Gaia

Chapter 14 The Well of Revealations

Shay and Shiloh left the dining hall behind, the warmth and chatter of the Paladin Knights fading into the quiet corridors of the castle. Morning light spilled through high windows, but it did little to warm the ancient stone.

“We should head back to our rooms,” Shay said softly, tracing the edges of the torch brackets. “It’s a long walk, but at least familiar.”

Shiloh’s eyes darted to a shadowed corner ahead. There, half-hidden behind a broken column, was a narrow spiral staircase curling upward.

“Woah… we didn’t see that before,” he breathed.

Shay’s stomach tightened. “We shouldn’t be here,” she whispered, a cold dread creeping up her spine.

He grinned. “Come on. Let’s see where it leads.”

Shay hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Alright… but carefully.”

He bounded up the steps, Shay following close behind. Each step vibrated faintly beneath their boots, subtle, like the corridor itself was alive.

At the top, the staircase opened into a long corridor. The walls were lined with ancient tapestries, faded to muted blues, deep reds, and golds dulled by time. Figures twisted in their threads, moving slightly as if breathing.

One tapestry drew Shay in: a face partially obscured by hanging crimson rags and splashes of blood. Only the eyes and a sliver of pale skin were visible. Shay reached out instinctively, fingertips brushing the weave. A shiver ran through her.

Shiloh cleared his throat. “Uh… Shay?”

She jerked her hand back. “We shouldn’t be here.”

They turned to go back—but the staircase behind them had vanished. Smooth, unbroken stone filled the space where it had been.

Shiloh swallowed, voice tight. “I guess we have no choice but to keep going.”

Shay nodded hesitantly, and they moved forward. The corridor ended at a heavy, ancient door. As they approached, it swayed open on its own, groaning on hidden hinges as if inviting them in.

Inside, a vast chamber of ancient stone stretched into shadow. Two towering pillars framed the center, standing as silent sentinels to a well that lay beyond. The air felt thick, expectant, humming with something older than the castle itself.

The pillars flared with faint blue light, ancient symbols crawling down them vertically. The humming deepened in Shay’s chest, resonating with a pulse she felt in her bones.

Shiloh stepped closer, eyes wide. “It’s… alive.”

Shay shook her head. “I think it's reacting to us.”

She leaned over the still water. It reflected not her face, but visions of Gaia—massive, terrifying, and overwhelming. Flames of shadow and crimson swept across the water, showing cities broken, armies shattered, skies bleeding red.

Shay saw herself standing, facing Gaia with a power she did not understand—raw, potent, and terrifying. And then she noticed Gaia’s eyes: black as void, unblinking, and fixed directly on her. Each word Gaia spoke seemed to pierce through the water, through the chamber, and into Shay herself:

“Do you think you can defy me, little one? Your power is fleeting. Your will is nothing against mine. The Crimson Queen cannot shield you from me forever. I will have my way, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Shiloh appeared on a thin, broken thread of destiny, struggling to balance. Gaia emerged behind him, her presence like a shadowed storm, and with a cruel motion, the thread snapped. Her laugh rolled through the chamber like an earthquake, shaking the very stone.

Shay screamed, reaching for him, but her hands could not grasp him in time. He tumbled away, lost in the darkness, the thread breaking beneath him.

A surge of energy erupted from Shay—wild, raw, and untested. It coiled through her like lightning, responding to her fear, her rage, her desperate will to protect Shiloh. Shadows twisted around her fingers, flames of blue and crimson dancing in the air. The water in the Well of Revelations rippled violently, as if acknowledging the power rising from her.

Gaia’s black eyes bored into Shay, unyielding. “I know your weakness, little one. Bend to my will, or I will destroy him!”

Shay’s chest heaved, the raw force within her pulsing, answering the challenge, she wanted to tear herself through the visions, to grasp Shiloh and pull him back—but even as the power stirred, the darkness held him fast.

Nyxaea stepped from the shadows, cutting through the oppressive hum of the chamber. “Enough,” she said firmly.

The pillars dimmed slightly, the roaring of Gaia fading into a distant echo and the visions disappearing in the well. Nyxaea’s gaze swept the water. “This place holds the Well of Revelations that reflects the threads of destiny. Not just yours, but all who touch it. It shows what was and what could be, I didnt know how long it would take for you both to find it. Many never do, or never survive the revelations, some go mad and others try to avoid their destiny.”

Shay and Shiloh turned toward her, still trembling, the visions of Gaia lingering in their minds. Nyxaea stepped closer, her voice careful, reverent: “It can tempt, terrify, and twist you. You must not let it claim more than your eyes have seen. There are threads yet unmade… paths you may still choose.”

Shay swallowed, her voice trembling. “Nyxaea… what are we supposed to do about Gaia?”

Nyxaea’s eyes softened for only a moment, the faintest shadow of sorrow passing over her features. “Shay… you cannot confront her directly—not yet, Gaia is older than your understanding, stronger than your courage, and she knows every thread that binds you. Even so…”

She stepped closer, her voice lowering to a whisper that trembled with authority. “There are threads that she cannot yet touch. Powers within you, little one, that awaken only when the moment demands them. You must learn to see and feel the strands of fate, to follow them, and to weave your own paths beyond her reach. Your power… it is not only the fire of defiance, but the shadow that can move unseen, strike unseen, and endure.”

Shiloh looked at her, confusion and fear mirrored in his eyes. He stood as still as a statue, hugging her side and hanging on every word Nyxaea spoke. Shay squeezed him and held him tight to her side.

“Do not underestimate what you carry,” Nyxaea continued, her hands brushing the faint glow of the well. “It will call to you when you need it most. But beware—every choice has its price. The threads you touch may unravel others, and not all who fall are given the chance to rise again.”

Shay's hand gripped the well, she looked into it once more, still water reflexting back “So… we have to wait? hide? Do nothing until my power comes, just let her continue to kill people, to grow stronger?”

Nyxaea’s gaze pierced her, unyielding. “You will act, yes—but wisely. To meet Gaia in head-on fury before you are ready is to invite ruin. She will test you, break you, tempt you… and she will strike where you are weakest. But there are ways to move through the storm without becoming part of it. You will need to travel with Damian to find the help and training you will need to stand before Gaia again, and trust that the threads you do not yet see or feel may be the ones that save you—and him.”

The Well of Revelations pulsed softly, the hum fading to a low, mournful resonance beneath Shay's fingers. Shay felt the weight of Nyxaea’s words settle in her chest like iron—and beneath it, a spark of something new, fierce, and insistent.

Shay drew a deep breath, her eyes lingering on the water’s surface one last time, seeing Gaia’s black eyes ripple in the reflections of shadow and crimson. She did not understand what Nyxaea meant entirely, but she knew the road ahead would be darker than she had ever imagined—and that she would have to find and unleash a power that was foreign to her.

Nyxaea stepped aside, gesturing toward a faint outline of a door in the shadows of the chamber. “There is another way forward. Through this door, Damian waits. He will escort you back to your rooms. Go. Regain your strength. Learn what you must. The Well has shown enough for one day, and its visions are not to be taken lightly.”

Shay squeezed Shiloh’s hand, drawing in a shaky breath, and together they stepped toward the door, toward Damian, and away from the well… leaving the chamber and its revelations behind.