The forest beyond Ashmoor was cold, ancient, and cursed with silence.
The kind of silence that wasn't empty — but watching.
Kael and Lyra walked side by side, their boots crunching against wet leaves and broken roots. Neither spoke for nearly an hour. There was still blood on Kael's shirt. Lyra had a scratch down her cheek. The mercenaries had slowed them down, but not stopped them.
Eventually, they reached a small clearing beneath a half-burned tree. Lyra dropped her bag.
"We rest here. One night. Then I disappear."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "Disappear? That's dramatic."
"I'm an assassin. It's the job."
She lit a small fire with flint and tinder, her hands steady as always. Kael sat across from her, his back against a rock. Shadows still flickered around his fingers like they didn't want to sleep.
He stared into the flames.
"You hesitated. Back in the vault."
Lyra didn't look at him. "So?"
"Why?"
"Why did you let me walk away?" she shot back.
"Touché."
For a moment, only the fire spoke.
🌌 Later that night…
Lyra sat sharpening her blade. Kael sat silent, staring up at the stars — distant, cold, uncaring.
"You know," she said finally, "you weren't the only one who lost everything ten years ago."
Kael looked at her. Her face was still hard — but her voice... had cracks.
"The palace massacre," he said. "You were there."
"Not just there. I wasn't supposed to survive."
She paused. Her voice barely a whisper now.
"My master… used me as bait. Told me to distract the guards while he got to your father. I was fourteen. I didn't know better."
Kael's throat tightened.He'd never thought about what the other side of that day looked like.
"You weren't the only one betrayed," she said. "We just… wore different crowns."
Silence again. He could hear the fire crackling. And his own heart pounding.
Then — pain.
🩸 Kael's POV
Sudden heat surged through his chest. The shadows coiled tighter around his ribs.
He gasped.
"Kael?" Lyra stood up quickly. "What's happening?"
Kael's eyes flashed violet — brighter than ever. He stumbled to his knees as his hands hit the ground.
"It's the shard… it's waking something else…"
His back arched. His skin lit up with crimson runes, glowing like ancient scars.
"Not now — not here!" he yelled, clenching his fists.
The shadows around him didn't attack.They formed a ring — a protective seal, a cocoon of flickering black flame.
Lyra watched, half in awe, half in fear.
"Is this… another Vein?" she whispered.
🌑 Vision (Inside Kael's Mind)
Kael stood in a storm of ash.
Ahead of him, a version of himself stood — taller, older, eyes hollow.
"You are the price your blood paid," the figure said."The Second Vein is yours. But it won't make you stronger — it will make you emptier."
"Then empty me," Kael whispered. "I'm already broken."
The figure reached out — and the runes burned brighter.
🧿 Reality
The light exploded outward.
Lyra shielded her eyes.
And when it faded... Kael stood still, his body now marked by two glowing sigils on his left arm — one for each Vein unlocked.
He looked at her, sweating, trembling... but alive.
"What the hell was that?" Lyra asked.
"Second Vein," Kael said. "Pain. Rage. Memory."
"Are you... still you?"
Kael looked at her — and didn't answer.
Elsewhere… in the halls beneath the empire
A door opened.
Thorne stood beside a chained, hooded creature — tall, twisted, silent.
The creature turned its head slightly as the chains shivered.
"Hollow King," Thorne said softly. "Your time is near. The prince is rising. And we will need your... hunger."
The creature's fingers twitched.
Then it smiled — with a mouth full of nothing.