couldn't quite stay solid. And then it solidified into something much darker—something ancient.
A creature from the depths of the sea.
It was neither human nor mermaid, but something far older. Its skin was like polished stone, dark as the depths. Its eyes glowed with a cold, sea-green fire. Its voice was a hiss, a sound that made the air grow thin.
"You do not belong here," it repeated, its voice a growl. "The Seal has already been broken. You should never have come."
Nymera stepped forward, her heart pounding. "You—who are you?"
The creature's eyes turned toward her, and for a moment, there was a flicker of recognition in its gaze. But then it narrowed.
"You, little mermaid," it hissed. "You do not understand what you are. You are no longer my daughter. You are the reason the Convergence has returned."
Rhen stepped between Nymera and the creature. "If you want her, you'll have to go through me."
The creature laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "You think you can stop what is already set in motion?"
The creature's form shifted, and in an instant, it was gone, vanishing into the shadows of the cave.
But its presence lingered, heavy in the air. And Rhen knew that whatever it was, it wasn't finished with them. The sea was alive with its fury, and it would not rest until they were destroyed.
"We have to leave," Nymera whispered, her voice shaking. "It's coming for us."
Rhen's heart thundered in his chest. "We can't run forever."
"We don't have to run," Nymera said softly, her gaze meeting his. "We'll fight. Together."