The river Kael had pointed them toward flowed fast and clear, its surface dotted with floating crystals that glowed like tiny stars. Ren and Hana followed its banks, using fallen logs and flat stones to cross the deeper sections. The air here smelled of wet earth and clean water, but their star crystals still cast a steady blue glow, warning that corruption was not far off.
"Look at the plants," Hana said, stopping to examine a cluster of reeds that had begun to turn black at the tips. "The blight is spreading faster here than where we were yesterday."
Ren knelt beside her, running his hand over the ground. "The mud feels colder too. Whatever the Voidkeeper is doing, it's accelerating."
As they pressed on, the river narrowed and curved into a dark channel surrounded by tall trees whose roots twisted into the water. The light grew dim, and the humming of the marsh reeds fell silent. Their star crystals blazed bright, danger was close.
Suddenly, the water around them began to churn. Black tendrils shot up from below, thicker and stronger than the ones they'd faced before, wrapping around their ankles and pulling them toward the muddy depths.
"Hana!" Ren shouted, planting his staff in the ground to steady himself. He channeled her power into the wood, sending golden light down to burn through the tendrils on his legs.
Hana struggled against her own bindings, her focus crystal glowing warm against her skin. Instead of fighting the pull, she took a deep breath and let her light spread outward into the water. The golden glow rippled across the surface, and she could feel the corruption's presence, heavy and cold, concentrated in a large mass beneath them.
"It's not just scattered blight," she called out. "There's something big down there, something that's feeding the corruption!"
Ren understood immediately. He gripped his staff with both hands, and Hana placed her palm against his back, pouring all her power into him. Together, they sent a single, powerful beam of light straight into the water.
There was a loud roar that echoed through the channel, and a massive shape burst from the depths, once a great marsh serpent, now covered in jagged black scales with eyes like hollow coals. It coiled around a nearby tree, its body blocking their path.
Hana stepped forward, her golden light wrapping around her like armor. "I can feel it," she said quietly. "Under all that corruption… it's still alive. We don't have to destroy it."
Ren nodded, adjusting his grip on the staff. "Then we'll free it instead."
He ran forward, using the staff to deflect the serpent's strikes while Hana circled around to its side. She placed her hands on the creature's scales, letting her light seep slowly into the corruption. It hissed and thrashed, but she held on, focusing on the warmth of her crystal and the memory of all the lives they'd saved so far.
Slowly, the black scales began to crack and fall away, revealing smooth green skin beneath. The serpent's eyes softened from black to deep amber, and it let out a gentle rumble before sliding back into the water. It circled them once, then disappeared downstream, leaving behind a trail of glowing crystals in its wake.
As the water cleared and the reeds began to hum again, a small wooden boat drifted to the shore, carved with the same symbols as the Water Folk's shelter. Inside were fresh supplies: dried fruit, water skins, and a note written in wet mud that dried as they read it: "The serpent will guide you safely the rest of the way. May your light shine bright."
"They must have been watching us," Hana said, picking up one of the water skins. "Even when we couldn't see them."
Ren helped her into the boat, then pushed off into the river. The current carried them smoothly forward, and in the distance, they could see the marshes beginning to thin, giving way to a vast plain of golden grass that stretched toward a mountain range unlike any they'd seen. At its center, a single peak rose high into the sky, glowing with a faint white light.
"The Heart of Aetheria," Ren breathed.
Hana gripped the focus crystal at her neck, her resolve firm. "We're almost there. Whatever waits for us up there, we'll face it together."
The boat glided onward, carried by the river and guided by the serpent that occasionally surfaced ahead, its green body glowing softly in the water, a silent guardian leading them toward their final destination.