She was there. She was right there.And then she was gone.
Kael stood alone in the ruined cavern, the air still thick with the scent of smoke and magic. The violet light from the shattered throne still flickered along the stone walls, casting monstrous shadows of a fight already lost.
The only sound now was the low, haunted hum of the sigil carved into the ground—the Thirteenth Mark.
Still warm, he thought, pressing his trembling fingers against it. Still pulsing.
"Bella," he whispered, his voice ragged.
No answer.
No trace of her scent. No trail of blood. No magic flare to follow.
Nothing.
Kael's knees buckled, and he dropped to the ground beside the glowing symbol, his sword clattering beside him.
He'd fought his way into the underchamber. Killed four sentries. Smashed three seal glyphs. Risked exposure to ancient magic that could've melted his soul.
He'd gotten to her.
And it still wasn't enough.
"Damn it!" he roared, slamming his fist into the stone.
Cracks spiderwebbed beneath his knuckles, but he didn't stop. He pounded again and again until blood dripped from his hands, mixing with the glowing lines of the sigil.
Then—
The mark pulsed once. Then again. Responding.
Kael froze.
A whisper curled through the chamber.
"...Kael…"
His breath caught in his throat.
"Bella?" he rasped, turning his head frantically.
But the voice wasn't hers.
It was too ancient. Too layered. Like a thousand voices trying to speak as one.
"She is not lost. She is ascending."
Kael leapt to his feet, blade in hand, eyes scanning the shadows.
"Show yourself!"
A figure emerged—hooded, floating an inch above the ground, cloaked in violet and ash. The mask over their face was shaped like a crying star.
"The Queen's trial has only just begun," the figure intoned. "She passed through the Eye of Ashes. She walks the Forgotten Realms now."
"The hell does that mean?" Kael demanded, stepping forward. "Bring her back!"
The figure tilted its head slowly.
"You want her returned? Then follow her path."
The stone beneath them rumbled. The sigil flared once more—then shattered into pieces.
In its place, a spiral staircase descended into pure blackness.
"Down there?" Kael asked, eyes narrowing.
"No map leads where she has gone," the figure whispered. "Only devotion. Only blood."
Kael stared at the opening. Darkness coiled below like a living thing. He gripped his sword tighter.
If she's in that abyss… then so am I.
He stepped forward.
The figure lifted a hand.
"One warning, knight," it said. "She may not remember you when you find her."
Kael stopped mid-step.
The silence dragged between them.
Then his voice, low and steady:
"Then I'll make her fall for me again."
He descended into the dark.
Cut To: The Other Side
Somewhere far away—
Bella opened her eyes.
She was standing in a wasteland of silver ash. The sky above her was a frozen dome of glass, stars trapped like dying embers.
She wore no crown.
No sigil.
No memories.
Only her name—and even that felt unfamiliar.
She turned.
In the distance, a cloaked woman watched her from atop a dead tree.
The woman smiled with lips painted in blood.
"Welcome back, my Queen."
Kael descends into the abyss, unaware that Bella no longer remembers him.Bella awakens in a realm beyond reality… where her soul may not be her own anymore.