The sound was faint at first, so soft Seraphira thought it might have been the settling of the stones.
But then it came again, a woman's voice, low and lilting, curling through the shadows like smoke.
Seraphira… child of the flame… breaker of chains…
She froze, every muscle locked. Her gaze darted to Kaelreth, but he was already watching her, his expression unreadable.
You hear it, he said, not as a question, but as fact.
It knows my name, she whispered.
It should, he replied. This keep belonged to witches who saw further than most. One of them… perhaps more… still lingers.
The voice grew clearer, surrounding her from every direction. You walk in blindness, yet the path has been carved for you. Touch the stone, and see.
Her gaze fell to the obsidian circle at her feet. At its center lay a single slab of polished black rock, glinting faintly in the dim light. She took a step forward before she even realized she was moving.
Kaelreth's hand shot out, gripping her arm. Be careful, little flame. Things here bargain in ways you do not yet understand.
But something inside her, something older, deeper urged her onward. She pulled free and knelt, her fingertips brushing the cold surface.
The world shifted.
Shadows bled across her vision until she stood in a place that was not the keep, not the forest. A vast expanse stretched before her, a sky choked with black smoke, rivers of molten fire cutting through a dead land. Above it all, a crown of burning gold hung in the air, turning slowly, its edges flickering like living flame.
And then, behind her, footsteps. She turned and saw a woman with eyes like storms and hair the color of midnight, draped in tattered robes embroidered with strange silver sigils.
You will wear the crown, the woman said. But first, you will burn.
Seraphira's breath caught, but before she could speak, the vision shattered. She was back in the circle, Kaelreth crouched before her, his eyes sharper than blades.
What did you see? he demanded.
She swallowed hard. Something I'm not sure I wanted to.
His gaze darkened. Then we are running out of time.