Rain lashed Wave Knight as dawn crept over the horizon, casting a gray light that seeped into the cracks of the ship's weathered wood. Aruna stood on the deck, her hands gripping the slick railing, staring at the sea that now lay calm, as if last night's storm had never raged. But in her mind, the image of the vault's green glow and the Sea Dragon's yellow eyes spun like a relentless tide. She knew she had to return to Coral Bay, yet a gnawing unease twisted in her gut, something deeper than fear of the creature below.
"You look like someone ready to dive into hell for a scrap of metal," Kasim said, appearing beside her with a tin mug of sea-coffee, a bitter brew made from dried kelp.
His gray beard glistened with rain, and his sharp eyes studied Aruna with a mix of concern and pride.
"Not metal, Kasim," Aruna replied, her voice low but firm.
"You heard Dren. Dawnland. If it's real, we could change everything. No more leaking floating islands, no more children starving." Kasim snorted, but he didn't argue.
He knew Aruna wasn't one for empty dreams. In this world, dreams were a luxury, and Aruna always had a reason for every move.
"Alright, kid. But you're not diving alone again. I'll rig a safety line and load the harpoon cannon. If that Sea Dragon shows up, we'll skewer it till it regrets being born." Aruna gave a faint smile, but it faded as she glanced at Dren, leaning against the mast at the far end of the deck.
The former pirate was sharpening a knife with slow, deliberate strokes, his black eyes fixed on the sea as if he could see something no one else could. There was something about Dren that kept Aruna on edge, not just his past, but his silence. Quiet men often hid secrets.
"You trust him?" Aruna asked, her voice nearly lost in the wind's howl.
Kasim followed her gaze.
"Dren? He saved my life three years ago when pirates hit our island. But trust him completely?" He shook his head.
"At sea, you only trust yourself and your ship." Before Aruna could respond, Mira emerged from the cabin stairs, her black braided hair soaked and clinging to her shoulders.
The young navigator carried the sharkskin map that had led them to Coral Bay. Her eyes gleamed with a spark Aruna recognized: a blend of curiosity and obsession.
"I studied the map last night," Mira said, unrolling the skin on a crate, pinning it against the wind.
"The red mark in Coral Bay isn't the only one. There's another symbol, here." Her finger tapped a small circle with a diagonal slash in the map's corner, identical to the vault's etching.
"This isn't just a relic map, Aruna. It's… a trail. A route."
"A route to where?" Kasim asked, his brow furrowing.
Mira met Aruna's gaze, her smile secretive.
"To Dawnland." The words hung like thunder waiting to strike.
Aruna felt her blood surge. The map, the vault, the Sea Dragon, they were connected. But before she could press further, a shout from the crow's nest shattered the morning.
"Ship on the horizon! Black sails!" The deck erupted into chaos.
Kasim sprinted to the helm, barking orders to raise the sails. Mira rolled up the map with swift precision, while Dren, without a word, vanished below deck, returning with a long harpoon, its tip glinting. Aruna grabbed the spyglass from her belt and scrambled up the rigging to the crow's nest, her heart pounding.
In the distance, a ship approached at alarming speed, its sails black as a starless night. It wasn't a merchant vessel or a relic diver's rig. Black sails meant one thing: pirates. But something was off. The ship was too sleek, too fast, its hull gleaming like it was coated in metal, a rarity in a sea ruled by wood and rust.
"Pirates?" Aruna asked Tiro, the young lookout, whose face was pale as he clung to the mast.
"Not regular pirates," Tiro muttered, his hands trembling on his own spyglass.
"Look at the emblem on the sail." Aruna squinted.
In the center of the black sail, a symbol stood out: a circle with a diagonal slash. Her heart skipped. The same symbol as the vault. The same as the map.
"They know," she whispered, more to herself.
"They know about the vault." She slid down the rigging, her boots thudding on the deck.
"Kasim! Turn the ship! We need to lose them!"
"But we can fight!" Tiro protested, now beside her, clutching an old bow.
"Not against a ship like that," Dren cut in, emerging from the shadows, his harpoon resting on his shoulder.
"That's no ordinary pirate. That's a Shadow Hunter." Dren's words sliced through the air like a blade.
Shadow Hunters were a legend among sailors, a secretive group of relic chasers who didn't work for gold or power, but for something darker. They were said to hunt specific relics, ones that could reshape or ruin the world. No one knew who they were, but black-sailed ships left only tales of blood and ruin.
"How do they know we're here?" Mira asked, her voice taut but not panicked.
"We only found the vault last night." Aruna's eyes flicked to Dren, her unease flaring.
"You know something, don't you?" Dren didn't answer immediately.
He stared at the sea, his face a mask.
"We don't have time for questions. They'll ram us in ten minutes if we don't move." Kasim, already at the helm, growled.
"Back to Coral Bay or away? Decide now, Aruna!" Aruna felt the world narrow.
