Chapter Thirty-Two – The Voice Beneath the Water

The moment Liam's reflection morphed into Kael's, the room breathed. Water rippled like silk around his boots, glowing with starlight, then parted to reveal a stone path beneath the pool. A silent invitation.

Rajan hesitated. "We're really doing this, aren't we?"

"Too far in to back out now," Liam said, his voice tight.

They descended into a chamber darker than night. Yet it was not empty. Shapes of ink and light moved across the walls—memories perhaps, or shadows of something deeper.

A whisper echoed through the void:

"What burns without fire? What breaks without touch? What sings yet has no mouth? What ends where it begins?"

Liam repeated the riddle under his breath. It wasn't just a test. It was a warning.

"Time," he murmured.

A single lantern flared to life, its flame a strange shade of violet.

"Correct," said a new voice. Feminine. Ancient. Wounded.

From behind a veil of water, a figure stepped out. She was draped in cloth that shimmered like moonlight through tears. Her face was half-covered by a porcelain mask etched with sigils.

"I am the Voice Beneath the Water," she said. "I remember Kael before he was king. I knew the price of his crown before the world bled for it."

Liam stared. "Are you... alive?"

She smiled. "I am memory. I am guardian. I am question."

More lights bloomed—dozens of them—revealing a vault of ancient relics: blades that wept in silence, scrolls sealed with wax made from forgotten stars, and at the center, a sarcophagus wrapped in golden chains.

"This," the Voice whispered, "is where the first truth sleeps. But beware. Each answer unlocks another question. And each question... cuts deeper."

Rajan crossed his arms. "I miss regular libraries."

The Voice laughed.

And somewhere, Kael's name was spoken by something that wasn't quite human.

To be continued...