Chapter 230: The River Guardian

Zahliver’s POV

I did not look over at Fern when I spoke. My gaze stayed firmly fixed ahead, my eyes narrowed against the strange, unnatural glow of this foreign realm. The grand temple loomed in the near distance, standing like a dark silhouette of raw power and old secrets. Reaching it would not be an easy task. Alstha was down, sure, but it was foolish to think that Fate had not layered her defenses. She always planned for the worst-case scenario.

So did I.

"He is going to be my little pebble," I muttered with a wicked curl of my lips.

Fern blinked in surprise, clearly thrown off by the comment. "What?"

It did not matter.

"Where is Lexero?" I asked, finally turning my head to glance back over the battlefield a shifting chaos of steel and blood, with bodies colliding in brutal dances. Warriors from both sides fell in droves, and with every single death, a heavy thrum of raw power pulsed straight through my veins. The ancient magic tethered to this world responded to death just like dry kindling responding to a sudden flame.

"Just look for the oversized cat that is still playing with its terrified prey," Fern drawled, completely disinterested, casually lifting the barrel of his black gun and pointing across the field.

My eyes followed his direction, and there he was.

"Damn it, Lexero! Finish the bastard and move your damn ass!" I barked across the open space.

Lexero did not even bother to glance my way. He simply raised a blood-slicked thumb in silent acknowledgment, then launched himself forward, sinking his sharp teeth deep into the throat of an enemy soldier twice his size. The heavy body crumpled instantly to the dirt, and Lexero stood tall, his face painted entirely in crimson red. He wiped his mouth casually with his forearm, smearing thick gore across his cheek, his golden-black eyes glittering wildly with surging adrenaline.

"Such killjoys," he crooned playfully. Then, seeing my dark look, he raised both hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I am good. All done here."

I did not waste time responding to him. I turned back around and started walking toward the ancient temple.

The other men fell neatly into step behind me without a single question.

Albericus, I reached out through the mental link, secure the field completely. Let me know the exact moment anything feels off.

On it, he answered immediately without any hesitation.

The sky above us was nothing like anything found back on Earth. It bled wild colors across itself deep blues melting smoothly into purples, and rich reds streaked with bright gold and vibrant green. The strange stars were always wide awake here, shining alongside both the blazing sun and the pale moon at the same time. On my right side, the sun blazed fiercely in warm shades of amber. To my left, the moon hovered silently, acting like a ghostly eye glowing in a field of darker hues.

And straight ahead of us stood the temple.

It looked as though time itself had built it ancient in its massive shape, yet edged with something unnervingly modern. Heavy magic clung to its dark stones. RIVERS, floating clouds, and shifting forests all framed our narrow path, and any single one of them could easily become a deadly trap. This entire magical realm could bend easily under someone else’s fierce will, which meant we had to stay completely alert every second.

After a short hike through the mist, I stopped dead in my tracks at the edge of a wide riverbed. The water shimmered like polished liquid glass, flowing gently over a quiet path of flat, grey stones.

An easy crossing.

Far too easy.

"Hold," I said sharply, halting both Fern and Lexero in their tracks. They did not seem to feel the dangerous tension humming thickly in the air, and I could easily see it in their faces they thought the river was completely harmless. Quiet. Peaceful.

Their survival instincts were dead wrong.

"This river is much more than it looks," I warned softly, my eyes scanning its deceptive surface. "It was not placed here by pure accident."

Fern tilted his head, looking thoroughly confused. Lexero sniffed the air, squinting hard at the calm flow of water. They looked at each other, then back at me in disbelief.

"There is nothing in there "

"What are you talking about "

"Quiet," I snapped, raising a single hand to silence them.

That precise moment was when I felt a sudden movement right at my side. I had almost completely forgotten that I was still holding the young soldier my little bargaining chip who was squirming frantically like a freshly caught fish. He looked up at me, his eyes wide with stark panic.

I smiled down at him, my expression sharp and cruel.

"Hello, little Pebble," I whispered.

And just like that, he started thrashing wildly again.

Without a moment of hesitation, I hurled the kid forward with everything I had. His terrified scream tore through the air as his body flew directly over the center of the river. For a single heartbeat, he hung suspended mid-air caught safely in that comforting illusion of security.

Then the water violently stirred.

From the glassy surface of that too-calm river, something broke free a hideous creature no sane mortal mind could have ever conjured. It exploded upward in a wet, grotesque lurch. Towering in size. Slathered completely in thick, purplish slime. Its skin was so thin and translucent it might as well have been see-through, revealing tangled internal guts and rotting tissue beneath. Two warped, skeletal fins stretched wide from its sides, revealing dozens of blinking eyes staring in every possible direction. No symmetry. No logic. Just pure nightmare fuel.

Where its proper face should have been, there were only two gaping, empty sockets. But when it slowly opened its wide mouth...

Its foul tongue slithered out made entirely of decaying human hands. They were fused tightly together at the wrists, the dead fingers twitching rhythmically, the nails painted black, and some still wearing old metallic rings.

The damn thing giggled aloud. Just like a little girl.

And then it devoured the boy whole in a single massive gulp.

Gone.

Not a single ripple remained on the water’s surface. Not even a tiny splash to mark his passing.

"Goodbye, Pebble," I muttered dryly.

Beside me, Fern suddenly bent over and threw up hard onto the dirt. Lexero’s upper lip curled back with open, burning revulsion.

"This is precisely why I always tell my young pups to stick to meat that walks safely on solid land," Lexero said, his voice deep and gruff.

Fern was still heaving, wiping his mouth with a shaking hand. "Goddess above... I am going to be sick. Shit, I am actually sick. What the hell was that unholy thing?"

"You really do not want to know the answer," I muttered darkly, scanning the dark tree line ahead. My senses prickled sharply. Something else was off more than just the nightmare thing hiding in the water.

"Yeah... you are probably right about that," Fern rasped, wiping his mouth clean. Both he and Lexero were now completely tense, their hands twitching closer to their weapons, their broad shoulders angled like predators ready to spring at any second.

I narrowed my eyes down to dark slits.

There.

Far ahead in the distance, a hunched figure emerged slowly from behind a thick tree trunk. He did not run or try to sneak around he walked. Leisurely. As if we were not standing here freshly traumatized by a river monster. As if the foul creature he had just sicked on us was nothing more than a simple parlor trick.

My survival instincts screamed even louder the closer he came. Lexero and Fern crouched down low to the ground, their fierce eyes flicking to me in a silent, questioning look. I did not answer them with words. I did not have to.

"I always told them you would never fall for old Berna’s simple trap," a raspy voice echoed through the trees. "Your survival instincts were always far too sharp, Zalvius. And you never really liked animals of any kind, did you?"

His voice sounded entirely calm. Almost sickeningly fond. It made me want to rip his throat out with my bare hands.