The mountain roared and rumbled in the distance, sending shockwaves throughout the continent. The mana of the world surged in a torrent, awakening dead dungeons and shattering magic circles in its passing. The devastation was worst along the ley lines, causing rifts deep in the world to shatter and mana to gush out in great gouts. The wave of seismic energy and magical force reached the Shallow Sea, sending waves crashing into the shores and giving the fishing and trading communities a harsh test of their coastal defenses.

Far out in the sea, where a series of shoals and submerged stone blocks were all that remained of an ancient dungeon town, the surge of mana poured down into the deep cave at its center, flooding the once legendary corridors with more mana than it had seen in hundreds of years. The walls lit up with the glow of runes, all growing brighter as more mana flooded the halls. The core at the center, deteriorated and crumbling, lit up like a lightning storm. Releasing its own mana back into its runes, a flow that had been redirected in ages past to power a prison deep below the island, the dungeon surged back to life. Monsters began to spawn, corridors began to reform, and traps long destroyed meticulously put themselves back together. But the mana flowing in from outside hadn't stopped, and many of the runes began to melt and shatter at the invasive power. Monsters began to spawn out of control and spill into the waters outside. A veritable tide of sea goblins, monstrous crustaceans, serpents, and other horrors spread in every direction. The flood only stopped when the alien mana finally reached the core. Its long abused frame could not withstand the additional flow of power, and it too began to crack, and then, burst. The detonation was enough to shatter several of the seals in the room, the only barrier between the prison below and the shallow sea above. The runes in the dungeon all fell silent once again, and the only light remaining was the burning, crumbling remains of the magical barriers that kept the deeper caverns locked away.

The surge of monsters all rushed for freedom. All moved to hunt, looking for ships, towns, or even each other. The violence in the water began to turn the sea red, slowly spreading out from the dead dungeon. Before the monsters could get far, however, a long high note laden with nearly a thousand years of lament, hate, and hunger filled the waters. Everything froze, from fish to abomination, and turned to the sound. The violence was over, and a new magic was taking form. A powerful storm began to spread across the sea, spinning outward and creeping toward the shore in a torrential downpour. The creatures of the shallow sea paid that no mind, all moving to converge on the music coming from deep under the sea bed.

It was days later when the storms reached the forest near the border of Nightvale. The wall of water spread across the ruins of Kingsgrove in a matter of seconds, quickly soaking the ground with rain infused by the combined mana of the titan's fury and the dungeon's detonation. The scars of repeated blasts of a [Sun Ray] spell outside the Keep of Times Veil quickly filled, rain joining the mud, leaves, and an unnaturally resilient layer of ash. The water never spilled over, being hungrily drawn into the ash as if it were a sponge that had no limits – which it might have been if the rain hadn't persisted for days. Before the storm had passed, the mana-rich water had saturated the entire forest, going as far east as the Dragonspine River and beyond.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

It was nearly two weeks when the storm finally dissipated, having passed through and drenched the entirety of The Spires and many of the neighboring nations. The rivers ran high, fields had been flooded, and many projects had been delayed, but life was returning to normal. Life along the Shallow Sea more so than most places. The minor monster attacks had stopped entirely, the water was calm, and there was more trade sailing through than normal. In the quiet seaside town of Siren's Reach, Septimia Variala stood on the sea wall, watching the fishermen unloading the day's catch. The shallow sea was incredibly rich in sea life as one of the few places where the larger dangers of the deep oceans could not venture. Still, it was late, and sunset would be coming soon. The largest of the town's fishing vessels, The Abyssal Voyager, had not yet returned and was not on the horizon. They were often the last in, sailing much farther than the smaller ships, but at this rate, they would be risking the rocks at night to return to the harbor.

"Anything, Sam?" she asked the harbor master.

"No, Lady. None of the other ships have reported spotting her," the grizzled old seaman told her somberly. "Do not worry, that ship is loaded up to fend off any sea monsters. If she's gotten off course, she will anchor somewhere safe for the evening and return at sun up."

"I am more worried about the reports of pirates moving up the coast. I would hate for the first report I give to our new liege to be that one of her greatest ships has been stolen or sunk. There have been no monster sightings at all since the storm passed. Our few local adventurers are getting restless. Perhaps I can convince them to go out in the morning on a rescue mission. Better a simple job than having them run off to another town with better hunting prospects."

Sam gave a considering nod, "Aye, I will send a runner and see that one of the cutters is made ready."

Dismissing him with a nod, Septimia looked back out over the water. The calm was unnatural, and she didn't trust it. She knew something was coming, and it was driving her mad trying to sort out the cause. Normally, the only thing that would keep monsters away like this would be a bigger monster. Those couldn't survive in the Shallow Sea. The water stayed fresh almost all the way to the drop-off, and beneath its clear waters, the continental shelf was only deep enough for something the size of a whale to thrive in, nothing larger. She let out a long, slow breath. She would need to prepare for anything. It was going to be expensive. She felt a tangle of relief and anxiety at the thought. With the land now under the ownership of Lady Evelyn, whoever that was, at least there was a fifty-fifty chance of having the expense approved. With one last look around the sea wall, trying to take in any more repairs that might be needed, she turned and made her way back to her keep.