Chapter 5: The Gravewater Swamps
The path out of Edge City was a jagged scar through the landscape, marked by floating lanterns that didn't seem to need fire. The cracked sky above leaked pale light, as though the sun had been shattered into pieces, each shard bleeding its glow into the air. Noah followed Lyra closely, his coin clutched tight in his hand.
"Rule one," Lyra said without looking back, "don't lose the coin. If you do, you're done."
"Done as in…?"
"As in 'you'll be screaming while something eats your face.'"
"Cool. Motivating. I'll staple it to my hand," Noah muttered.
"Rule two: if you hear someone calling your name, don't answer. It's not a friend."
"Why would something yell my name?"
"Because it wants you to trust it," Lyra said, stepping over a crooked root. "And trust is how you die here."
"Fantastic. I'm already paranoid, thanks." Noah glanced at the shifting horizon. The landscape outside Edge City was like walking through someone else's nightmare. Pieces of land floated at odd angles, as though gravity wasn't a suggestion anyone respected here. Some of the chunks of ground carried dead trees with roots dangling in the air like broken wires.
After a few hours of walking (or what felt like hours, because time here seemed to bend and twist), they reached the edge of the swamp. The air turned thick and sour. The smell of stagnant water and rust filled Noah's nose.
The swamp itself was a black mirror, a stretch of water broken by clusters of gnarled trees that rose like skeletal hands. Every ripple felt deliberate, like the water itself was watching them.
Noah grimaced. "This place smells like something died in a jar of pickles."
"That's almost accurate," Lyra said, unfazed. "Watch your step. The water's alive."
"Excuse me? The what is what?!"
As they waded into the shallows, Noah noticed glowing threads tangled around the roots, pulsing faintly like veins. He avoided stepping on them, convinced they'd try to grab him.
They made their way deeper, and every sound—every ripple, every creak of a branch—made Noah's nerves stretch thin. His sneakers squelched with every step.
"So… about this 'breach' thing," Noah said, mostly to keep his brain from exploding with fear. "What is it exactly?"
Lyra glanced over her shoulder. "A tear. A hole in the Veil. The more it grows, the more bad things crawl through. The Gravewater Swamp is basically a magnet for that kind of rot."
"Great. I love that you call it rot. Very inviting."
Then they heard it.
A low, bubbling hiss, like boiling tar. The water around them rippled.
"Incoming," Lyra said, pulling a shard-like blade from the inside of her coat—where had she been hiding that?!
"Incoming what?! What's incoming?!" Noah squeaked.
The answer rose from the water.
It was a wraith—but unlike anything Noah had ever seen in horror movies. It looked like a humanoid shape made of black slime and shattered glass, its face a featureless mask with two burning white holes where eyes should be. It tilted its head unnaturally, like a broken puppet.
"Stay behind me," Lyra ordered.
The wraith screeched and lunged.
Lyra reacted instantly. Her blade flared with blue fire as she slashed, cutting into the wraith's chest. Tar splattered, burning with sizzling sparks where her blade had cut it. The creature staggered but didn't fall.
Noah stumbled back, gripping the coin like his life depended on it—which, judging by the way this thing moved, it probably did.
"Coin, Vale!" Lyra shouted. "Use it!"
"How?!"
"Think power! Push!"
The wraith turned toward him, dripping sludge from its claws. Noah panicked, holding the coin out like a shield.
And then it happened.
A burst of silver light erupted from the rune. It was like lightning—but silent, an explosion of raw energy that hit the wraith dead-on. The creature howled, its body breaking apart into shards that dissolved into smoke.
Noah stood frozen, chest heaving. "Did I just… kill that thing?"
"You didn't kill it," Lyra said, inspecting her blade. "You burned its anchor. It won't be back." She glanced at him with the faintest grin. "Not bad for your first time."
Noah wiped sweat from his forehead. "Yeah, sure. Totally not traumatized or anything."