CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER 67: THE UNDERSEA DEPTHS

The submersible craft provided by the Nexus looked like something between a transparent sphere and a living creature. Its bio-luminescent panels pulsed gently as it descended through the darkening waters toward the Undersea Gardens, three kilometers below the surface of what used to be the Mediterranean Sea.

"I still can’t believe we’re doing this," Borin muttered, pressing his bearded face against the transparent wall. "Dwarfs aren’t meant to be this far from solid stone."

"Think of it as really wet caves," Yulia suggested helpfully, though even her elven composure seemed slightly strained as the water pressure readings continued to climb.

Evon watched the depth gauge with growing concern. Three kilometers down was deeper than most ocean trenches on the original Earth, but according to the Arbiter’s information, the world merger had created new oceanic depths that defied conventional physics.

"Any word from our escort?" he asked Quendor, who was maintaining contact with the surface through a magical communication device.

"The merfolk delegation is waiting for us at the two-kilometer mark," the dragon replied, his voice slightly distorted by the water-filled helmet he wore. "But they’re warning us that the Deep Ones aren’t happy about surface dwellers approaching their territory."

Titania had made herself very small for the journey, her fairy form compressed to about the size of Evon’s thumb. Even so, she looked deeply uncomfortable. "Fae magic doesn’t work well underwater. If something goes wrong down there..."

"Nothing’s going to go wrong," Evon said with more confidence than he felt. Through his connection to the four goddesses, he could sense the third fragment of Yena’s seal somewhere in the depths below, but it felt... different. Angry, somehow.

As they reached the two-kilometer mark, their escort appeared. The merfolk were beautiful in the way that dangerous things often are—humanoid from the waist up, with flowing hair and luminescent skin, but their lower halves were powerful fish tails built for deep-water hunting. Their leader, who introduced herself as Nerissa, wore armor made from what looked like living coral that pulsed with its own inner light.

"Surface dwellers," she said, her voice carrying clearly through the water despite the apparent impossibility of that. "You come seeking the Burning Pearl that fell into our realm."

"Burning Pearl?" Evon asked through the submersible’s communication system.

"That’s what the Deep Ones call it," Nerissa replied, her expression troubled. "It landed in their territory, in the Abyssal Throne where their war-chief holds court. But it’s... changed things down there."

"Changed how?"

"See for yourself."

As they descended past the merfolk patrol lines, the nature of the ocean around them began to shift. The water itself took on a faint golden glow, and sea life that should have been impossible at this depth swam past their vessel. Glowing jellyfish the size of buildings drifted through the water like living constellations, their tentacles trailing streams of light.

"That’s not normal," Borin observed, pressing his nose against the transparent wall again.

"No," Nerissa agreed, swimming alongside their submersible with easy grace. "The Burning Pearl’s influence has spread through the entire Deep Realm. Plants that need sunlight are growing on the ocean floor. Creatures from shallow waters are thriving at crushing depths."

"Yena’s trying to bring life to the deep places," Naia said in Evon’s mind. "But the ecosystem down here wasn’t designed for that much light and energy."

As they approached the three-kilometer mark, the first signs of trouble appeared. Dark shapes moved through the golden-tinted water—much larger than any fish, and moving with predatory intelligence.

"Deep Ones patrol," Nerissa said, her voice tense. "They don’t like visitors."

The first creature to approach their submersible was something out of a nightmare. It had the general shape of a humanoid, but one adapted for life in crushing depths. Its skin was black and rubbery, its hands ended in wicked claws, and its face was a mass of tentacles surrounding a mouth filled with rows of shark-like teeth. Bioluminescent patches along its body pulsed in what might have been communication patterns.

"Ugly little fellows," Borin commented.

"They’re not little," Yulia pointed out. The creature was easily three meters long, and more were appearing from the depths below.

The submersible shuddered as something large struck it from behind. Evon spun to look through the rear viewing panel and found himself staring into an eye the size of a dinner plate. Something massive was investigating their vessel, and it didn’t seem friendly.

"That’s a Kraken-Spawn," Nerissa said, her own escort of merfolk warriors drawing weapons that looked like they were made from sharpened coral and shark teeth. "The Deep Ones have been breeding them as war beasts."

The attack came without warning. The Kraken-spawn’s tentacle wrapped around their submersible and began to squeeze. Warning lights flashed as the hull’s integrity readings spiked into the danger zone.

"We need to get out of here," Evon said, drawing the Blade of Fate. The weapon’s elemental energies began to glow, responding to his rising adrenaline.