Fleeing meant safety, but also abandoning the vault, and perhaps the secret of Dawnland. Returning to Coral Bay meant facing the Sea Dragon again, and now, Shadow Hunters. But she wasn't a relic diver who backed down from a challenge. She wouldn't let others claim what she'd found.
"To Coral Bay," she said, her voice cutting through doubt.
"We get the vault before they do." The crew sprang into action.
The main sail rose, catching the storm's wind, propelling Wave Knight across the waves. Aruna darted to her cabin, donning her diving suit with practiced speed. She checked her oxygen tank, plasma cutter, and the small harpoon she now carried as backup. In the back of her mind, she knew this was no longer just about the vault. It was about something bigger, something that drew Shadow Hunters across the sea.
Back on deck, the black-sailed ship was closer, now just a few hundred meters behind. Aruna could make out figures on its deck, cloaked in dark robes that billowed in the wind. One, standing at the bow, held something glinting, a weapon, but not a harpoon or bow. Its light was strange, like lightning trapped in metal.
"They're going to fire!" Tiro shouted from the crow's nest.
Before Aruna could react, a blinding beam shot from the black ship. Not a bullet, not an arrow, but a ray that scorched the air, striking Wave Knight's mast. The wood splintered with a crack like thunder, small flames licking its base. The crew shouted, scrambling for water to douse the fire. Aruna froze, her eyes locked on the weapon. Technology like that should've vanished, buried in the old world's ruins.
"Aruna, dive now!" Kasim yelled, wrestling the helm to keep the ship steady.
"We'll hold them off!" She had no time to argue.
Aruna ran to the ship's edge, checking the safety line now tied to her waist. She glanced at Dren, who stood by the harpoon cannon, his face expressionless.
"If you know something, Dren, say it now." Dren met her gaze, and for the first time, something flickered in his eyes, regret, or perhaps fear.
"Get the vault, Aruna. But don't open it. Not here." Before she could demand more, another beam struck the deck, shattering a nearby crate.
Aruna didn't wait. With a deep breath, she leapt into the sea, the cold water swallowing her whole.Below the surface, the world went silent. The sounds of beams and shouts vanished, replaced by the familiar hum of the sea. Aruna ignited her helmet's lantern, its beam illuminating Coral Bay's ruins, now more ominous than before. She swam swiftly to the seafloor, guided by memory of the vault's location. The safety line at her waist felt heavy but reassuring, Kasim would pull her back if things went wrong.
The seafloor appeared, its sand and coral still disturbed from her last dive. The vault remained, half-buried, a faint green glow seeping from its seams. Aruna approached, her pulse racing. She scanned for signs of the Sea Dragon. Nothing. Only darkness and silence.She set to work, her plasma cutter flaring, slicing through the final hinge. Each second felt like an hour, her mind split between the vault and the battle above. What was that weapon? Why did the Shadow Hunters want the vau2lt? And what was Dren hiding? The last hinge gave way. The vault opened slowly, green light flooding out, brighter than before. Inside, it wasn't chips or machinery as Aruna expected, but a small metal tablet, etched with swirling circles and slashes, like a galaxy. At its center, a green crystal pulsed like a heart. Aruna's chest tightened. This wasn't an ordinary relic. It was… alive.Suddenly, the water surged. Aruna spun, her lantern catching a glint of scales in the dark. The Sea Dragon. Its yellow eyes blazed, its body coiling closer, but it didn't attack. It stopped, its head tilting, studying the crystal in her hand. Then, with a bone-rattling roar, it let out a sound like a warning.
Aruna didn't wait. She clutched the tablet, securing it to her belt, and kicked upward, the safety line taut as Kasim began reeling her in. But as she glanced down, her blood ran cold. Not just the Sea Dragon. Other shadows, smaller, faster, divers in strange suits, swimming toward the vault. Shadow Hunters.
Above, Wave Knight was still fighting, smoke rising from the deck. Aruna broke the surface, Kasim's hands hauling her aboard.
"You got it?" he asked, his voice hoarse.She nodded, showing the tablet.
But before she could explain, Dren appeared beside her, his eyes fixed on the crystal.
"You shouldn't have taken it," he said, his voice cold.
"What do you mean?" Aruna demanded, but her words were cut off by another explosion.
The black ship was now dangerously close, its beams scorching the water around Wave Knight. And in the distance, something emerged from the sea, not a ship, not a creature, but a massive metal structure, floating like an artificial island, bearing the circle-and-slash symbol on its side.
Aruna glared at Dren, anger burning in her chest.
"You know what this is, don't you? Tell me now, or..." Dren cut her off, his voice sharp.
"It's not a relic, Aruna. It's a key. And you just opened a door that should've stayed locked." The sea roared, the metal structure began to move, and on the deck, the tablet pulsed faster, as if calling something from the deep.
Aruna felt the world shift, not from the waves, but from a truth unraveling: this adventure had just become far bigger, and far more dangerous, than she'd ever imagined.