The sky over Kareth's Hollow had turned gray.
Ryder stood in front of the old war table inside the briefing chamber, eyes fixed on the shifting map. Glowing runes marked distant regions, but one pulsed crimson—a cluster of ruins labeled Mirevault.
Torran circled the table with a frown. "That's where the Rift reading spiked."
Nyra, the Echo Seer, leaned over the table. Her pale silver eyes narrowed. "It's been dormant for years. No known Rift phenomena since the last Concord sweep."
"And now?" Seris asked.
Nyra tapped the symbol. "The storm there is growing. Lightning, echo flux, minor beasts sighted near the perimeter."
Torran looked to Ryder. "You're going. This'll be your first Rift zone."
Ryder nodded, jaw tight. "I'm ready."
"You'll take Seris, Nyra, and Kael." Torran gestured to the tall Mythborn leaning against the doorframe. Kael's silver hair flicked with each breeze, his long halberd strapped to his back.
"About time," Kael muttered. "Been too quiet lately."
Torran handed Ryder a rolled scroll. "Encoded tide map. If the Gate destabilizes, follow the anchor paths and get out."
"Copy that," Ryder said, slipping the scroll into his satchel.
Seris placed a hand on his shoulder. "This isn't like anything we've faced before. Echo density in a Rift zone can mess with your memory, dull your senses, make you hallucinate."
"And the monsters?" Ryder asked.
"They'll be worse," Nyra replied flatly.
The group left Kareth's Hollow at dawn.
They traveled light—supply packs, weapons, and minimal gear. The path to Mirevault ran through fractured coastlines and ruined ley-farms overgrown with sea moss. Fog thickened as they approached the boundary.
Ryder felt the shift before he saw it.
The air grew heavy. The sound around him dulled. Even his breathing slowed.
Nyra stopped suddenly. "We're in range of the bleed. This is where the Rift's energy starts to leak."
Ahead, half-submerged ruins jutted from the ground like broken teeth. Old towers leaned at sharp angles, their windows shattered. In the distance, lightning crackled without thunder.
"Looks worse than the map," Kael muttered. "Feels like the ocean's watching us."
Seris unsheathed her blade. "Let's move. Quiet and fast."
They passed beneath a broken archway covered in glyphs. Ryder noticed one etched deeper than the rest—spiraled, sharp, and strangely familiar.
He paused.
The Leviathan's spiral.
"Tidebreaker's mark," Ryder whispered, touching the carved symbol.
The trident strapped to his back pulsed faintly.
Seris looked back. "Something wrong?"
"No," he replied. "Just... it reacted."
She narrowed her eyes. "Stay alert. This might not be a natural Rift."
They entered the outer district of Mirevault.
Water pooled in the streets. A constant drip echoed through the buildings. Despite the lack of wind, broken shutters creaked faintly.
"Where is everyone?" Kael whispered.
"They evacuated years ago," Nyra said. "After the Gate sealed. But something must've shifted inside it."
Suddenly, Nyra stopped. She raised her hand, motioning them to crouch.
Ryder ducked behind a stone rail.
"Movement," she said. "Eastern corridor. Three Echo signatures. Inconsistent—beasts, not humanoids."
Kael grinned and pulled his halberd free. "Time to warm up."
"Quietly," Seris snapped.
But it was too late.
A shriek rang out, followed by splashes and scraping claws.
Out of the fog came the beasts—twisted serpents the size of war dogs, with translucent flesh and jagged spines. Their eyes glowed faint green. They slithered in jagged, erratic movements.
"Echo-Spined Wyrms," Nyra said calmly, drawing twin echo daggers.
"Let me try something," Ryder said, stepping forward.
He swung Tidebreaker into both hands and pulled in the surrounding water. The trident's tips surged with pressure. He spun, releasing a compressed wave forward.
The pressure blast struck the first wyrm and launched it into a wall—where it shrieked, then dissolved into vapor.
Another lunged at Kael, who parried it with a quick slash of wind. Nyra stabbed her dagger through the third's core.
But it kept writhing.
"They regenerate," she warned. "You need to destroy the echo gland!"
Ryder focused. The second wyrm twisted toward him, fangs bared. He waited—then thrust Tidebreaker straight into its mouth. The weapon pulsed.
Boom.
The wyrm exploded in a blast of water and light.
Kael finished the last one with a vertical cleave. "Not bad for a first encounter."
"They were weak," Seris muttered. "Scouts. Something else stirred them up."
Nyra walked to one of the faded buildings and crouched. She touched the wet floor, then closed her eyes.
"Echo distortion here is unstable," she said quietly. "Whatever's leaking... it's under the city."
Ryder looked toward the stormy heart of Mirevault.
Underneath it all, something was breathing.
End of Chapter 8