Raine fell.
For a moment, there was nothing but the rush of wind in his ears, the sickening weightlessness of a drop that had no end. His stomach lurched, breath caught in his throat. He braced for impact, for the jagged rocks waiting below—
But it never came.
The air thickened, slowing around him, as if reality itself had hesitated. A force—not gentle, but not violent either—wrapped around him, pulling at something unseen. When he hit the ground, the impact should have broken bone, but it didn't.
It barely rattled his skull.
A groan escaped his lips as he rolled onto his side, pain licking at his ribs, sharp but not enough to break them. His breath came in short, frantic gasps. The stone beneath him was cold, damp with age. The chamber was dim, lit only by the ghostly glow of strange markings carved into the walls.
He wasn't dead.
He wasn't even broken.
The realization sent a chill through him. He had fallen too far, too fast.
Something had caught him.
Footsteps. Slow. Deliberate.
Raine jerked his head up.
A shadow detached itself from the darkness above, descending in an almost lazy drop. The figure landed a few feet away, his form barely disturbing the dust.
Kael.
He straightened, adjusting his cloak as if he hadn't just fallen from the same deadly height. His expression, as always, was unreadable.
"You're alive," Kael mused.
Raine pushed himself upright, wincing. "Thanks for the concern."
Kael ignored the sarcasm, scanning the chamber with mild interest. "You landed softer than expected."
"I noticed."
Raine flexed his fingers, trying to shake the tingling sensation from them. He felt… off. Not hurt, but unsettled. Something had slowed his fall.
Or someone.
His eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"
Kael arched a brow. "You think that was me?"
Raine hesitated. "If it wasn't you—"
A low hum pulsed through the air.
The symbols on the walls flickered, their glow shifting, like something beneath the surface was breathing. The space around them felt thick, heavy in a way that wasn't natural.
Kael exhaled through his nose. "The Weaving Society calls this place the Hollow." He glanced at Raine. "But that's not its real name."
Raine swallowed, his throat dry. "Then what is it?"
Kael's gaze lingered on the glowing markings.
"A scar."
The word settled uneasily in Raine's chest. He turned, scanning their surroundings.
The chamber was massive, lined with archways leading into unseen corridors. The walls bore remnants of something old—carvings that had been scraped away, replaced with the glowing symbols that pulsed faintly now.
A scar.
Something had happened here.
Something wrong.
Kael stepped past him, moving toward the center of the chamber. "We're not here to admire the architecture." His voice was quiet but firm. "You wanted to know why the Arcanum fears you?"
Raine's pulse quickened. He forced himself to follow, his boots scuffing against the uneven floor.
Kael stopped beside a raised stone dais. A thin layer of dust covered its surface, but beneath it, something had been carved into the rock.
Not words.
A symbol.
Raine didn't recognize it, but something in him did.
His breath came shallower.
That whispering feeling—the one that had crept at the edges of his mind since the **Resonance Test—**returned, curling around his thoughts like a presence waiting just beyond his reach.
"You said the Arcanum doesn't know what I am," Raine said slowly. "But you do."
Kael studied him, silent.
Frustration boiled over. "Tell me."
Kael's expression didn't change, but something in his posture shifted—an acknowledgment, or maybe a warning.
Then, finally—
"You already know what you are."
Raine clenched his jaw.
Abyss-Touched.
Kael had named it before. He had spoken the words like a fact, but left them hanging, unexplained. Raine hadn't pushed then. He had been too caught up in the hunt, in the running.
Now, there was no running.
Kael continued, voice even. "The Arcanum has always feared the Abyss. Not because they understand it. But because they don't."
Raine's stomach tightened.
Kael stepped closer, his voice quieter now. "They test thousands of initiates every year. Some show talent, some don't. But once in a while, someone like you appears." His eyes darkened. "Someone who breaks the rules."
Raine swallowed.
Kael continued. "The Resonance Stones measure Essence. They reveal a mage's potential—what Realm their power draws from. But when you touched that stone…" He tilted his head slightly. "It didn't measure you. It cracked. It failed."
Raine's breath hitched.
Kael studied him for a moment, then murmured, "Because you don't draw power." His voice was quiet, but heavy with meaning.
"You take it."
A shiver ran down Raine's spine.
The words shouldn't make sense. But deep down, something in him recognized them as true.
"I don't—" His voice came out hoarse. "I don't even know how to use magic."
Kael let out a dry chuckle. "And yet, something caught you when you fell."
Raine opened his mouth, then closed it.
He hadn't done anything. At least, not consciously. But the feeling, the unnatural pause before he hit the ground—
It hadn't been luck.
Kael's voice softened, just slightly. "The Arcanum isn't afraid of your power, Raine. They're afraid of what it means."
Raine forced himself to breathe. "And what does it mean?"
Kael didn't answer immediately. Instead, he gestured toward the dais. "Put your hand here."
Raine hesitated. "Why?"
Kael's gaze held his. "Because you need to see it for yourself."
Raine clenched his fists.
Every instinct screamed at him to turn around. To run.
But he was already marked. Already hunted.
And if he didn't face this now—he never would.
Slowly, he stepped forward.
The moment his fingers brushed the stone, the chamber went silent.
The air thickened, reality warping around him.
A pulse of something deep, unseen, rushed through his body.
And then—
The whispers returned.
Not just feelings.
Not just presence.
Voices.
Raine's breath hitched as something unseen curled at the edges of his thoughts.
Something vast.
Something waiting.
And this time—
It whispered his name.