The air inside the ancient keep was still, untouched by the rot and decay outside. Yet, Seraphine felt no relief.
Her mother had been here.
She had fought here, in the heart of Oraveth, against something ancient and powerful—something tied to the First Seal.
Seraphine's pulse thundered in her ears as she steadied herself against the wooden table, its surface still warm from the echoes of the past. Her breathing was uneven, her mind struggling to process what she had just seen.
The Seal is breaking.
The voice from the vision still rang in her head, curling like smoke in her thoughts.
She turned sharply to Caius. "We have to find out what happened here."
Caius exhaled, rubbing a hand through his dark hair. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."
She ignored the hesitation in his voice and pushed forward. The keep stretched around them, an ancient ruin untouched by time. Dust floated in the cold shafts of light spilling through the broken ceiling. Torn banners bearing a forgotten sigil fluttered weakly in the still air.
But the silence felt too thick.
As if the keep itself was watching.
Seraphine placed a hand on the hilt of her dagger and moved deeper inside.
---
The Hall of Forgotten Kings
They entered a massive hall, lined with towering stone statues. Each figure bore regal armor, their features carved in solemn determination.
Caius let out a low whistle. "More statues. That's comforting."
Seraphine studied them closely. Unlike the cursed figures outside, these did not wear expressions of agony. Their faces were unreadable, their eyes cast forward—as if eternally watching something unseen.
Then, at the far end of the hall, she saw it.
A throne.
Carved from obsidian, it stood upon a raised dais, its surface untouched by dust or ruin. The moment she laid eyes on it, her chest tightened.
Something was wrong about it.
She stepped forward slowly, her breath hitching as she got closer.
And then—
The room trembled.
A deep, resonant hum rippled through the stone. Dust shook loose from the ceiling. The statues lining the hall shifted.
Seraphine froze.
They were moving.
Their heads turned ever so slightly—toward her.
Caius grabbed her wrist. "We should leave. Right now."
But Seraphine couldn't move.
Something unseen held her in place.
A force pressed against her mind, whispering in a voice she couldn't understand. The pressure built, like a weight sinking into her bones, and for a moment—
She wasn't in the keep anymore.
---
The Echo of the Fallen
The world shifted.
Seraphine stood in the same hall—but it was whole. No ruins. No dust. The banners hung proudly from the walls, their sigils gleaming gold.
The statues were not statues.
They were men. Warriors clad in blackened armor, their faces hidden beneath shadowed helms.
And before them, on the throne, sat a figure cloaked in darkness.
His face was obscured, his form draped in a long, black mantle. But she could feel his presence—like the weight of a coming storm.
And she knew, instinctively—
This was the ruler of Oraveth.
The last king of the fallen city.
The one who had faced the Harbinger.
He lifted his head slightly, as if sensing her presence.
"The First Seal is not a prison."
His voice echoed, distant yet sharp as a blade.
Seraphine's heart pounded. "Then what is it?"
The king slowly rose from his throne, and the warriors flanking him knelt as he descended the steps toward her.
"It is a key."
Seraphine's breath caught.
A key?
She had thought the Seal was merely a boundary keeping the Harbinger imprisoned—but if it was a key…
Then that meant—
Someone could use it.
Someone could open it.
The realization sent ice through her veins.
But before she could speak, the vision fractured.
A sharp, splitting pain lanced through her skull, and the world snapped back—
---
The Warning
Seraphine stumbled backward, gasping.
The hall was in ruins again. The statues were stone. The throne was empty.
Caius caught her before she fell. "Seraphine, what the hell was that?"
She pressed a hand to her forehead, her thoughts spinning. "I—I saw him."
"Who?"
She swallowed. "The last king of Oraveth. He spoke to me. He said—" She hesitated, her pulse still racing. "He said the Seal isn't just a prison. It's a key."
Caius's eyes darkened. "A key to what?"
Seraphine exhaled. "To the Harbinger's freedom."
Silence stretched between them.
Caius ran a hand down his face. "Okay. That's significantly worse than I thought."
Seraphine nodded, trying to steady her breathing.
If the Seal could be used, then it wasn't just a matter of preventing it from breaking.
Someone could deliberately unleash the Harbinger.
And if her mother had spent her life protecting it…
Then that meant someone had already tried.
She turned to Caius, determination hardening her features. "We need to find the heart of this keep. If my mother left anything behind—clues, records—we need to find them now."
Caius sighed. "Because wandering deeper into cursed ruins is always a good idea."
She ignored him and strode forward.
She had come too far to turn back now.
---
The Hidden Chamber
They moved deeper into the keep, past broken corridors and shattered rooms, until they reached an archway.
Strange runes lined the stone, flickering faintly as Seraphine approached.
She could feel something beyond it.
Something hidden.
Caius hesitated. "You sure about this?"
"No."
But she pressed forward anyway.
The moment she stepped through the arch, the air shifted.
The torches lining the chamber flared to life—and at the center of the room stood an altar.
And on it, resting upon an ancient stone pedestal, was a book.
Seraphine's breath caught.
Her mother's journal.
She rushed forward, her fingers trembling as she touched the worn leather cover. It was warm beneath her fingertips, as if still pulsing with lingering magic.
Caius hovered beside her. "What does it say?"
Seraphine carefully opened it—and her heart stopped.
The pages were filled with notes, sketches, sigils—everything her mother had learned about the Seal.
But it was the last entry that made her blood turn to ice.
They are coming. I do not have much time. If you find this, my daughter, know this—the Seal does not just hold the Harbinger. It holds something worse.
Seraphine's hands shook.
Something worse?
Caius peered over her shoulder, reading the words. His face paled. "That's… not good."
Seraphine swallowed.
No. It wasn't.
Because if the Harbinger wasn't the only thing locked away—
Then she had no idea what else she was up against.