Nox and Lyra moved through the towering fronds in a rather awkward silence. He was already thinking about the royal hunt, the boon, the statue, and the possibility of an alliance. The possibilities were immense.
It was then that they heard a loud noise. Not the skittering of sea monsters, but the clash of weapons and guttural shouts.
Lyra immediately held up a hand, signaling for silence. She gestured, and they moved swiftly and quietly through the dense kelp toward the noise.
They came to a small clearing on the ocean floor. The scene was brutal and bloody. A patrol of Sea People, clad in the pearlescent armor of the Aqualarian guard, lay broken and scattered. Their blood clouded the water. Standing over them was a group of a dozen Sea Devotees.
These were not the common fanatics they had faced before. Their coral armor was darker, thicker, and covered in sharp, jagged spikes. Their eyes glowed with a hotter, more intense red. And their leader…
