ECHOES OF THE VOID

With its dark spires stretching through the sky and toward the heavens, the Void Family House seemed to be a stronghold atop the blackened cliffs. The runic inscriptions etched into its walls exhibit a subtle shimmer. These works throbbed with ancient vitality, discussing truths unspoken in society. Hundreds of Void descendants had congregated on the building's big ceremonial plaza, their faces ranging from awe to fear to hope. On this day, known as the Day of Awakening, the next generation would enter their destinies by calling upon their soul force. Ten-year-old Kael Voidbreaker stood aside from the other visitors, his black eyes focused on the soaring Void Obelisk in the midst of the square. His chest hummed faintly, and it had an almost perfect sound about it. Kael exuded a calm assurance; she wore black robes with modest yet elegant design, including tiny silver threads. As his peers mumbled behind him, one could hear a mix of contempt and jealousy. Doesn't that apply to Kael? Kael, in his own right, is the son of Lord Varyn himself. "Hmph, it really doesn't seem to be much." I'm prepared to assume that his awakening will be typical. Kael spoke, not even though his lips were moving. For him, words held no meaning. It was our strength. At the commencement of the ritual, Lord Varyn Voidbreaker, his father, strode forward in an imposing black and silver outfit. Lord Varyn Voidbreaker, his father, strode forward, his eyes piercing and deliberate as they passed across the gathered children. His eyes were empty of any warmth; rather, they were coldly anticipatory. His voice echoed throughout the courtyard as he declared, "Let the awakening begin!" One by one, they went to the Void Obelisk, each laying their hands on its surface. The monolith responded to the child's affinity to the Void with varying degrees of resonance. Most of them resulted in the audience murmuring with happiness or disappointment, as well as slight sensations or flickering of light. Finally, Kael's name was called. The sentence, "Kael, The courtyard went entirely quiet. Kael moved forward, his motions seeming to be measured and deliberate. Even the wind seemed to cease its motion. His contemporaries ceased their conversation, allowing waiting eyes to take center stage. As he got near the Void Obelisk, its dark surface seemed to tremble in expectation. An unsaid chore seemed to burden the environment around him. Kael's hand on the cold stone seemed to have caused the entire planet to split. In the hole, Kael's interior drew a vast and relentless emptiness. Time and space vanished from him, leaving him weightless in an area of total darkness. It was simply nothingness—the whole universe, not cold or warm, not friendly or menacing. As he floated down the chasm, a sliver of red-tinted light started to pulse in the distance. It was a weak glow, far away. As I prepared myself, an unexplainable force emanated from it, contracting Kael's chest. "You are not like them," said a whisper, heard in a voice that felt both old and booming. The chorus of many voices blended into one, resonating from all directions without any particular location. As the light rushed ahead, Kael felt a terrible agony in his chest. Though he gasped and his body trembled, the anguish showed up as clarity, a sudden awareness of his place in the universe. An item of incomprehensible power, existing before even the Void, a Primordial Vessel of Nothingness, flooded his awareness with memories different from his own. These belonged not to him. Using some of this old power, he saw his forebears setting their paths for the future. It was his vision of himself towering over an endless expanse and dominating the Void and the Nothingness that gave birth to it that burned brightest. Kael opened his eyes and realized he was back in the courtyard right then. The Void Obelisk was shining with an intensity never seen before, a crimson light shifting and throbbing. The audience had a wild eruption. One elderly person exclaimed, "It's impossible!" Another person asked, "What precisely does this imply?" Kael staggered backwards, his breath releasing in bursts all the while. The sensation of his hands catching fire coincided with the trembling of his entire body. Conversely, he encountered power in that fire that was wild, uncontrolled, and unlike anything he had ever dreamed of. By using his senses, he could feel the threads of reality encircling him—the weak constructions defining space itself. As Lord Varyn advanced, his facial expression became incomprehensible. He approached him, and the anarchy that had been engulfing them stopped. When he spoke to Kael, his voice was quiet but yet strong. "What exactly did you notice?" When Kael paused, his consciousness kept resonating with the voice from the far past. He knew this would not be a typical waking. Regarding the Void Family, the bit of nothingness he possessed was unlike anything they had ever known. He was also nothingness, though, that choosing to be honest might endanger him. With deliberate calm, Kael answered, "I saw the Void." And it accepted me, she replied. The eyes of Lord Varyn narrowed as he focused closely on Kael's face in quest of solutions. After the tense episode, he nodded slightly and turned his focus to the throng. Declaring, "The ceremony is over," in a tone that forbade any sort of discussion, Kael's waking marks the end of the events that today have unfolded. Tomorrow will see the completion of the last chores. With reluctance, the spectators departed, leaving a trail of muted murmurs in their wake. something different to do. Kael was discovered seated by himself in his rooms late in the evening. Moonlight from the high windows threw silver beams on the stone floor. He closed his eyes and directed his hands inward, towards the remnant of nothingness ingrained in his own life. Despite its wild and untamed nature, the power responded to his will. This void differed greatly from the one his family revered. This was an infinitely more dangerous, deeper, and more terrifying experience. Kael did not dread this. His whispered, "This is my power," and it was hard to hear his voice. Not fit for the Void. Not descended from my family. To gather. Kael also experienced clarity for the first time. The fragment hummed in accord. He had no legal duty to carry on the legacy of the Void Family. He would create a path of greater accomplishment than theirs. Kael Voidbreaker thus started his journey to master the Void as well as to conquer the Nothingness that lay beyond it. This development occurred while he was sleeping.