Tariq’s mocking laugh froze with the flicker of the dull purple light at the tip of Darius’s wand. “My master trained me not to surrender my mind to a stray dog like you,” snarled Tariq. Without moving his wand an inch, Darius looked deep into the man’s eyes. “Then let’s test your master’s training.” “Legilimens!” Darius’s mind crashed into Tariq’s mind like a battering ram. The man’s eyes rolled back, and he began to shake violently in the chair. Tariq’s mind shields (Occlumency) were strong; like a bloody wall built of black bricks. But Darius knew no politeness or rules. He struck his mental battering ram against the wall over and over again. The wall cracked, shattered, and visions flooded into Darius’s mind like a torrent. Dark waters... Millennial amphorae... Further down below the dungeons of Bodrum Castle. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology. A hidden, submerged temple level right below the exhibited Glass Shipwreck... Men in black robes, submerging and drowning mortals in the water. The water boils, tainted with dark magic... When Darius broke the connection and took a step back, he was panting. Tariq, meanwhile, slumped forward unconsciously in the chair; a thin trickle of blood was leaking from his nose. “The Third Port,” said Darius, wiping the sweat from the back of his neck and turning to his team. “Bodrum Castle. A submerged hidden level of the Museum of Underwater Archaeology. Nazir has sent a squad there to sacrifice mortals and poison the water.” Alaz dropped his tools on the table and swore. “Underwater? Guys, standard combat spells work differently underwater. Fire spells (Incendio, Confringo) lose their power, and shockwaves (Expulso) create pressure that crushes you too. You’d burst your own lungs with your own magic.” “Then we change the rules,” said Meltem, sliding new shock discs into her sheaths. “Lidya, can you control shadows underwater?” Lidya’s eyes shone with a dark eagerness. “Dark and deep waters are the most loyal friends of shadows. I can turn it into a squid trap for them.” “We’re going,” said Darius. “Alaz, monitor the Ministry frequency. Prepare an escape point to get us out of there.” At midnight, the waves crashing against the walls of Bodrum Castle were fierce. The CORE team had infiltrated through the castle’s back corridors closed to tourists, descending to the lowest floor of the Museum of Underwater Archaeology, to the massive hall hosting the “Uluburun Shipwreck” exhibit. The surroundings were pitch black. The millennial amphorae behind the glass display cases looked eerie in the faint light radiating from the team’s wands. Darius walked to the thick glass floor right in the middle of the hall. Touching the glass with the tip of his wand, he saw the dark water beneath the glass glowing with a crimson color. “Here,” whispered Darius. “The Third Port is right below us.” Kuzey took his long wand off his shoulder. “How do we get down?” Darius aimed his wand at the glass floor. “First, we will breathe. Caput Bullae!” (Bubble-Head Charm) Around the heads of all four formed an elastic, transparent bubble that would provide them with oxygen underwater. Darius turned his wand back to the floor. “Evanesco!” The thick glass floor suddenly vanished. The pitch-black, ice-cold saltwater below pulled them in like a massive whirlpool. The CORE team found themselves inside an ancient, submerged Leleg temple supported by massive columns. Gravity had decreased, movements had become heavy. They could breathe thanks to the bubbles on their heads, but the dark magic aura in the water burned their skin. Below, around the glowing Third Port stone in the center of the temple, were Nazir’s four silver masked wizards. Next to them were about ten mortals on the verge of drowning, with heavy stones tied around their necks... The masked men were extracting the last air and life energy escaping from the mortals’ lungs with their wands, transferring it to the Port stone. The water was being poisoned with blood and dark magic. Meltem, taking advantage of that lightness in the water, darted forward like a dolphin. The water’s resistance hadn’t slowed her down; on the contrary, it had added a flawless fluidity to her movements. One of the masked men noticed the danger coming from above and aimed his wand. “Depulso!” The banishing spell detonating in the water created a massive pressure wave. Seconds before the wave hit her, Meltem pressed her feet against an ancient column and pushed herself downwards with incredible speed. As the pressure wave passed over her, she threw her custom made underwater shock discs. When the discs reached their target in the water, the electricity was instantly conducted thanks to the liquid. Two masked wizards, jolted by blue lightning, went stiff and slowly sank to the bottom. The other two masked men turned their wands directly on the team this time. However, defying the water’s resistance, Kuzey was using his 1.5-meter wand like a harpoon. “Relashio!” Kuzey murmured silently. The jets of boiling water shooting from the tip of his wand deflected the deadly curses emerging from the masked men’s wands halfway. When the boiling water hit the enemies’ faces, the men began to thrash in pain. At that moment, Lidya had blended into the mossy shadows at the bottom of the water. “Tenebris Illusio: Atramentum!” (Ink Shadow) The pure darkness seeping from Lidya’s fingertips dyed all the water pitch black, like a squid’s defense mechanism. The masked men were completely blinded. Panicking, they began to indiscriminately hurl underwater bombs around themselves. In this blind darkness, Darius saw his target clearly: the mortals on the verge of drowning and the Port stone beginning to be tainted. Darius rapidly swung his wand, cleaving the water. “Glacius Maxima!” The freezing wave traveling through the water instantly turned the water around the masked wizards into a solid block of ice. The two masked men were trapped inside the ice along with their own screams. Without pausing, Darius aimed his wand at the chains around the mortals’ necks. “Diffindo!” The chains snapped. Meltem and Kuzey quickly grabbed the dying mortals and began pushing them towards the surface, to the glass shipwreck hall. But the submerged temple suddenly shook violently. When Darius turned his head to the Port stone, he saw a hairline crack appearing in the middle of the stone. The blood and death energy mixed into the water had reached a sufficient level. Darius raised his wand to seal the crack, but a wave of black, sticky energy bursting from inside the stone hit him in the chest, hurling him against the temple wall. The bubble on his head cracked from the impact, and saltwater began to leak inside. From inside the crack, Nazir’s voice echoed hollowly in the depths of the water: “You are late, Widdershins. Blood has been spilled. The seal is broken. The Third Port is opened.” Darius, ignoring the water filling his lungs, turned his wand toward the stone and yelled with all his will: “Fianto Duri!” (Strengthen the Shield) The magical barrier he wove around the stone had halted the further spread of dark energy for now, but the stone had already awakened. Meltem quickly swam to Darius’s side and repaired his cracking bubble by touching it with her wand. With her eyes, she asked, “Are you okay?” Darius nodded. When all four of them surfaced along with the mortals they had saved, the museum floor was soaking wet. But they did not feel as though they had won a victory. Because Tariq was right. Nazir had already stolen the energy of the Third Port while they were busy dealing with the masked men. Gripping his wand, Kuzey looked at the dark waters. “Six Ports left. Nazir is getting stronger with every step.” Darius began walking toward the museum’s exit, indifferent to the water pouring from his robes. There was now only a hunter’s specific hatred in his eyes. “As long as we stay on the defensive, we will always be one step behind. We will no longer try to protect the Ports. We are going on the hunt. Call Efsun. Tell her to find Nazir’s lair.” 34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUSwOMaDUR
1234 copyright protection30ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwySNrEU3n 尼

216.73.216.48