Chapter 7 - The Battle of the Dark Nave
Through the shattered rose window of the Sunken Cathedral, the massive silver moon had begun to change. The shadow of the earth was creeping across its surface, staining the pure white light into a deep, ominous, bloody red. The celestial eclipse had begun, and with it, the pressure in the cathedral intensified, vibrating with a dark, heavy frequency.
Vespera screamed, a terrifying shriek of a hundred stolen souls, and lunged forward. Her massive black tentacles whipped through the water like iron pillars, slamming into the stone columns of the nave.
"Run, Lyra!" Aria screamed, swimming upward as a heavy chunk of volcanic rock collapsed where they had been standing a second ago.
Without her voice to command the ocean currents, Lyra had to rely on her raw agility. She darted through the water, her stiff, grey tail forcing her to exert twice the energy just to move. She dodged a massive tentacle that scraped against her shoulder, shattering several of her remaining silver scales. The dark slime from Vespera's skin contaminated the water, making Lyra’s eyes burn and her lungs ache for fresh tide.
Aria swam toward the high altar, drawing a small coral dagger from her belt, determined to smash the obsidian shell containing Lyra's voice. But Vespera was too fast. A long, purple-suckered tentacle wrapped around Aria's waist, pinning her arms to her sides and lifting her high into the air.
"Stupid little fish," Vespera laughed, tightening her grip until Aria let out a choked cry of pain. "You think you can shatter the stone of the abyss?"
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Lyra saw her sister gasping for air, her blue tail thrashing weakly. A sudden, violent surge of adrenaline washed over her, pushing back the cold paralysis of the grey rot. She looked at the high altar, then at the heavy, ancient iron bell that hung from a broken wooden beam directly above the altar. The chain that held the bell was rusted, eaten away by centuries of saltwater.
She didn't have a weapon, but she had her body. Lyra swam straight up into the dark belfry, coiled her tail with every ounce of strength she had left, and launched herself like a silver arrow directly at the rusted chain.
