[You have received an Echo, Vorrakis the Mawshade.]
As Maya deactivated her augmentation, dismissed the Oblivion Reaver into a shimmer of frost and as the Pearl of Breaking Tides returned to Cade's Abyssal Void, her legs gave out beneath her. She barely registered the sensation before crumpling to her knees. The weight of exhaustion pressed down on her like an iron shroud.
"Maya!"
Cade's voice cut through the haze, sharp with alarm.
In an instant, he was there, his arms steady as he caught her. He slid her left arm over his shoulder, his grip firm yet careful.
"Are you okay? Can you stand?"
But Maya wasn't listening to her worried companion. She couldn't. No, her mind was caught in the throes of something far greater than pain or fatigue.
An Echo… The Spell said an Echo... right?
Her breath hitched. It did. The loathsome Spell most definitely announced Maya getting an Echo.
Maya gulped, but even that inconspicuous motion sent a sharp pain through the corners of her body she didn't even know she could feel pain in.
Still, pain was only transient. But this? This was monumental.
Ever since she had been thrust into the Dream Realm on the night of the winter solstice, she had received nothing from her kills. No Memories. Not even one.
She had begun to think that she never would.
But now… now, she had an Echo. An actual Echo.
Her pulse thundered in her ears. She barely registered Cade's worry-laced words as she summoned her runes. The shimmering symbols flared to life before her, and her gaze snapped to the string that dictated her Echoes. Focusing on the one and only Echo there, she read:
Echo: [Vorrakis the Mawshade].
Echo Type: Terror.
Echo Cores: Awakened.
Echo Attributes: [Vengeful], [Bloodscale Aegis], [Void Maw], [Veil of Ashes' Mark].
A confused expression crossed Maya's exhausted features as she looked at the last Attribute. Veil of Ashes' Mark? What did that mean? Was it because she was the one who had killed it?
However, she quickly pushed the thought away. She'd have time to worry about the details later. She continued to look at the runes:
Echo Abilities: [Dirge of Ruin], [Sovereign Rule].
The Dirge of Ruin was most likely the negation-slash-mind attack ability of the abominable serpent. And Sovereign's Rule probably referred to the ability that allowed it to create minions.
However, Maya noticed that the runes representing the second ability were dull and lifeless. It seemed like the serpent would not be able to create minions now that it was an Echo.
Still, that hardly mattered. The serpent alone was quite terrifying and with its insidious ability added to the mix, it lived up to its reputation of a Terror.
Finally, Maya checked the description:
Echo Description: [The Mawshade was light before it was hunger, a whisper before it was teeth. Birthed in the umbra of a sundered star, it was cradled by a hero, fed on silence, fattened on secrets— until the dark came.
The hero faltered, and the Mawshade twisted. Its hum, once a lullaby, unraveled into a weapon. Its scales, once a veil, coiled into a prison. It was neither the first nor the last— merely the one that remained.
Beneath its endless spirals, beneath the hush of its breath, the hero's work lingers. Unseen. Unspoiled. Forgotten, but never gone.]
Maya's mood dimmed slightly at the eerie description, but she brushed it off.
What did it matter?
She had an Echo. And not just any Echo— an exceptionally powerful one.
I don't even remember anyone ever getting a Terror as an Echo… The thought sent a shiver of excitement through her. This has to be one of the rarest things to ever happen in this world!
But even that was irrelevant. All that mattered was that she had it. The abominable serpent was now hers— it had to obey her will.
Suddenly, every ache in her limbs, every tremor in her legs, every crack in her battered armor, every bit of pain in her side— all of it felt justified. A price paid for an unimaginable reward.
"MAYA!"
Cade's voice tore through the cavern, sharp as a blade.
Maya flinched but didn't have the strength to snap back. Her body sagged against him, too drained even for defiance. She grimaced, the mere act of tightening her features exhausting. With a shaky breath, she let her face relax, forcing out a few slurred words.
"Geez, man... chill out. Why're you yelling...?"
Her voice was barely a whisper, weak and fraying at the edges. She felt herself sinking further into Cade's support. The cavern spun as exhaustion swallowed the last remnants of her thrill.
Cade blinked at her, his expression torn between exasperation and disbelief. After a moment, a soft chuckle escaped him.
"You know… given the state you're in, I'm surprised you can even manage that much."
He tried to steady her, but her legs barely cooperated. Sighing, he leaned in, his voice quieter now.
"Can you walk? Or am I hauling you out?"
Maya's mind was fogged, each thought sluggish and incoherent. She barely registered his question, her body responding before her brain could. She nodded weakly.
Cade huffed a quiet laugh, more out of resignation than humor.
"Yeah, that's what I thought..."
Turning his back to her, he crouched slightly.
"Alright, hop on."
If Maya had been in her right mind, she would never have allowed herself to be carried— piggyback, no less. Pride and dignity were her armor, and no amount of pain could strip them away.
But right now? Right now, her battered body was barely upright, relying entirely on Cade's support. Pride felt distant, unimportant. All she wanted was to sprawl down somewhere and rest.
Without a word, she leaned forward, draping herself onto Cade's back, her arms loosely hanging around his shoulders. Her weight settled fully onto him, a silent surrender Maya would never allow herself under any other circumstance.
"Damn, you're heavier than you look," Cade teased lightly, adjusting her weight on his back.
Maya, too drained for a snarky comeback, lifted her arm with painstaking effort and held up a middle finger in front of his face, her hand limp but the gesture clear.
Cade snorted, amused. "Glad to see your sense of humor's still intact..."