"The submersible has defensive capabilities," Quendor rumbled, reaching for what looked like weapon controls. "But I don’t know how to—"

His words were cut off as the craft’s bio-luminescent panels suddenly blazed with intense light. The water around them lit up like a miniature sun, and the Kraken-spawn recoiled with what sounded like a scream of pain.

But the light also attracted more attention. Deep Ones began to swarm toward them from all directions, their bioluminescent patches flashing in what was clearly an alarm pattern.

"We’re surrounded," Yulia observed with elven calm, though her hand was on her bow.

"Time for a different approach," Evon said. He closed his eyes and activated partial Destiny Resonance, not the full power he’d shown at the Nexus, but enough to extend his senses through the surrounding water.

Through Naia’s water affinity, he could feel the current patterns, the pressure changes, the emotional resonance of the creatures around them. The Deep Ones weren’t just territorial—they were afraid. The fragment of Yena’s seal was affecting their entire realm, and they saw all surface dwellers as a threat.

"They’re scared," he said. "The seal fragment is disrupting their entire world."

"Scared things fight hardest," Borin pointed out, hefting his war hammer despite the obvious impracticality of using it while underwater in a submersible.

The first wave of Deep Ones struck the submersible from multiple directions at once. Their claws scraped against the transparent walls, leaving marks that glowed with their own inner light. The Kraken-spawn tightened its grip, and more tentacles appeared from the darkness below.

"Hull integrity at seventy percent," Quendor reported, reading from displays that seemed to update themselves. "We can’t take much more of this."

"Then we don’t," Evon said. "Open the vehicle."

"Are you insane?" Borin demanded. "The pressure down here will crush us flat!"

"Not if I do this right," Evon replied, channeling more power through his connection to Naia. "Trust me."

What happened next would have been impossible for any normal human. Evon extended Naia’s water essence around all of them, creating a bubble of breathable liquid that maintained proper pressure while allowing them to move freely through the surrounding ocean.

The sensation of breathing water was deeply unsettling, but it worked. As the submersible’s hull opened like a flower, they swam out into the golden-tinted depths, protected by Evon’s power but free to fight.

The Deep Ones attacked immediately. They moved through the water like living torpedoes, their claws extended and their tentacle-faces writhing with rage. But they hadn’t expected their prey to be able to move freely at this depth.

Yulia’s arrows flew through the water with deadly precision, each one trailing streams of elven magic that left glowing paths in the dark water. Her shots found their marks, and several Deep Ones fell back with shrieks that carried strangely through the liquid medium.

Borin’s war hammer, enhanced with dwarven rune-magic, struck with devastating force despite the water resistance. Each blow sent shockwaves through the water that stunned nearby creatures and cracked the shells of the larger predators.

Quendor was in his element, his dragon-nature adapting instantly to the aquatic environment. He moved through the water like a living missile, his claws and teeth finding targets with deadly accuracy. His dragon-breath worked even underwater, creating superheated steam that confused and injured their attackers.

But it was Evon who turned the tide of the battle. The Blade of Fate, channeling the power of four goddesses simultaneously, carved through the water like it was air. Naia’s affinity allowed him to predict the movement of every current, every creature, every attack before it landed. Lyria’s fire created superheateds streams that cut through the water like underwater lightning. Veyra’s technological integration let him interface with the bio-luminescent communication patterns of the sea creatures, disrupting their coordination. And Sythara’s draconic power gave him the strength and speed to keep up with creatures that had evolved for this environment.

The battle was fierce but brief. The Deep Ones, for all their ferocity, weren’t prepared for surface dwellers who could match them in their own element. When their war-chief, a massive creature that looked like a cross between a shark and an octopus, finally fell to Evon’s blade, the remaining attackers began to retreat into the deeper darkness.

"Well," Borin said, spitting out water that tasted of magic and salt, "that was invigorating."

"The Abyssal Throne is just ahead," Nerissa said, swimming up from where she and her warriors had been providing support. "But be warned—what you’ll find there isn’t what the fragment was when it first arrived."

As they swam toward the massive structure that rose from the ocean floor like an underwater mountain, Evon could feel the third piece of Yena’s essence calling to him. But Nerissa was right—something had changed about it. The fragment had adapted to its new environment in ways that might make recovery more complicated.

"Ready for round two?" he asked the goddesses in his mind.

"Always," they replied in unison, their combined strength flowing through him like a tide.

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