Chapter 24 – Return to Varkez Hollow
The wind off the ridge carried a bitter tang of ash and regret.
Kael and Lys descended from the Howling Path, the bonefire glow from Kael's gauntlet still pulsing faintly. Below, the slopes gave way to charred forest—a graveyard of blackened trunks and cinders. A low fog clung to the earth, swallowing their feet like hungry spirits.
"Varkez Hollow should be just beyond that ridge," Kael said, peering ahead. Each breath felt heavier, as if the very air remembered the flames that once consumed this place. "Where the first vow was broken."
Lys tightened her grip on her daggers. "If this is where your past exploded, I don't plan to watch it happen again."
He offered a strained smile. "Neither do I."
They pushed forward, stepping through the ashen wood. Every snap of a branch sounded like a crack of bone. The forest floor gave way to a dead riverbed, its banks layered in soot. At the center lay a massive crater, half-filled with stagnant water black as tar—Varkez Hollow.
Kael's gauntlet throbbed, the runes along its rim slowly lighting one by one. Only he could see their glow.
> Gracebound System Notification
Mission Assigned: Confront the First Vow
Objective: Enter Varkez Hollow and uncover the site of the Ancient Flame Accord's breach
Warning: Spiritual backlash expected. Prepare to resist.
Reward: 50 Grace Points + Ancient Insight
> Gracebound System Notification
Available Selections
Power-ups:
Flamewrought Endurance (+15% resistance to fire-based spiritual damage) – 50 GP
Spirit Fortitude (+20% resistance to backlash corruption) – 70 GP
Ember Pulse (Release a shockwave of searing flame around user) – 60 GP
Weapons:
Wyrmfang Blade (Curved sword dealing increased damage to draconic creatures) – 100 GP
Ashpiercer Spear (Ranged spear with lingering burn effect) – 80 GP
Pills:
Crimson Ember Pill (Temporarily boosts strength and reflexes for 10 minutes) – 30 GP
Clarity Root Pill (Boosts mental clarity, lessens spiritual backlash for 15 minutes) – 40 GP
Total Grace Points: 160
Selection pending…
Lys glanced at him. "Your hand's glowing again. You seeing more?"
He nodded, keeping his voice low. "The system—it wants me to enter. It calls me back to the very moment I betrayed the Wyrm."
She exhaled. "Then let's finish this."
---
The crater's edge was littered with shattered seal fragments—obsidian shards etched with wyrm-fire sigils. Each one pulsed faintly in Kael's peripheral vision. He closed his eyes, letting the gauntlet's warmth anchor him.
A tremor shivered through the ground, and from the black water rose ghostly shapes—wyrmspawn, their scales glimmering like dying embers. Their eyes burned with ancient resentment.
Lys readied herself. "Not again."
Kael placed a hand on her shoulder. "Focus on the hollow's rim. We need to reach the center."
The wyrmspawn snarled and lunged.
Kael didn't draw his sword. He flexed the gauntlet, recalling the vow it bore.
> Mission Update:
Objective Progress: 0/3 "Survive the Hollow's Wyrmspawn"
He summoned Vowfire Grasp, palm coating in draconic flame that hissed along the metal. He touched the nearest wyrmspawn—embers flared, its spiritual core destabilized. It collapsed, gone in a sigh of soot.
> Mission Progress: Wyrmspawn Neutralized (1/3)
Lys darted between two others, her daggers finding soft gaps in the scaled armor. They shattered into ash. She looked to Kael. "Six more on the west bank!"
As they fought, Kael felt heat crawling across his back—an unseen presence, like chains constricting his spirit. He gritted his teeth, willing his mind to stay steady.
> Warning: Spiritual backlash intensifies. Resist corruption or the system will suspend.
He forced the memory of Vireya—her hand in his, her laughter echoing across a field of crimson moss—through his mind, anchoring himself. The wyrmspawn around him disintegrated in waves of flame and shadow.
> Mission Progress: Wyrmspawn Neutralized (3/3)
With a final hiss, the last creature fell. The crater stilled.
Lys exhaled, wiping sweat and ash from her brow. "Is that it?"
Kael nodded, though the gauntlet's glow dimmed slightly. "For now."
> Mission Complete: Survive the Hollow's Wyrmspawn
Grace Points Awarded: +50
Total Grace Points: 210
He didn't announce the points aloud.
---
They trudged to the center of Varkez Hollow, where a fractured dais lay half-submerged in black water. Across its surface, cracks radiated outward in patterns like shattered wings.
Kael knelt and traced the lines with a trembling fingertip. The gauntlet flared, and the shards embedded in the crater's rim pulsed in unison.
> Gracebound System Notification
Objective Updated: Uncover the Breach Site Within Varkez Hollow
New Clue: Activate the Gauntlet at the Dais
He rose, sliding the gauntlet onto his left hand. The runes along its cuff sprang to life, flickering gold.
Lys moved to the dais's edge. "What now?"
Kael placed his gloved palm onto the cracked stone. The shards around them hummed, and a circle of golden script etched itself into the dais—words that only he could read.
> "Here the first vow was wrought. Let flame and flesh be bound."
The cracked dais shuddered, and the water receded, revealing a sunken chamber below.
Lys peered into the depths. "Another descent?"
He nodded. "We finish it."
The gauntlet's glow illuminated steps carved into the stone. As he descended, the air grew warmer—an echo of the long-dead fire that once lay here.
Before the final step, Kael paused, recalling the system's warning: "Spiritual backlash expected." He closed his eyes and let the gauntlet's warmth steady his heart.
Lys reached his side. "Whatever you face down there, we face it together."
He gave a resolute nod.
And with that, they stepped into the darkness of Varkez Hollow's buried sanctum, where the first vow was broken—and where Kael would either reclaim or lose himself forever.
> Gracebound System Notification
Power selection still pending. Would you like to select a Power-up, Weapon, or Pill before entering the sanctum?