Silence clung to the chamber like dust—thick, stifling, and unwilling to lift. The shattered remains of the relic guardian lay sprawled across the floor, unmoving, its inner fire finally extinguished. But the tension hadn't broken. Not entirely.
Kael stood still, one hand still hovering over the relic pressed to his chest. The Echoheart pulsed faintly beneath his fingers—slower now, but deeper, resonant like a second heartbeat lodged within his ribs. Its glow faded in waves, and with each one, he felt the creeping sensation that something inside him had shifted.
Not just attuned. Changed.
He turned, breath unsteady, catching the worried gaze of Elira. She stepped closer. "Are you alright?"
Kael opened his mouth to answer, but the words faltered. A moment passed before he found his voice. "It felt… more than power. Like I touched a memory. Not mine, but something ancient. Something broken."
Tovan approached the remains of the guardian, nudging its armored hand with his boot. "It almost killed you. You sure that thing"—he nodded toward the Echoheart—"is worth the cost?"
Kael didn't answer. He couldn't—not yet. Instead, his eyes wandered to the collapsed seal, now revealing a stairway spiraling even deeper into darkness.
It's not just guiding me, he thought. It's drawing me forward.
They descended without speaking much, the air below growing colder and wetter, laced with the scent of old stone and rust. With every step, Kael felt the relic's presence like a weight pressing into his spine. It no longer whispered. It watched.
The corridor opened into a narrow hall lined with faded murals. Some were half-erased by time, but a few survived. Kael paused to study one in particular: a figure wreathed in light, clutching a burning sphere—the Echoheart?—and surrounded by weeping silhouettes. Another showed that same figure casting the orb into a sky sundered by war, the stars above fractured like broken glass.
"This wasn't just power," Kael murmured. "It was sacrifice."
The word hung in the air.
Elira stepped beside him, brushing her fingers across the mural. "Whoever they were… they gave everything to seal something away."
Tovan glanced toward the far end of the corridor, where faint blue light flickered. "Or failed to. Let's stay sharp."
As they reached the end of the hall, the blue light grew stronger, casting long shadows. In the center of the next chamber stood a dais surrounded by shattered glass and melted stone. Burn marks scarred the floor in concentric circles. Kael slowed, drawn to the dais.
Then the relic flared.
A rush of sound tore through his skull—wind, screams, a woman's voice shouting a name he didn't recognize. His vision tunneled. The world tilted.
He saw a child's toy, charred and half-melted, lying on scorched stone. Then came the fire. The air screamed. Someone was crying—a child. Another figure knelt beside them, shielding them with glowing arms. And then—silence.
Kael staggered, dropping to one knee. The vision pulled away like a riptide receding, leaving only echoes behind. His breathing was ragged.
Elira was there instantly, gripping his shoulder. "Kael! Say something."
"It… it was a memory," he gasped. "I saw… a child. A fire. A protector, maybe. I don't know. But it was real. The pain. The fear. I felt it."
Tovan crouched nearby, his voice firm. "That relic is digging deeper. You sure you're still you?"
Kael looked up at him, pale and shaken, but resolute. "I don't know. But if this is the only path to understanding why Aurinfall fell, then I don't have a choice."
They helped him to his feet. For a moment, the three stood together in the broken room, surrounded by history and its ghosts.
Behind the dais, a worn pedestal held a rusted cylinder. Elira pried it open carefully, revealing brittle pages bound in cracked leather. The text was faded, but a symbol marked its front: a sun pierced by a sword.
Kael's fingers brushed the cover. The relic thrummed once.
Inside the journal, scattered entries spoke of Vareth—not a person, but a place. A fortress of relics. A final stand.
Tovan grunted. "Looks like we've got a destination."
Kael nodded slowly. The name stirred something distant again. Not fear, but a challenge. Like the first breath before a storm.
"Then let's find it," he said quietly.
Behind them, the shadows seemed to lean closer.