The dark ocean waters illuminated with bursts of luminous yellow and fiery orange, as if a thousand stars had exploded beneath the surface. The magical energy danced and swirled, creating a mesmerizing yet ferocious display that threatened the lives of everyone aboard the submarine.

The crew scrambled to secure themselves as the vessel rocked back and forth, helpless against the powerful forces at play. Derek barked orders over the intercom, his voice almost inaudible over the deafening roar of the countless depth charges assaulting them. The lights flickered, casting eerie shadows that danced across the strained faces of the resistance members.

Sarah and Lila clung to each other, their hearts pounding in their chests as they were hurled by the blasts all around them. The force of the explosions was so strong that it felt like invisible hands were grabbing hold of them, pulling them in every direction. Lila’s hair whipped around her face, the strands sticking to her sweat-drenched skin. Her mother’s eyes widened in terror, a scream caught in her throat as they were tossed like rag dolls in a storm.

“Mom? What’s happening?” Lila asked, her half-sleepy eyes trying to find a way back to the world of the living.

“They found us!” Fiadh replied, storming back into the room to help them. “Tabitha’s thralls are launching an all-powerful attack right above us. We’re picking up at least one hundred signals that appeared out of nowhere.

“But how? I thought we were supposed to be safe down here!” Sarah growled.

“And we were. They must have intercepted the Orvium’s signal somehow,” Fiadh replied. “It shouldn’t have been possible but…”

“Or you have a spy among you that was waiting for the right opportunity to make themselves useful!” Sarah helped her daughter stand up.

“I don’t buy that for a second. Everyone here is loyal to the cause. They would never do anything in service to that wench.”

“What can we do to help?” Lila muttered. Despite feeling weak from the intrusive exam, she still wanted to fight.

“Nothing,” Fiadh said, her eyes sparkling with raging fury. “This is a fucking mess but our defenses are holding for now. Right now, our priority is to get you to safety. Follow me.”

Fiadh led the two women through a narrow corridor, the metal walls vibrating with each deafening explosion. The emergency lights cast a dim red glow over their faces, highlighting the fear etched in their expressions.

They stumbled as the submarine lurched without warning, throwing them off balance. Fiadh caught Lila just in time, steadying her before pushing forward towards the far end of the corridor.

As they ran, the sound of metal tearing and twisting echoed behind them, a chilling reminder of the destruction unfolding outside their fragile sanctuary. The attacks were relentless, unyielding, as if the enemy was determined to obliterate them all without mercy.

“What’s the plan here?” Sarah asked, unwilling to be kept in the dark while the world devolved into pure chaos.

“We need to get you two inside the Vault!” Fiadh veered to the right, past and descended a flight of stairs that had materialized just for them. Despite the brutal attack, the vessel’s core was still intact and all the magic that ran through it.

“What is the Vault?” Lila asked.

“Our version of a panic room. It’s also an escape pod in case things get out of hand.”

“I thought they already were,” Sarah sniggered.

“There’s still hope.”

After a lot of running, they reached a reinforced chamber at the bow of the submarine, where Fiadh executed a series of complex magic signs to unlock it. With a loud hiss, the heavy door to the Vault swung open, revealing an ovoid room with gray walls lined up with phosphorescent magic wards, a dozen chairs laid in a circle, and a holographic control panel in the center. Fiadh ushered them in and said,

“You’ll be secure here, but if the submarine splits open, hit the control panel. That dot at the center channels the core’s energy and ejects the Vault. In the meantime, we’ll do all that we can to maintain integrity for the teleporting sequence.”

“Teleport? You’re transporting this entire vessel across the aether? That’s insane!” Sarah exclaimed.

“It’s the only way. Now that they discovered our location, they’ll keep tracking us no matter how deep we go. We need to render them blind and we can only do that if we jump around.”

“Won’t that fry the core? Can the ship take it?”

“We’ve done it before so I’m hoping we can do it again. It will drain a lot of power, though.”

“Then let us help!” Lila ground her teeth. “I don’t want to be cooped up here while everyone else is struggling!”

“I can’t let you do that,” Fiadh leaned against the door frame. “Not  after what we found out. Stay here, Lila. You’ll have your chance to fight again, but not today.”

