Kaine gripped Thalia's shoulders, his large hands gentle despite the desperation evident in his posture."Are you alright?Can you hear me?"
"She's disoriented," Roran said, stepping back to make room but refusing to retreat entirely."She hasn't been making sense since she woke up.Just fragments.Phrases about 'three becoming one,’ whatever that means.'"
Kaine straightened, his jaw tightening as he turned to face Roran.There was something in his expression beyond the expected concern for Thalia—a grimness, a weight of knowledge that sent a chill down Roran's spine.
"Ashe and Luna found me when I was already on my way here," Kaine said, his voice pitched low."I have news.News that can't wait, even for this."He gestured to Thalia, who had settled back against her pillows, her eyes half-closed but still flickering with that strange blue light.The magical manifestations had receded further—the ice melting away, the vines withdrawing to small curls at the foot of the bed, the electricity now just a faint shimmer around her fingertips.
"What news?"Luna asked, moving closer, her attention divided between Thalia and Kaine.
Kaine drew a deep breath, his gaze sweeping the room before settling back on Roran."The coastal scouts—or what passes for coastal these days, with the black waters pushing further inland every day—they've seen something.Something rising from the depths, far out at sea.Within the black waters themselves."
A cold dread pooled in Roran's stomach, his throat suddenly dry."A Deep One?"
"The largest yet," Kaine confirmed, his voice dropping further until they all had to lean in to hear him."The size of a mountain, they said.Moving slowly but steadily toward the shore.Toward Frostforge."
"Gods," Ashe breathed, her warrior's composure momentarily cracking."How long?"
"Days.Maybe less."Kaine's hands clenched at his sides."It's gathering the black waters before it like a wave, building momentum.When it reaches us—"
"The price, willingly paid," Thalia's voice cut through the conversation, suddenly strong and clear.They all turned to find her sitting upright, her eyes now fully that electric blue that spoke of storm magic flowing through her veins."The seal.It… it will hold.Only if….”
For a moment, she trailed off, her brow furrowing with frustration like she was struggling with words that wouldn’t come.
Then, at last, she breathed, “Only if the sacrifice is freely chosen."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Words fell from Thalia's lips like water through cupped hands, impossible to contain fully as she tried to explain what she'd witnessed in the darkness beyond consciousness.The day that had passed since her waking had taken its toll.The visions that had been so vivid, so real—the ancient smiths singing metal into new forms, the root-singers weaving golden currents through earth and plant, the Founders joining hands in sacrifice—now scattered like mist before dawn's light whenever she reached for them.
Her head throbbed with the effort, each attempted explanation leaving her more drained than the last, as though the knowledge itself was somehow too heavy for her newly awakened mind to carry.
"They used their voices," she said, frustrated by how inadequate the words felt compared to what she had experienced."The smiths.They didn't just hammer the metal into shape.They sang to it, and it listened."
Kaine leaned forward in his chair beside her bed, his brow furrowed with concentration.The shadows beneath his eyes spoke of sleepless nights, though whether spent rebuilding Frostforge's walls or watching over her, Thalia couldn't be certain.Luna stood on the other side, her small form unnaturally still, all her usual fidgeting replaced by intense focus.
"And the ice," Thalia continued, her voice growing fainter with each word."It wasn't forced into the metal.It was...invited.They found the places where the currents already flowed and guided the ice along those same paths."
"Like your current-sensing," Luna murmured, her dark eyes gleaming with understanding.
Thalia nodded, the simple movement sending a wave of dizziness through her.She closed her eyes against it, willing the room to stop spinning.When she opened them again, Kaine was watching her with barely concealed concern.
"Maybe we should continue this later," he suggested, his tone gentle but firm."You've only been awake for a day.There's time—"
"Is there?"Thalia cut him off, more sharply than she intended.The effort cost her; she had to pause, draw a shallow breath that somehow never quite filled her lungs."The Deep Tide is coming.If I don't remember now, when?"
A throat cleared from the foot of her bed, startling all three of them.The head healer stood there, a tall woman with salt-streaked hair pulled back in a severe bun.Her weathered face bore the pinched expression of someone carrying too many burdens with too few resources.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said, her Northern accent clipping the edges of her words, "but I need to discuss discharge arrangements."
Kaine straightened in his chair."Discharge?She just woke up yesterday.After a magical coma."
The healer's mouth tightened."I'm well aware of her condition, Mr.Ember.But I have wounded fighters still arriving from coastal outposts, and the scouts report the Deep Tide advancing.We need every bed."She turned her attention to Thalia, her expression softening slightly."I wouldn't suggest this if I thought it would endanger you, child.But your vital signs are stable, and your mother can monitor you for any changes."
Luna frowned."Has Wolfe authorized this?"
"Instructor Wolfe has authorized all non-critical patients to be discharged," the healer confirmed, her tone making it clear the decision wasn't open to debate."The War Council needs space to prepare for what's coming."
Thalia felt a flutter of panic, not at the thought of leaving the infirmary but at the confirmation that the Deep Tide's advance was accelerating.She'd seen what awaited them—shadows that unmade reality, tendrils that could tear through stone as though it were parchment.And somewhere within that darkness, a massive entity that dwarfed all the others, moving with deliberate intent toward Frostforge.
