Kael awoke with a start.
The stone beneath him was freezing, pressing against his spine through his thin cloak. He pushed himself upright, his body aching as though he'd been wrung out and left to dry. The dim glow of lanterns barely pierced the thick darkness, their light flickering like weak pulses of life.
His head swam as the memories returned. The cloaked woman. The crystal. The way her voice had carried through his bones, calm yet final, as though she spoke not to him but to something deeper inside him.
Kael's hand shot to the satchel. It was still there—solid and faintly warm against his chest. The crystal within pulsed ever so faintly, its rhythm barely distinguishable from his own heartbeat.
"Welcome back to the living."
Ciaran's voice cut through the quiet. He sat a few feet away, perched on the base of a shattered pillar, arms folded. His golden eyes gleamed faintly in the lantern light, unblinking and calm.
Kael glared at him, ignoring the faint dizziness as he climbed to his feet. "How long was I out?"
"A few hours," Ciaran replied with a shrug. "You don't take kindly to Void exposure yet. It'll get easier. Or it'll kill you. Depends on how stubborn you are."
Kael scowled. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"A little." Ciaran pushed himself to his feet, his cloak rippling like liquid shadow. "But we don't have time to sit here licking wounds. The woman gave us what we needed. Now we move."
Kael froze. "What did she do to me?"
Ciaran tilted his head slightly, as though amused by the question. "She didn't do anything. She just told you the truth."
"The truth?" Kael's fists clenched involuntarily. "All I remember is her saying I was born for this. Born for what, exactly?"
"The Void," Ciaran said simply, his tone suddenly serious. "You're its heir, Kael. A Void Wielder in a world that's spent centuries pretending the Void doesn't exist."
Kael took a step back, as though the words themselves had weight. "Stop saying that."
Ciaran ignored him, gesturing toward the far end of the cavern where the ancient ruins grew denser, their spires casting jagged silhouettes against the faint glow of the runes. "She gave us the direction to what you're carrying. The crystal isn't just some tool, Kael—it's a map. Or a key, depending on how you look at it."
Kael hesitated, his pulse quickening. "To what?"
"To answers," Ciaran said, his eyes narrowing. "And to power."
Kael looked away, biting back a bitter laugh. "Power. Everyone keeps talking about power like it's a good thing. You saw what I did to those soldiers. I barely touched the shadows, and they nearly tore them apart."
"And what would you have done without it?" Ciaran snapped, stepping closer. "Die? Run? Beg for mercy? You can be afraid of it all you want, but the truth doesn't care how you feel. You have this power, Kael. The only question is whether you're going to let it use you, or whether you'll learn to use it."
Kael stared at him, his breath uneven. For a moment, he couldn't move, couldn't think. The shadows curled faintly at the edges of the lantern light, like they were listening. Watching.
Finally, Kael looked back at Ciaran. "Where are we going?"
Ciaran's smirk returned, faint but sharp. "Into the ruins. We need to follow the crystal's path." He gestured to the satchel. "It'll guide us."
Kael glanced toward the looming ruins. The spires stretched like skeletal fingers into the darkness, their runes glowing faintly with that strange, unearthly light. A sick feeling twisted in his stomach.
"What's out there?" he asked quietly.
Ciaran's expression darkened. "The past. And the future."
The two of them moved cautiously through the ancient city of Noxhall, the ruins silent but heavy with an unnatural presence. Kael walked close behind Ciaran, his boots crunching on gravel and broken stone.
The deeper they went, the stranger the ruins became. The buildings rose higher, their walls etched with runes that seemed to shift when Kael wasn't looking directly at them. Some of the structures leaned unnaturally, as though the stone itself had melted and reformed.
"This place doesn't feel real," Kael muttered.
"It isn't," Ciaran replied over his shoulder. "The Void touches it. Noxhall is halfway between this world and the other. That's why the Crown buried it."
Kael looked around warily. "What do you mean 'halfway'?"
Ciaran didn't answer. He stopped suddenly at the entrance to a massive structure—what looked like an ancient temple. Its towering archway stretched at least fifty feet into the air, lined with jagged spires. The runes covering the stone glowed brighter here, casting sickly pale light across the ground.
Kael hesitated. "What is this place?"
"The Sanctum," Ciaran said softly. "The first Wielders built it to house what they couldn't control."
A chill ran down Kael's spine. "And you want us to go in there?"
"You're the one carrying the crystal," Ciaran replied, his smirk returning. "The door's locked until it feels you."
Kael's stomach twisted, but he stepped forward, drawn toward the entrance. The runes seemed to flare brighter as he approached, their glow pulsing in time with his heartbeat. He felt the crystal grow warm in the satchel, and his fingers curled around it instinctively.
"Kael."
The voice was soft, like a whisper on the wind. Kael froze.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Ciaran said, frowning.
Kael glanced around, his heart racing. The shadows at the edges of the ruins seemed darker now, deeper—like they were pressing inward. He took a step back, but the crystal flared suddenly in his hand, blinding him with green light.
The ground trembled.
A sound echoed from within the temple—low and deep, like a rumble from the earth itself. Kael staggered back, shielding his eyes as the runes along the temple walls ignited, their pale light twisting into darker shades.
The voice came again, louder this time, and Kael realized it wasn't coming from the ruins. It was coming from inside his mind.
"You cannot run forever."
The light dimmed. Silence fell. Kael's breathing came in sharp, shallow bursts as he stared at the temple's entrance. The runes were calm again, but the faint whispers remained, curling at the edges of his consciousness.
Ciaran stepped forward, his expression unreadable. "The crystal knows you're here."
Kael swallowed hard, his fingers trembling against the satchel. "And what's waiting for me inside?"
Ciaran's golden eyes glinted. "That's what we're about to find out."