“Wait, what did you find out? What’s wrong with me?”

“Your mother can fill you in. I need to go now. Derek will need my magic for the sequence.”

“Then, I’m going too,” Sarah declared.

“No. You need to protect her.”

“The more magic you have available, the faster we’ll get out of here. This is how I’m protecting her and there’s nothing you can say or do to stop me,” Sarah sat her daughter down and walked out of the Vault. “Now, which way to the core?”

“Mom, no!” Lila screamed. “Don’t leave me behind! Tell me what the fuck is going on!”

“I’ll tell you everything after we’ve escaped. Let’s go, Fiadh! Time is of the essence, right?”

Lila’s heart raced as Sarah and Fiadh left the Vault, sealing the heavy door behind them. She was alone in the eerie, phosphorescent-lit room, the sound of her erratic breathing echoing off the walls. Fear clenched at her chest as she realized she was trapped, cut off from the chaos unfolding outside.

She paced back and forth, her mind in turmoil. Why had they left her behind? What had they discovered that it warranted leaving her out of the fight? Questions circled in her mind like vultures, each more foreboding than the last.

Outside, the submarine shuddered under another violent onslaught. Lila stumbled and fell to her knees as a deafening crash reverberated through the hull. The Vault seemed to close in on her, its walls a suffocating presence that didn’t give her enough room to breathe.

Desperation clawed at her, and she launched herself at the holographic panel. There had to be way to open the door from the inside.

Lila scanned the panel, her fingers trembling as she tried to decipher the intricate symbols and patterns flashing before her. 

She located a series of buttons labeled with strange glyphs and hesitated, unsure which one would grant her access to the outside world. With a deep breath, she pressed one at random. Nothing happened. She tried another, then another, each press accompanied by a rising sense of panic.

She let out a frustrated scream, the sound echoing in the confined space. The air was getting thinner the angrier she got. 

With a last burst of energy, Lila slammed her fists against the unyielding door. Tears welled up in her eyes; she was isolated, separated from her mother and Fiadh, from the unfolding danger and the chance to make a difference.

Meanwhile, the other two witches had already made it to the control room where Derek was coordinating their defense line with a furrowed brow. The explosions had grown less intense but that didn’t mean they were out of the woods yet. The enemy had chosen a different approach.

“Tell me what they’re up to,” Fiadh said.

“Even more warlocks and witches have joined the fight up there but they refuse to engage us head on,” Derek replied. “Instead, they want to yank us out of the ocean!”

“A combined levitation spell?” Sarah noted. “If they succeed and pull us out, the pressure difference alone will break up apart!”

“That’s right. For now, most of the core energy is being used to counter the effects of their magic while I calculate the teleporting sequence. We all need to be ready. The moment we have the data to know where we’re going, we’ll only have a few seconds to charge the spell and get the hell out of here. Where’s Lila?”

“Safe in the Vault for now, but she’s not happy!” Fiadh replied.

“It’s for the best,” Derek sighed. “There’s too much at stake to let her fall in Tabitha’s hands now.”

“How much more time left before the calculations are complete?” Sarah replied.

“Three more minutes at least. This is a complex operation because I have to account for every single soul aboard plus the morphing structure of our vessel. A single mistake and we can end up destroying ourselves.”

“Do we still have shields?” Fiadh asked.

“They’re running at a minimum, but they’re still operational. All the blasts did quite a number on them but we’re holding on.”

“Good. I guess we just need to stay alive until the jump, then.”

Derek nodded, his eyes flicking to the digital clock counting down on a nearby monitor. With each passing second, the tension in the control seemed to ratchet up another notch.

Outside, the submarine continued to shudder and groan under the relentless assault of the enemy magic users. The currents tugged at the vessel like invisible hands, threatening to drag it upwards into the waiting clutches of their foes.

Derek’s brow furrowed deeper as he monitored the energy levels within the submarine. The strain of maintaining the shields and counteracting the levitation spell was taking its toll on their dwindling power reserves.

As Sarah parted her lips to speak, a deafening crack tore through the control room, reverberating off the walls and sending everyone into a frenzied scramble. The ground shuddered beneath their feet, causing them to stagger and grasp at anything for stability. Alarms blared in a dissonant symphony, their shrill tones creating an overwhelming sense of panic.

