Cold was the first thing I felt.
Not the gentle cold of seawater brushing against skin… but a deep, ancient cold that seemed to seep straight into my bones.
I opened my eyes slowly.
Blue light surrounded me.
Soft currents drifted through the chamber like breathing spirits, illuminating walls carved from glowing pearl stone. Symbols pulsed faintly across them; ancient writings I somehow understood even though I had never learned them.
My chest rose sharply.
I was underwater, yet I could breathe again.
A strange calm filled me, but beneath it lived fear.
Fragments of memory crashed into my mind; the temple, the sacred throne, the voice calling me Sovereign.
And…Azarus, his eyes glowed when he saw me.
The way the entire ocean reacted to my presence.
My fingers trembled as I pushed myself upright.
