The color of night had vanished entirely from Almagh's gray skies.
A silence had settled over the forest — so deep that even the wind had forgotten its direction.
Lian sat before a small fire;
its flame wavered between violet and orange,
uncertain — much like his soul.
He was tired.
Body, mind, and the quiet whisper he carried within him.
When he closed his eyes, the world began to fade away.
The veil of the spirit realm drew back, thin as breath —
and there, he saw the echo of himself.
A dark chamber.
No ground. No sky.
Only a void of gray mist mingled with violet light.
And at the center of that void, a figure stood.
Human in shape, yet fluid in outline.
It had no face — only a reflection.
"At last… we can speak."
Its voice was no longer an echo.
It was clear, deep, and disturbingly calm.
Lian took a step forward.
"So it's you," he said. "The Void."
"No," the being replied softly.
"I am only the echo within you.
Not the whole of the Void.
But if you cannot face me,
you will never face it."
The violet glow around Lian flared,
but it did not bridge the distance between them.
The light was swallowed,
as though the air itself devoured it.
"Why did you choose me?"
Lian's voice was quiet.
"I choose no one," said the being.
"It is humans who call to me.
When they silence their fear,
when they bury their pain…
I am born."
"So I called you, then."
"Yes.
The day you lost your friend."
Lian's expression froze.
A vision flickered before his eyes —
a lake stained with blood,
a fading violet glow,
a body slipping through his trembling hands.
It had been a spiritual failure —
an attempt to save a soul,
that instead had bound it to the wrong path.
And in that moment… something had broken.
"So guilt created you?"
Lian's tone was almost mocking.
"No.
Your power shaped me.
I am the part of you that refuses to accept pain —
yet cannot ignore it."
Lian drew a slow breath.
"So I must fight you."
"No.
You cannot fight me.
Because if I fight, you lose."
"Then what do you want?"
The being stepped closer.
Its face began to take shape —
its eyes… identical to Lian's.
"I want only this — let me hear.
I must listen to the rest of Zeharra."
"You would have me allow the Void to spread?"
"Not spread.
Understand.
The Wardens of Light suppress,
the Soul Hunters destroy —
but no one listens.
The more emotions are silenced,
the stronger we grow.
We are the forgotten feelings."
Lian said nothing.
The words made sense — and yet, they were perilous.
If he could hear the Void,
perhaps he could also control it.
But that path allowed no return.
Within him, a balance began to form.
Violet light on one side, gray mist on the other.
The being reached out a hand.
It was not entirely dark —
more like something missing, a gap in form.
"Find balance with me," it said.
"Do not destroy. Do not suppress. Balance."
Lian reached out…
and when their hands met, the world fell silent.
For an instant, everything collapsed —
time, space, light.
Lian's consciousness scattered among a thousand voices:
children's cries, battle shouts, whispers of love…
all the echoes of Zeharra.
And in that moment, Lian saw what the Void truly was —
not a single being,
but the sum of all that humanity had forgotten.
With that realization, his soul changed once more.
This time, the darkness did not taint the violet.
Instead, the color began to reflect gray —
not emptiness,
but the silent harmony of all hues.
When Lian opened his eyes, the fire had gone out.
Morning had come.
But the daylight carried a different tone now —
the sky no longer gray,
but pale lavender,
between violet and ash.
"The first step," he murmured.
"To fight the Void is not the way…
to understand it is."
He sat in silence for a long while.
The echo within him was no longer a separate voice,
but a quiet instinct.
And for the first time,
he did not feel alone.
Far to the north of Almagh,
a shadow began to rise.
The Wardens of Light had not withdrawn.
They were watching him.
And this time, not only they —
the true form of the Void was beginning to awaken.
Darkness no longer moved beneath Zeharra.
It stirred within the hearts of its people.