“It’s happening,” Derek said. “There’s a magic net underneath us that’s pulling us up. I don’t know how long we’ll be able to resist.”

“We just need another minute,” Fiadh said.

“At this rate, we’ll be lucky to have another twenty seconds.”

“Can you at least slow the ascent rate?” Sarah mused, a dangerous yet magnificent idea forming in her mind.

“Why? What are you thinking?”

“We let them lift us but the moment we reach the surface…”

“… we teleport and create a tsunami to wash them all away?” Derek completed. “That’s ballsy, Sarah!”

“And risky as fuck, but will it work?” Fiadh asked.

“I don’t know, but the net is tightening. If we’re going to do it, we need to commit to it now.”

“Let’s do it then and send as many of them down as we can.”

“Attention, everyone!” Derek spoke over the comm once again. “You better hold on to something because this is where things get rough. Brace yourselves!”

The entire control room went silent as they absorbed Derek’s announcement. Everyone steeled themselves for the incoming chaos, adjusting their positions and double-checking straps and harnesses.

Meanwhile, the enemy above them was growing more and more confident. The cacophony of their spells and taunts bounced on the hull as the submarine rose towards the surface now as if caught by a giant claw machine that would not relent until everyone inside was either captured or crushed. As the digital clock on the monitor crept ever closer to zero, Derek began the final countdown, “Ten, nine, eight…”

“Seven, six, five…” Lila mumbled from inside her secure location, her eyes watery and swollen. 

“Four, three, two, one…” said the rest of the crew, all ready to recite the words of power.

“Zero!” Fiadh exclaimed and the submarine shot out of the cold water, its ever-changing shape meeting its foes dead-on. Tabitha’s servants floated above the rippling ocean, holding hands to channel their energy in a single person. Leading the group hellbent on their destruction was Magdalene, the Inquisitor that had tormented Lila not so long ago. Her eyes flashed red and her smile became a hulking mass of teeth as their prey became visible.

“Mistress wants the girl alive. Everyone else is expendable,” she growled. “If they resist, kill them all.”

Inside the sub, the crew combined their voices, pouring every ounce of energy and determination into the spell that would either save them or doom them to failure. The air cracked with magic as the power surged through them, every room filling with an ethereal glow. They had only one chance to make this work.

The tension in the control room was palpable as the final syllables of the spell fell from their lips, unseen and unheard by the enemies surrounding them. The submarine shuddered and the core radiated from within. 

And then, out of the darkness, it came.

An invisible force washed over them like a tidal wave, shattering the glass cabinets and enveloping the crew in a maelstrom of mesmerizing colors. The world seemed to spin around them as they were lifted higher and higher, breaking free from the magical net and commanding the waters to rise. It was a sight to behold but one that didn’t last long enough for the energy necessary to make the spell work was no longer there. The core flickered and died out, pulling the submarine down again and plunging it in the ocean. The stern cracked on impact, and the icy water found its way in. The shields shimmered and disappeared, leaving them exposed to the battalion of drones bound to the sign of evil.

“Lila, get out of here now!” Fiadh screamed over the line, only for her last hope to die as well. Upon hitting the raging surface again, the control panel inside the Vault went offline. With nothing to power it, the young witch was sealed in.

“Fuck!” Sarah screamed. “We need to get her out of there!”

“Go!” Fiadh sighed, her eyes sunken but not yet defeated. “We’ll hold on their onslaught for as long as we can.”

“Staying here is suicide,” Sarah declared. “Don’t do this. Let’s teleport everyone one by one and gather our forces somewhere else.”

“I’m with her. Their numbers are too great. This is a fight we can’t win and I’d rather not die today. I say we fight long enough to give the rest of the crew a chance to escape and we blow the submarine if need be.”

“So be it!” Fiadh cracked her knuckles. Everyone, we’re going to form a defensive perimeter around this room. Get ready to phase out and we’ll meet at Site B when this is over.”

In that moment, the crew nodded, their faces grim and resolute. They knew what needed to be done and were ready for the consequences.

Dark flames licked the hull of the vessel before exploding into pure chaos and madness. The enemy was inside.

((to be continued))