The sky bled light.
Not red. Not gold. But something unnatural—white laced with void, spilling in ribbons through a jagged crack high above the western horizon. For the first time in living memory, the stars themselves looked afraid.
And far below, in the broken heart of Citadel Varn, people began to whisper.
> "The Devourer lives."
"The Vault has been opened."
"The old names are returning."
---
Kael stood at the highest terrace of the Citadel's western watchtower, wind whipping at his cloak as he stared at the fracture in the heavens. His mind was quiet—but his heartbeat wasn't.
Since emerging from the Chamber of Remembrance, something inside him had changed. His senses were sharper. His awareness stretched. He could hear whispers no one else heard. Feel pulses in the walls—in the people.
Eira stood beside him, silent.
She hadn't spoken since they left the Chamber.
Not truly.
Not since the Trial.
Her eyes still flickered with silver when she thought no one was watching. Her skin was paler now—like the light had stained her.
She wasn't the same.
Neither of them were.
---
The Citadel's ruling council had called an emergency assembly. It wasn't a meeting—it was a battle in waiting.
Kael entered the hall with Vireya and Arion at his flanks. The chamber buzzed with tension. Every faction was present:
The Praetors of Steel — military lords with iron implants and war blood.
The Vaultborn Technocrats — whispering scientists who spoke in equations.
The Flame Creed — religious zealots who called the sky fracture a divine omen.
The Silent Orders — spies and assassins, faces veiled, motives unknown.
The Outer Enclave Envoys — representatives from beyond the Citadel, cloaked in foreign dust and fear.
As Kael entered, silence rippled.
Some bowed.
Others flinched.
A few stared with hatred thinly veiled.
Marshal Verdan, a scarred relic of three wars, rose from the central seat. His voice cracked through the air like a whip.
> "You were ordered to seal the Vault, Kael. Instead, you woke something. Explain. Now."
Kael stepped forward, eyes unflinching.
"I followed protocol until it failed. The Herald breached our defenses. He came for her. The Chamber judged her. And us."
One of the Technocrats leaned forward, mechanical eye whirring. "You activated the Chamber of Remembrance. That chamber is locked for a reason. Its seal predates the city itself."
Vireya interjected sharply. "You should be thanking him. Without Kael, the Herald would've taken the girl and shattered the Vault."
Gasps rippled. Whispers. The girl. The girl.
Eira stood behind them, unmoving. Watching.
The head of the Flame Creed spoke next. His golden robes shimmered in the fractured light leaking through the window slits.
> "The girl bears the name of the First Voice."
"Azherah is written in the Doomsong. She is the Harbinger. The Mouth reborn."
"She must be executed before He awakens fully."
Kael's body tensed.
He reached for his sword—but Eira spoke first.
Her voice echoed unnaturally. Calm. Clear.
> "Kill me… and you lose your only chance to survive what's coming."
---
The chamber erupted.
Arguments turned to threats. Words turned to posturing. For a moment, Kael thought someone might actually draw a weapon.
Then—
A sound.
Like a thunderclap inside the mind.
Everyone froze.
The Vault's seal had collapsed.
Arion looked down at the comm-unit embedded in his bracer. The runes flickered.
> "Incoming surge… breach detected… Level Seven containment is compromised."
Kael's mouth went dry.
Level Seven housed the relic zone. Sealed monstrosities. Forgotten weapons.
"Where?" Kael asked.
Arion's face turned pale.
> "The Cradle of Origin."
---
Eira turned to Kael, her voice trembling but certain.
> "They're testing us. Sending echoes. Probing. The Devourer's attention isn't fully here yet… but it's watching through the cracks."
Kael frowned. "Can you feel it?"
Eira looked away.
> "I don't need to. I hear it. Every time I close my eyes."
---
The Council issued its decision:
The Vault must be sealed by force.
Eira placed under permanent stasis.
Kael relieved of command and confined.
Kael laughed bitterly. "So we're doing this the stupid way."
Marshal Verdan's voice turned cold. "You betrayed your oaths."
Kael stepped forward.
"I protected this Citadel when you hid behind shields. I bled in the Wastes while you debated from towers. And now, when you need someone to face the truth—you try to silence us."
He looked across the chamber.
"I won't let you bury her."
---
As soldiers stepped forward to detain them, Vireya dropped a smoke shard and shouted, "Go!"
In seconds, chaos erupted.
Kael grabbed Eira's hand, and together with Arion and Vireya, they vanished into the Citadel's under-levels—chased by their own brothers-in-arms.
The city no longer trusted them.
The Council had branded them traitors.
Above them, the sky crack widened.
And far in the Wastes, something ancient began to stir beneath the sand—something that once knelt before Azherah.