The Emberroot Plains still steamed from the earlier battle, the smell of scorched grass mixing with the lingering bite of frost. Gideon's new beast kept a silent vigil beside its tamer, its mismatched eyes tracking every movement around them.
Eliakim's hand slipped to his right wrist, fingers brushing the thumb chain of Veyrun Glimmer. The moment he touched it, the faint shimmer of the Codex of Imreth deep within his mind flared like a spark catching dry parchment.
Eliakim. The voice was not quite the Codex's usual distant tone—it felt warmer, almost conspiratorial. The beast has a name… and a lineage.
Before Eliakim could respond, knowledge poured into him—images, words, the taste of cold air tinged with molten heat:
Name: KaelvrynSpecies: Chimeric RiftbornBloodline Traits: Elemental Fusion, Guardian Instinct, Rift Tracking
The vision snapped away as abruptly as it had come, leaving Eliakim blinking against the flood of information. His gaze flicked toward Kaelvryn—now standing slightly taller, crystalline armor gleaming faintly in the sun.
He said nothing. Not to Gideon. Not to Ezra. Not even to the Codex. Some things were better hidden—especially his treasures, their abilities, and the chains that bound them.
Nathaniel Blackthorn had already started walking, moving through the dissipating mist like a shadow leading shadows. "If you want answers," he called over his shoulder, "you follow me."
They did.
The air grew colder the deeper they went, the plains giving way to fractured ground and curling tendrils of pale smoke. Then the earth shuddered—a low, grinding sound—and a massive crack split across the battlefield where they had just fought. Stone groaned as the ground opened wide, revealing a gaping chasm.
From within the depths, faint light pulsed in intricate patterns along the walls—giant polyglyphs, carved so deep they seemed older than the land itself. They glowed in slow rhythm, each line and curve humming faintly in a language that no one present recognized.
Ezra tilted her head. "I can't read it. It's not in any rune index I know."
Gideon narrowed his eyes. "Looks like a map. Or a warning."
The Codex of Imreth in Eliakim's mind was strangely silent, as if considering the patterns. Finally, its voice returned—muted, almost hesitant. Not even I can read this tongue.
But as Eliakim stared, something strange happened. The black smoke—thin, shifting, alive—began to curl and weave through the glyphs. And he realized, with a cold certainty, that he was not the only one who saw it.
Nathaniel's head turned slightly, eyes narrowing at the same place Eliakim was looking. His voice was almost too low to hear. "You see it too."
Eliakim didn't answer.
Why could only they see it?Was Nathaniel a half-demon like him?Or was it the ring—its whispered promises binding him to the same unseen corruption?
No answers came. Only the slow, steady pulse of the glyphs.
Then Eliakim's bracelet warmed against his wrist. The Bracelet shifted faintly, as if urging him. Without thinking, he raised his right arm toward the chasm.
The glyphs' glow faltered, dimmed… and then vanished entirely, as if pulled into the air and swallowed by nothing.
Gideon blinked. "What the hell just happened?"
Ezra stepped forward, peering into the chasm. "They just… disappeared. Like they were never there."
No one saw Eliakim's hand lower. No one noticed the faint golden shimmer that lingered at the edge of his bracelet's links—shimmering from the Bracelet of Kharuun, the ancient artifact that formed the bracelet's true body. In ages past, it was said to store mythical objects, even those bound to the laws of other realms. Now, its hunger had claimed the polyglyphs, hiding them away in the secret vault only Eliakim could open.
The Codex whispered in his mind, It can store mythical objects… even those that should not exist.
Eliakim's fingers brushed the bracelet again, but his face remained unreadable. "Let's move," he said simply.
Nathaniel glanced at him once more—just long enough to let Eliakim know the assassin suspected something—then turned away, continuing toward the deeper mist.
Above them, the Emberroot sky darkened, as if the land itself knew they had taken something from it.