Mara couldn’t tear her gaze from the ancient figure. His presence alone was a weight, pressing down like the deepest parts of the Exposed Shallows. Not merely his towering height or the fierce glint in his eyes, but a vast, untamed force emanated from him. It felt like standing on a newly-risen seabed, stripped bare before an unending gale of crystalline grit. A primordial power, impossible to oppose.
Her jaw felt locked. A tremble started deep in her bones, threatening to unravel her carefully constructed composure. The old man asked again, his voice like grinding tectonic plates.
“Tongue stuck, little burrow-worm? If you won’t name yourself, I’ll turn you into a salt-baked husk.”
“Mara.” The word was a strained whisper, tasting of dust.
“Mara? Soft, like the shores before the Retreat.” He scoffed, a dry, rattling sound. Her fingers clenched, nails digging into her palms. But she offered no retort. Hasty words might invoke a wrath more crushing than any Brine-Crawler.
He leaned closer, his shadow falling over her like a cliff face. “So! Foolish child! How did you enter this Sunken Maw? You shouldn’t have passed through the rupture I made.”
“Stutter again and I’ll have you dissolved.”
“Underground tunnel,” Mara managed, her voice steadier now, though still tight. “Working Deep Vein 972. Wall collapsed, portal opened. Pulled me in.”
“Heheh! The deep currents still flow, then.” Kael nodded slowly, a predatory glint in his eyes. “Occasionally, deep brine-wells, raw essence points, will overflow. To release the pressure, the currents create a new fissure, a temporary gateway. It lures in the unwary, the scavengers, while releasing the excess.”
He laughed again, a harsh, dry sound. “Kehehe! Unfortunate, your luck. Most don’t find these until they’re already consumed.”
The relentless misfortune haunted her, a taste like rust on her tongue. It was a familiar companion. Yet, a spark of defiance flickered. “Who are you? Where are we?”
“This place,” Kael said, his voice dropping, “will be my hunting ground. From now until the salt reclaims it all.”
“My hunting ground.” Mara felt a chill deeper than the coldest briny wind. It wasn’t empty boasting. His fierce gaze and the storm-like madness clinging to him spoke only truth.
Then, the ground shuddered. Colossal Brine-Crawlers erupted from fissures in the hardened salt flats, chitinous limbs clattering. They were larger than any she’d seen, their segmented bodies rippling with hungry, primal energy. Acidic spittle dripped from their mandibles, scorching the ground.
Kael chuckled, an almost gleeful sound. As his words faded, a gnarled staff, thick as an ancient tree trunk and crusted with shimmering salt crystals, levitated from where it was embedded. It soared into his hand. “The Tide-Render,” he murmured, grasping the staff.
A burst of raw briny light erupted from its tip, a pulse that resonated through the very earth. The Sunken Maw vibrated, a low, unsettling hum that scratched at Mara’s nerves. Her heart hammered, not from excitement, but a deep, primal unease. The staff’s cry agitated the Brine-Crawlers, sending them into a frenzy.
And not only the Crawlers. From the distant, skeletal forests of petrified coral, from the deep chasms where the old ocean once lay, more creatures emerged. Gulls, their wings leathery and scaled, darkened the sky. Massive Desiccation Beasts, larger than any Brine-Crawler, charged toward Kael. The Tide-Render’s resonance had roused every monster within the Sunken Maw.
Mara watched, jaw slack. This was a nightmare given form.
What followed was pure, unbridled madness. Kael, The Tide-Render held before him like a battering ram, dashed toward the horde. The massive bodies of the Brine-Crawlers were torn asunder. Their tough, resilient shells offered no resistance, splitting like dry parchment. Other beasts, forms Mara had never witnessed, were ruthlessly cut down.
Kael was a hurricane of salt and fury. Swept away by his massive storm, the monsters were sent flying. The corrosive brine surging from the newly opened fissures, the abrasive dust filling the air—all were caught in the maelstrom called Kael. His movements were a blur, a series of impossible strikes and parries.
This was power beyond any reckoning. No intricate abilities, no clever weaves of briny energy. Just the inherent strength of a single figure and his immense staff, slaughtering the monsters with brutal efficiency.
Before long, Kael stood amidst a rising mound of shattered monster carcasses. His maniacal laughter echoed across the ravaged flats. Swinging The Tide-Render, now gleaming with splatters of ichor and crusted salt, he appeared less human than a force of nature given form. Mara was overwhelmed by Kael’s fury. She couldn’t move, couldn’t even draw a deep breath. A rhinoceros-like beast, its hide like petrified rock, was the last to fall. No monster remained standing.
He had decimated the horde alone. Yet, Kael showed no signs of fatigue. Mara swallowed, her throat dry and raw.
Then, a roar erupted from the deepest, most shadowed chasm of the Sunken Maw. At the sound, Mara’s mind went blank. Struggling to grasp her senses, she saw a colossal monster heaving itself from the depths. Its bulk, a mountainous mass of hardened brine and barnacled plates, defied description. It was a leviathan from a forgotten age, a creature of legends. Its very presence made the salt flats tremble.
Kael smiled, a terrifying, ecstatic grin. “You’re finally here. Abyssal Heart-Thrasher!”
