The Shattered Sea churned beneath The Tidebreaker, its waves a restless gray that mirrored the sky's crimson-black eclipse. Echo clung to the railing, the ship's runes casting a faint blue glow across their tattered cloak. The hum from the water had grown louder, a deep thrum that vibrated through the deck, setting their teeth on edge. Raiven stood at the helm, his hand on Chrono Edge, its green pulse steady despite the tension in his jaw. "Keep sharp, crew!" he barked. "We're in deep now—the Driftmaiden's close."
Echo's gaze locked on the wreck ahead, its skeletal mast piercing the fog like a jagged tooth. The whisper roared in their skull—"Find the Lost Name"—a chorus now, voices overlapping in a desperate plea. The Driftmaiden's glow pulsed in time with the whisper, calling them closer, but the sea had other plans. The hum spiked into a shriek, and the waves erupted, spraying foam as a shape breached the surface—a void creature, smaller than the World Eater but no less deadly. Its body was a writhing mass of shadow, tendrils lashing like whips, with a single white eye glaring from its core.
"Abyssal Wraith!" Veyra shouted, her robes flaring as she raised a hand. A shield of light—Starfall Veil—shimmered around the ship, but the wraith's tendrils slammed against it, cracks spiderwebbing through the barrier. Zeyn's lyre faltered, his song breaking into a panicked strum. "I-I can't calm it!" he stammered, eyes wide.
Korran was already moving, his storm-crackling blade drawn, lightning arcing as he slashed a tendril. "Then fight, boy!" he growled, his first words a thunderclap. The tendril dissolved into mist, but more took its place, wrapping around the ship's bow. The Tidebreaker groaned, tilting dangerously as the wraith pulled.
Raiven's blade flashed, time slowing in a green ripple—Eternal Pause—giving Korran a second strike. "Spark, you just gonna stand there?" Raiven called, his grin strained. Echo's hands shook, but they stepped forward, instinct driving them. They had no weapon, no power—yet. But the whisper surged, and their vision blurred, a memory fragment surfacing: a hand, not theirs, wielding a blade of shadow. Void Dodge. The name came unbidden, and as a tendril lashed toward them, Echo moved—faster than thought, a blur of motion that left an afterimage. The tendril struck empty air.
Raiven laughed, sharp and wild. "That's the spirit! You're a spark, alright!" But the wraith's eye locked on Echo, its shriek piercing their mind. The whisper faltered, drowned by the creature's voice: "You are nothing." Echo stumbled, clutching their head, as the wraith's tendrils breached Veyra's shield, wrapping around their leg. Cold seeped into their bones, a void that mirrored the emptiness inside them.
Zeyn's song shifted, a desperate melody—Calm Echo—and the wraith's grip loosened, its eye dimming. Veyra reinforced her shield, and Korran's blade carved through the creature's core, lightning exploding in a burst of light. The wraith dissolved, its shriek fading into the sea's hum, but the damage was done. The ship's bow was cracked, and Echo's leg burned with a lingering chill.
Raiven knelt beside them, his eye serious. "You alright, Spark?" Echo nodded, though the wraith's words echoed in their mind. "What am I?" they whispered. Raiven's hand gripped their shoulder. "You're a fighter. That's enough for now." The Driftmaiden loomed closer, its glow brighter. Answers were near—but so was the sea's wrath.
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