The Hollow Seat pulsed, whispering to Reinhardt in a voice only he could hear. The throne of obsidian and gold loomed before him, ancient yet waiting, as if it had always known he would return.
Sit. Rule. Reclaim.
His breath was unsteady, his fingers twitching at his side. His entire life—no, lives—had led him to this moment. The warrior. The king. The Marked One.
Selene's voice cut through the haze. "Reinhardt, don't."
He turned to her, his thoughts a storm of uncertainty. "What if this is what I was meant to do?"
Her violet eyes burned. "Then why does it feel like a trap?"
The shadowed figure on the throne exhaled a slow, amused breath. "Because she fears what she does not understand."
Selene snapped her gaze toward it, dark magic flickering at her fingertips. "I understand plenty. Thrones are meant to bind as much as they are meant to rule."
The runes on the floor glowed brighter, reacting to their presence. The power was rising, demanding a decision.
Reinhardt took a slow step forward. The whispers in his head grew louder.
The Order betrayed you. The world abandoned you. But here, you can be more. Here, you can be everything you were meant to be.
His hands curled into fists. Wasn't that what he wanted?
But then—he heard another voice. A memory.
"You could have been great," Aldric had once told him. "You could have led us."
The weight of it settled in his chest. A different throne. A different set of chains.
His eyes flicked to Selene. She wasn't begging him to refuse. She was daring him to choose.
Reinhardt took a breath. And then, instead of stepping onto the throne's dais—he turned away.
The air shattered.
The entire temple groaned, as if the very foundations of reality had cracked. The throne pulsed violently, its dark glow surging. The shadowed figure's form flickered, its amusement turning to something else.
Rage.
"You refuse your place?" the voice snarled, no longer calm. "You deny what is written?"
Reinhardt stood firm. "I make my own fate."
The chamber erupted. The throne's power lashed out in tendrils of black and gold, striking toward Reinhardt and Selene. She reacted instantly, summoning a wall of dark fire. "Move!" she shouted.
They ran. The walls trembled, the runes fracturing as the Hollow Seat rejected them. The very reality of the place was unraveling.
The throne had made its offer.
And now, it would not let them leave so easily.