With a tired smirk, Maya flipped the bird into a lazy thumbs up. Cade chuckled again, the sound light despite the weight of the moment, and started toward the cavern's entrance, leaving the monstrous serpent's corpse— and the long fought battle— behind them.
But almost immediately— he came to a sudden stop.
Maya noticed the abrupt halt, her chin resting on his shoulder as she forced her heavy eyelids open. Confused, she peered at his face and froze.
For a fleeting moment, she thought she saw primal horror flicker in Cade's eyes. But just as quickly, it was gone— swallowed by something heavier, something grim and resolute. Cade's Innate Ability didn't allow fear to take root; if it tried, it slipped through his grasp like sand.
Maya, however, had no such luxury.
Curiosity gnawed at her exhaustion, forcing her to follow his gaze. She turned her head, her neck scraping against the metal plates of Cade's armor.
And then— she saw it.
Terror gripped her, colder than ice, deeper than instinct. Unlike Cade, she could feel fear. And their current situation warranted it— it most definitely did.
Looking ahead, Maya saw that the horizon was burning with the last embers of daylight— the artificial sun of the Forgotten Shore was... nearly gone.
Worse still, storm clouds were forming over their heads, shrouding the starless sky of the Forgotten Shore in an eerie gloom.
The sunset was upon them already. A storm was coming. They were still some distance from their camp. They had no time— no time to get back to the Bone Ridge.
Too late. Maya had been too slow to slay the abominable serpent. The Mawshade had taken its revenge, even in death.
Maya's exhaustion was drowned by a feeling of intense loathing for the serpentine abomination, before being overwhelmed by a primal feeling of terror.
As soon as the sun vanished, the Dark Sea would return and a storm would descend. And in their current state, Cade and Maya had no hope of braving the black waters, certainly not with the crashing waves of a thunder storm added to the mix. And most definitely not with the horrors that lurked beneath.
Their deaths were close now. And the two soulless Dreamers knew it.
***
A pain in the ass, even in death, Maya thought bitterly as the first drops of rain caressed her dirt strewn face.
Still, Veil of Ashes was not done. No, not yet. She still had some fight left in her.
Taking a shuddering breath that burned in her chest, she reached into the bitter depths of her Winter, pulling forth its merciless chill as she recalled upon her augmentation.
Frost spiderwebbed across her body, and the few raindrops that had rolled down her skin froze in place. But despite the sharp sting of the spreading frostbite, strength surged back into her limbs. The biting cold invigorated her, dulling the pain that had worn her down moments ago.
"Put me down," she demanded, her voice sharper now, though it still trembled with effort.
Cade hesitated, narrowing his eyes. He could obviously feel it— the shift in her presence as she activated her icy augmentation. After a brief pause, he sighed and complied, gently lowering her to the ground before stepping back, giving her the space he knew she would demand.
"We just can't seem to catch a break, can we?" Cade forced out, his tone carrying the weight of exhaustion laced with grim humor. His hair danced in the wind as the winds started picking up the pace.
"I guess this is how Sunny must have felt," Maya muttered through gritted teeth, ignoring the burning ache in her muscles. "That [Fated] Attribute really is quite something..."
Cade let out a hoarse chuckle, but it died quickly as the first splash of black water licked at his armored boots. Rain started pouring down in thick sheets, biting into Maya's frostbitten skin like jagged shards of ice. The abominable Sea had also returned. Its dark tide was creeping steadily forward.
Cade was the type of companion you would wish for in moments like these— not because he was strong and resourceful, but because fear couldn't cling to him. His Innate Ability made sure of that.
Even when death loomed close, he stayed grounded. And now, even in the face of the rising black tide, it was clear— he already had an idea on how to proceed. Now, whether Cade's plan to escape the Sea was a good one? That much remained to be seen.
"The cavern," he said firmly. "It's our best shot, our only shot really. We have to dive deeper, and try to find refuge from the water."
Maya arched a brow. Then, she sighed.
Well, A for the effort, I guess...
She looked at Cade. Or at least, tried to. His form had already blurred into the creeping darkness. She spoke into the suffocating shadows.
"Waltzing into a dark, creepy hole without a clue what's inside? Doesn't sound like a great plan, Cade."
"Oh, yeah? Well, I never said I was good at plans," Cade snapped back, his frustration cracking through. "But we know what's waiting for us in the Dark Sea. Whatever's in that cavern can't be worse."
The black water was already at the level where it lapped at their knees, some seeping into the cavern's maw. Both of them were completely drenched in the plummeting rain. Maya clenched her jaw, weighing their choices.
"Maya! We need to decide now!" Cade urged, voice tight— not with fear, but with unyielding urgency.
Finally, Maya sighed.
"Well, good thing I've still got an ace up my frosty sleeve…" she muttered under her breath, backing away a few paces. Her battered armor carved gouges in the black waters.
Time to make yourself useful, you son of a bitch…
With that thought, she summoned her new Echo. Frost shimmered, swirling like spectral mist, but as it cleared, the loathsome, bloodborne serpent Maya was expecting... wasn't there.
In its place, something significantly different loomed.
_____________________________
This one's on the shorter side. Don't mind it!
We all know that the Spell doesn't do stuff on a whim. We've seen multiple times that almost every single Memory Sunny received (before the Third Nightmare, ofc) came in handy one way or another.
So, even though the Spell seemingly hates their guts, it still gave Maya an Echo. Why was that? The answer is pretty obvious now. Because they'd have drowned in the black waters of the Dark Sea otherwise...
Anyway, I don't got much to say today. Just hope you liked it! Until next time, people! :]