Its body, wrapped in scales of dark, petrified salt from maw to tail, stretched for thirty meters. Fins, broad and thick, extended even longer when fully unfurled. *That’s not a beast of the Shallows,* Mara thought, her whole body trembling. She’d never seen anything like it. A faint, corrosive aura shimmered around its bulk, contrasting sharply with its emergence from the placid, shimmering salt. Such creatures, she knew, possessed unique traits, akin to the most ancient, powerful beings.
Kael, tightening his grip on The Tide-Render, spoke. “That bastard is the heart of this Maw.”
Even facing the colossal beast, Kael showed no hint of intimidation. Instead, he seemed delighted, his smile widening into a manic grin. Mara couldn’t fathom his demeanor. Did high-ranking weavers become so utterly detached? Or did only mad individuals ascend to such power?
The Abyssal Heart-Thrasher unfurled its fins, propelling itself into the air with a deafening crack. It moved toward Kael at terrifying speed. Even before it arrived, a sharp, briny wind swept through the air.
Bending his knees slightly, Kael looked at Mara. “Survive on your own.”
In that instant, Kael launched himself off the ground. It was shocking enough for a person to fly, but a sonic boom rent the air. Kael broke through the sound barrier, instantly appearing before the Abyssal Heart-Thrasher. The collision between the colossal monster and the diminutive human reverberated through the air. The aftermath shook the Sunken Maw to its core. The previously calm brine-tides surged like a tidal wave, spewing corrosive spray in all directions. The deepest chasms belched forth more intense, dark mists.
The monster corpses Kael had slain began to dissolve into the brine, their protective auras vanishing upon death. Surging brine-tides rushed toward Mara. She scrambled, moving with desperate speed, but the briny onslaught followed relentlessly. Continuing on this path, she’d dissolve into the corrosive flow just like the other monsters. Amidst this chaos, Kael and the Abyssal Heart-Thrasher battled fiercely in the air. The deflected attacks of the Heart-Thrasher, redirected by Kael, landed dangerously close.
A deafening crash erupted nearby. Brine splashed, scalding. Mara had to bear the brunt of it. She darted frantically, her mind a whirlwind of panicked calculations. The brine’s unpredictable surges, the urgency of the situation—she couldn’t even think of her usual, measured weaves. To survive, she needed distance from the epicenter of Kael’s battle.
Mara leaped across a widening fissure, sprinting across hardened mineral outcroppings. Suddenly, the platform beneath her crumbled, revealing churning, corrosive brine below. If she fell, it was the end. Instinctively, Mara pulled at the residual briny energies around her. Just as she had evaded the Brine-Crawler in Deep Vein 972, she crystallized a platform of raw salt beneath her feet. She pushed more energy, creating another, then another, a desperate stairwell across the void. Her inner reserves drained quickly, but she managed to land on solid ground, a low, rocky ridge, just before her strength gave out entirely.
She crumpled to her knees, gasping for breath. Her heart felt like it might burst from her chest. A metallic taste, like old blood and rust, filled her lungs. It was the aftermath of expanding everything, every reserve, in a single, desperate moment. The entire Sunken Maw vibrated violently.
Looking toward the battle’s origin, Mara saw Kael and the Abyssal Heart-Thrasher reaching their peak. Amidst Kael’s manic exhilaration, an enormous force gathered within The Tide-Render. To Mara’s eyes, the staff seemed to swell, for a moment, doubling in size. Kael hurled The Tide-Render toward the Abyssal Heart-Thrasher. The staff flew like a meteor of solidified light, piercing straight through the beast’s massive chest. A pitiful shriek ripped through the air as the Abyssal Heart-Thrasher plummeted. The colossal monster, over thirty meters long, crashed onto the flats with an impact that shook the horizon. Devoid of strength, its body sprawled, already beginning to flake into dust.
Kael descended upon the motionless Heart-Thrasher. Though the beast still gasped, its breaths labored, its ancient eyes looked up at Kael. Kael glanced down. “I scoured the Endless Shallows for a year to find you. To imbue The Tide-Render with your heart… so, dissolve gracefully.”
Kael lifted The Tide-Render high into the air and plunged it deep into the Abyssal Heart-Thrasher’s chest. The agony of the staff piercing its core caused the monster to convulse, but its last struggles were feeble, fading quickly. The Tide-Render, embedded in the beast’s heart, glowed a vibrant, pulsing blue, filled with an enormous amount of primal briny energy. The staff absorbed the Heart-Thrasher’s essence, heating intensely, almost as if it might melt away.
At the peak of its radiance, The Tide-Render suddenly underwent a transformation. Kael expressed satisfaction at its metamorphosis. The staff, now reassembled, grew larger, its crystalline structure sharper, more intricate. Its hue shifted from gnarled grey to a deep, shimmering azure, pulsing with captured power.
The Sunken Maw’s existence hinged on its core, the Abyssal Heart-Thrasher. Without it, the Maw couldn’t maintain its form. As Kael pulled his transformed staff free, a shimmering, crystalline portal appeared before the beast’s rapidly dissolving remains. It was the exit from this place.
Just before stepping into the portal, Kael turned to look at Mara. “Aren’t you leaving? You fool!”