Chapter 15

The council session eventually got here to a near, nevertheless not whatsoever had been resolved. the talk had most effective increased the gaps inside Aquaria, and the fracture lines of their alliances have been growing larger. The council had achieved little development, and with every passing hour, the urgency of the state of affairs have been bigger clear.

Sophia become exhausted, her thoughts reeling from the arguments and the developing feel of isolation. no one seems to agree with in what she had seen, what all of them had felt. The strength of the leviathan was actual, but the country got divided, and it converted into pulling them apart.

As she left the council chamber, she saw herself by myself inside the corridor, her footsteps ringing within the stillness. the weight of the circumstance landed on her shoulders, and she or he closed her eyes, willing herself to live strong.

however when she opened them, she was not on my own.

A parent stood on the end of the corridor, its presence almost like a shadow. She tensed, ready to shield herself, but the parent advanced, revealing an acquainted face.

It turned into Tharros.

"What are you doing here?" Sophia requested, amazed.

Tharros' countenance was somber, his eyes expressing the gravity of the situation. "I couldn't stand watching the kingdom tear itself apart. We want to act, Sophia. "If we don't, Aquaria will be lost."

She took a stride in his direction. "However, the council is divided. How can we resist something as powerful as the Leviathan if we refuse to recognize one other's truth?"

Tharros took a long breath, laying his palm on the hilt of his sword. "We don't have the luxury of deliberating. We have to act. We have no different desire."

Sophia nodded, her determination strengthened. "Then we'll combat. For Aquaria. "For everything we've built."

As the days passed, the preparations continued, but the gaps in their alliance grew deeper. Tharros worked frantically to get what assistance he could, but the country was divided. persons who had once stood by using his aspect had been now questioning his each flow, divided between loyalty and worry.

The very last strike occurred as a messenger arrived with a letter from the Shark Clans.

"Open warfare," the messenger said sadly, passing the message to Tharros. "they may now not stop till they have got the whole of Aquaria below their control."

The room grew hushed, the reality of the situation sinking like a stone into their hearts.

Sophia became Tharros, her voice low. "They recognize we're vulnerable. They believe they are able to weigh us down."

Tharros nodded, his mouth fixed in a stern expression. "And they're correct." But we can no longer cross silently.

After the Shark Clans declared war, there was no turning back. Aquaria was on the verge of disaster, and all they could do was brace themselves for the approaching cyclone.

The Depths Awaken

The waters around Aquaria had darkened in recent days, bringing with them unexpected phenomena. The aquatic critters, which had formerly thrived in the vivid coral reefs, had begun to disappear, displaced by forces unknown. The previously prosperous underwater forests had wilted, their colors fading to pale grays. And as the days passed, the ocean itself seemed to weep, its waters churning with an unnatural restlessness, alive with an energy that no one could explain.

Sophia stood on the edge of the palace's topmost balcony, her eyes riveted on the sea in the distance. The horizon grew covered with an unpleasant blackness that appeared to grow every day. The sky had appeared as an unending shade of deep blue, casting an eerie light over the waves.

"I've never seen the sea like this," she added, her tone heavy with subject.

Tharros joined her at the balcony, his face gloomy. "The sea seems to be asking for something. "Something... ancient."

The council had reconvened behind them, the sense of urgency building with each passing hour. The last few days have been filled with news of useless coral reefs, altered sea creatures, and an overwhelming sense of uneasiness. Anyone felt it, but no one knew what it meant. The abyss grew closer, its impact spreading like a disease through the waves.

Sophia turned to face Tharros. "What must we do?" Confront it now, or wait until it's completely awake?"

Tharros paused, his jaw hardening. "We don't have much time. If we wait too long, we risk losing the entire thing to its force."

Kael stepped forward, his face hardened with purpose. "We do not have the luxury of waiting. We want to find the source and halt it before it's too late."

Sophia's heart fluttered at the prospect of delving more into the thriller of the Leviathan's reappearance. She had seen the signals in her visions and felt their presence as an oppressive weight. But there was still a lot they didn't recognize. Should they stop it? And if they did, what was the fee?

"We'll look into the reefs first," Tharros told his voice companions. "find the supply of this disturbance."

By the time Sophia and Kael arrived to the reef's edge, the sun had already set and the aquatic world had faded into darkness. Their movements had been quick and stealthy, with the currents drawing them deeper into the sea as the black shapes of coral and rock loomed around them.

The reef became abnormally silent. The brilliant colors that had formerly decorated the underwater world were now irrelevant, with the coral reduced to skeletal structures covered with a thick covering of dark algae. The water was chilly, and the pressure from the depths began to bear on them.

"Do you sense that?" Kael inquired, his voice low as he surveyed the area.

Sophia nodded, leaning her palm against a nearby rock for stability. "Something is off. "The water feels alive, but not in an amazing way."

Kael held his blade more tightly, his instincts on high alert. "live close."

They pushed onward, their gaze flickering back and forth as they traversed the eerie, calm waters. The species that had once lived on the reef were nowhere to be seen, and the longer they swam, the more stifling the quiet became. It seemed as if the entire reef had been abandoned: deserted and empty.

The water suddenly rippled fiercely, and animals emerged from the shadows-dark, twisted variants of the sea life that had once called the reef its home. Their bodies were swollen and deformed, and their eyes were sickly mild. They growled as they moved towards them, their gestures wild and inhuman.

"Get prepared!" Kael exclaimed, drawing his sword.

Sophia held her arms out, calling the water to her, but as she did, she felt it-a burst of electricity that shot through her body, more intense than anything she'd ever felt before. The water responded, but it was wild, almost as if it had its own mind. She flung her hands forward, shooting a wave of energy toward the nearest thing, but the water merely fueled the creature's rage, its darkish figure striking out at her with inhuman speed.

"backpedal!" Kael shouted as he chopped through one of the beasts, knocking it into the lake. The others did not retreat, instead advancing with even greater violence.

Sophia's heart raced as she tried to keep her consciousness, her abilities soaring out of control. The water around them writhed like a living thing, reacting to her anxiety and rage. She should listen to the monsters' piercing breaths and growls reverberating across the lake.

"assist!" Sophia yelled out, but her voice was smothered by the thundering waves. The creatures have been unrelenting, bringing them closer to the reef's threshold.

When the creatures closed up on them, a loud crack rang through the water. A enormous shadow loomed above them, and a beam of light broke through the water, lighting the scene in an ethereal radiance.

Sophia gasped. There, partially buried in the sand under them, transformed into an artifact-a massive, finely carved stone glowing with an alien charge. The water appeared to bend around it, as if intrigued by its strength. It was historical, older than anything Sophia had ever seen.

Sophia instinctively stretched out and touched the relic. The minute her fingers made touch with the stone, a strong burst of energy erupted, sending a tremor across the water. The animals recoiled, twitching their bodies as if struck by an unseen force.

Sophia felt her chest tighten and her breath stop in her throat as the strength of the item rushed through her. She should be able to see-or sense-it deep within her spirit. A black, coiled figure emerges from the depths, slithering through the water like a serpent. It became the leviathan. It was a wakeup call.

"No," she exclaimed, her vision blurred with the intensity of the connection. "It is conscious. "The leviathan is fully awake."

Kael clutched her arm, his eyes wide with alarm. "We need to get out of here, now!"

However, before they could react, the floor under them rocked, and a terrible howl echoed through the water. The sea itself appeared to quake in reaction, with the currents twisting and buckling beneath the leviathan's awakening.