The sea bled.
Belarion stood at the prow of the spell-carved ship Ash Whisperer, his gaze fixed on the horizon where crimson waves churned against a blackened shore. Harkened Vale, once a peaceful coastal dominion blessed by moon-kissed tides, was now aflame with cursed waters.
System notifications had become erratic since his return from the Court. Unspoken laws bent subtly around him, reality twisting in acknowledgment of his untouchable state. Even Kaelira kept her distance now—not from fear, but from reverence.
"Belarion," she called softly from behind, "we're entering the Vale's corrupted waters. Are you certain we don't need the glyph-barriers?"
"No," he replied. "They'll react to the divine residue in me. If we ward the ship, we'll draw the Tide's full wrath."
And so the crew obeyed, though their faces were pale, their hands trembling. The Ash Whisperer sailed forward, unguarded.
The Tide That Should Not Be
Before the Vale was swallowed by madness, it had been famed for its Oceanic Lotus—a flower that bloomed once a decade and revealed a fragment of memory from the sea's depths. Scholars, mystics, and royalty had gathered to witness the bloom.
Then came the Crimson Tide.
Not a flood of water, but of memory, rage, and war—an echo of a conflict erased from history, rising again through blood-tainted sea. The ocean began to whisper, then scream. Ships vanished, minds broke, and the Lotus never bloomed again.
The System responded with a quest.
System Quest: [Tide of Forgotten Blood]
Objective: Uncover the source of the Crimson Tide.
Bonus Objective: Cleanse the Vale without invoking the Lotus God.
Time Limit: 14 Days (Local-World Time).
Reward: [Tiered Ascension Flame] + [Oceanic Memory Core].
Failure: Harkened Vale becomes a permanent cursed zone. Tier-5 corruption will spread to adjacent domains.
Belarion accepted it without hesitation. He needed what lay beneath the waves—rumors spoke of a buried reliquary once owned by the Flame-Tongue King, a figure tied to the early origins of his own system.
But more than that, the Vale's corruption felt familiar. Too familiar.
The Vale's First Mouth
As night fell, the ship anchored near what remained of a village: bleached ruins half-submerged in reddish seafoam. Bone lanterns flickered atop jagged poles—offerings to an unknown god.
Kaelira, cautious but loyal, stepped beside him. "These are deep-rite markings. Abyssal script, layered over flame-sigils. Someone's trying to contain a breach."
"They failed."
With a wave of his hand, Belarion summoned a tendril of his Soulflame. The moment it touched the red water, the sea recoiled.
Then it spoke.
A voice bubbled up from the depths, ancient and echoing:
"YOU CARRY THE MARK OF THE SEVENTH. YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE."
"I go where I will," Belarion said.
"THE BLOOD WAR NEVER ENDED. YOU BRING ITS ECHO."
A pillar of red burst from the sea, coalescing into a monstrous figure—half-drowned king, half-mad priest, wielding a trident of bone and weeping seawater.
Kaelira raised her staff, but Belarion gestured for silence.
"Let it speak."
"THE VALE REMEMBERS WHAT THE GODS ERASED."
"THE FLAME-BORN WHO BURNED THE TIDE'S HEART."
Belarion narrowed his eyes. "Who?"
"YOUR PREVIOUS SELF."
The revelation struck him like thunder. For the first time, the System flickered without control.
System Notification:
Hidden Memory Fragment Detected: [Primordial Flame-Walker Identity]
Status: Locked – Requires confrontation of self-echo.
The Tide-Mouth lunged.
Echoes of the Flame-Walker
The battle shook the sea.
Belarion countered the creature's bone-trident with threads of Reality-Weft, shaped into spears of cascading flame. Each strike forced ancient memories to surface—visions of wars waged across oceans, of armies consumed in fire, of gods kneeling.
Kaelira fought beside him, holding the fragmented leyline steady, weaving spells of binding through the fractured tide.
With a final incantation, Belarion struck the Tide-Mouth down. It exploded into a storm of blood and vapor, revealing beneath it an ancient altar—one that pulsed in time with his own heartbeat.
Carved into it were words in forgotten flame-script:
"The One Who Burned the Sea Shall Return to Burn the Sky."
Beneath the altar, a sealed gate. The System chimed.
New Quest Phase Unlocked: [Descent into the Valeheart]
Objective: Enter the sunken reliquary of the Flame-Tongue King.
Kaelira's voice was tight with worry. "Belarion… that prophecy—what does it mean?"
He touched the altar.
"It means the past isn't finished with me yet."
Next: Chapter 13 – Valeheart and the Flame That Betrayed Heaven