Far beneath the sea, where sunlight had never reached and even memory seemed to dissolve beneath crushing depths, something waited.
Not a creature.
Not a ruin.
A promise.
The ocean floor stretched for miles in silent darkness, broken only by forests of black coral that swayed without current. Towering stone pillars, carved before history had found words, rose from the seabed like the ribs of a forgotten god. They circled a vast chasm that descended beyond sight, its walls polished smooth by an age older than continents.
At its heart rested a crystal.
It was the size of a cathedral.
Deep crimson.
Not the bright scarlet of fresh blood, but the heavy, ancient red of iron soaked in centuries of sacrifice. Veins of black threaded through its surface like frozen lightning. Countless chains of pale silver wrapped around it, each one engraved with symbols that shifted whenever anyone dared look too closely.
The crystal breathed.
Not with air.
With light.
