Page 139 of The Ascended
The amphitheater rose before us, its tiered seating surrounding a central stage area. Blood clouded the water near the entrance, turning the crystal-clear sea into a murky red. At least three bodies floated amongthe ruins.
"It didn't look like this last time," Kyren whispered. "What happened?"
"Everyone coming for the same limited resource," Marx guessed.
We entered cautiously, Thatcher leading with Marx and her beast close behind. I brought up the rear with Kyren, watching for any sign of ambush from behind. The interior was eerily quiet, no music, no sound at all except the subtle current moving through the massive space.
"Where are the keys?" I asked, scanning the tiered seating and central stage area. "I don't see any."
"They've got to be here somewhere," Thatcher insisted. "Spread out, but stay within sight of each other."
We searched methodically, checking alcoves and hidden spaces throughout the structure. Nothing. No sign of the echo keys, no singing crystals, no conch-shaped objects.
"We're too late," Marx finally said. "They're gone."
"We have to keep looking," Thatcher argued.
A sudden scream cut through the water. We spun toward the source—one of the upper tiers where we hadn't yet searched. A contestant thrashed wildly, blood pouring from wounds that appeared out of nowhere. Invisible blades seemed to slice through his body from every direction until he finally went still, his lifeless form drifting slowly downward.
"What the hell was that?" Kyren breathed.
"An echo," Marx said slowly, her eyes narrowing. "Look—there!"
She pointed to a shimmer in the water, barely visible.
"The keys are hiding," I realized. "Camouflaged."
"That explains why they're so hard to find," Thatcher said. "And why that contestant died—he must have stumbled into one without realizing what it was. The sound must have defensive properties."
"Which means we need to approach carefully," Marx concluded.
"Kyren, you said they emit painful sounds when you get close," I said. "Can you hear anything now? Like what you heard earlier? We don’t know what it’s supposed to sound like."
He concentrated, closing his eyes. "Yes... very faint, but it's there. This way."
We followed him toward another tier, moving slowly and carefully. As we approached, a high-pitched whine began to build, starting just at the edge of hearing but quickly becoming painfully loud. Kyren winced, pressing his hands to his ears.
"It's close," he gasped.
I moved forward, focusing on the shimmering distortion ahead. The sound intensified until it felt like my skull might crack, blood trickling from my ears and dissolving into the water around me. But I pressed on.
Within the sound, I could hear things. The clash of steel on steel, thousands of blades meeting in battle. Horses screaming. The wet sound of spears finding flesh. The roar of fire consuming buildings. Mass prayers turning to mass screams. Marching feet, endless marching feet. And beneath it all, a broken voice: "One deal made in darkness... ten thousand graves..."
My fingers brushed against something solid. The echo key suddenly materialized—a conch-shaped crystal that pulsed with inner light. The sound changed into a thousand voices screaming directly into my brain.
Fighting through the pain, I managed to get the key into its container and seal it tight. Immediately, the sound cut off, leaving blessed silence in its wake.
"One down," I gasped, wiping blood from my ears.
Thatcher went next, following Kyren's directions to another hidden key. He struggled more than I had, the pain visibly affecting him as he reached for the invisible crystal. When he finally secured it, his face was pale.
"Last one," Marx said grimly, already tracking the third key's location.
She had only taken a few strokes when a massive shadow passed overhead. We looked up to see another contestant swimming above us, accompanied by a beast twice the size of Marx's leviathan. Beforeany of us could react, the creature dove, jaws wide and teeth gleaming.
Marx's beast intercepted it, the two manifestations colliding in an explosion of red and violet. The impact sent shock waves through the water, knocking us back against the amphitheater's stone seats.
"Go!" Marx shouted, tossing me her last container. "Get my last key!" And then she moved to direct her Leviathan.
