Chapter Ten
The Gate of Eyes
The lake wasn't calm anymore.
Waves rolled even though there was no wind. The clouds above churned in a spiral of blue and black, as if the sky itself were holding its breath.
Amelia and Kaia stood at the water's edge, fingers still linked. Marah hovered behind them, her staff lit at the tip, ready for anything.
"What do I do?" Amelia asked, her grip tightening.
Kaia's voice was steady. "You have to call the Echo Root. It's buried beneath the lake, tied to your bloodline. Only your voice can draw it up."
Marah's eyes went wide. "That's forbidden magic."
"It's the only way," Kaia replied. "The only way to awaken what Elvira sealed inside me."
Amelia nodded. She could feel it—something ancient in her bones. She stepped forward, closing her eyes, letting the pendant pulse against her chest like a second heart.
Then, she whispered:
"Rise.
I am the daughter of Elvira,
Bearer of the water's image.
I call the Echo Root."
For a long moment, nothing happened.
Then the lake split.
Right down the center.
Water peeled back like curtains of silk, revealing a glowing spiral staircase that descended into blackness. Roots of silver light twisted through the water, pulsing with a rhythm that felt... alive.
Kaia gasped. "That's it."
But as they stepped toward it, the water behind them surged—and a shadow rose from its depths.
A figure—tall, cloaked, with no face—emerged from the water's edge, dripping, silent, but vibrating with power.
"The lake doesn't like what you're doing," Marah said, staff raised. "That's a Guardian Wraith."
Amelia froze. "What does it want?"
Kaia's eyes didn't leave the Wraith. "To test you. The Echo Root only obeys those worthy of its truth."
The Wraith raised a hand, and the sky crackled with lightning. Then it charged.
Kaia pushed Amelia aside just in time, rolling across the shore as the Wraith's blow cracked the earth.
Marah stepped between them, striking with a flash of white light from her staff—but the Wraith barely flinched.
Amelia scrambled to her feet. "There has to be a way to stop it!"
Kaia stood, blood on her lip. "You can't stop it. You speak to it."
"What?"
"It's bound to the same bloodline. You carry its seal in your voice."
The Wraith turned toward her—eyes glowing with blue fire—and Amelia felt it.
A connection.
Some deep, ancient line between them, pulsing through the ground.
She stepped forward, pendant glowing so bright it nearly blinded them all.
And then she spoke:
"I am the mirror.
I am the gate.
I am not afraid."
The Wraith paused.
Trembled.
Then slowly, it knelt.
The clouds above cleared.
And the Echo Root pulsed brighter than ever before.
Kaia touched her heart. "You're ready."
Amelia stared down into the spiral.
Toward the Gate of Eyes.
And whispered, "Then let's go."
The spiral stairs shimmered like glass and pulsed beneath Amelia's feet with every step. She descended first, Kaia just behind her, and Marah taking the rear. The deeper they went, the dimmer the light above became, until the world was soaked in shadow and soft blue glow.
The water wasn't above them anymore—it was around them.
A dome of liquid light encased the spiral, like they were walking through the heart of the lake without ever getting wet. Creatures swam beyond the walls—massive shapes, glowing eyes, long tails—watching silently.
"Do they see us?" Amelia whispered.
Kaia's voice was quiet. "No. They see you. You're the first living Seer to come this far in over a century."
Amelia kept walking, even as the pressure built in her chest.
Finally, the staircase ended—opening into a vast circular chamber.
And at the center stood the Gate of Eyes.
It wasn't a door. It was a towering wall of smooth stone, with hundreds—thousands—of eyes carved into its surface. Some were closed. Others blinked slowly, their gaze following Amelia as she stepped forward.
She shivered. "They're alive."
"They're memories," Marah said. "Every one of them is someone who's looked into the lake and been seen in return."
Kaia pointed to a small platform beneath the gate. "Stand there."
Amelia did.
The pendant around her neck grew hot again, thrumming like a heartbeat.
Kaia placed both palms on the platform beside her. "Now... unlock me."
Amelia hesitated. "How?"
Kaia reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny glass shard—smooth, teardrop-shaped. "This is what your mother gave me. Her last memory. If you press it against the pendant, it should bind with your voice—and awaken what she sealed inside me."
Amelia took the shard with trembling fingers. The moment it touched the pendant, the chamber flashed.
All the eyes on the wall opened at once.
A windless roar filled the air.
And Kaia collapsed to her knees, clutching her head.
Amelia dropped beside her. "Kaia!"
Kaia's body trembled, her skin glowing faintly. "It's—inside—too much—"
Marah stepped forward. "She's absorbing Elvira's memory. You have to guide her through it, Amelia. She's not strong enough alone."
"How do I—"
"Speak her name."
Amelia took Kaia's hand.
And whispered: "Kaia. I'm here. I see you."
Kaia gasped, and her eyes snapped open—glowing like silver lightning.
And then, her voice—deeper now, layered—spoke, not as herself, but as someone else:
"Amelia, if you're hearing this...
It means you've come further than I ever dared.
It means you're ready."
Amelia's breath caught.
"Elvira," she whispered.
Kaia's body shimmered with Elvira's presence. "There is a world beneath this one. A place where reflections grow roots. I'm trapped there—chained by a deal I made to protect you. But the seal is breaking. And if I fall, the lake will come for you next."
The voice trembled now, urgent. "Find the Mirror Core. It's the heart of everything. The only thing that can rewrite the lake's will."
Then Kaia's body slumped forward.
Amelia caught her, heart racing.
The Gate of Eyes flashed once—and in the center of it, one eye blinked red.
And whispered in a voice like gravel:
"She is close.
And so is it."