A raw silence stretched across the chamber.
Elaria lay motionless, her body curled upon the runic circle that had glowed so violently mere moments ago. The pulsing light had faded, replaced by eerie, ghostlike embers that shimmered and vanished into the air like the last breaths of a dying fire.
Kael stood above her, his chest heaving with the effort of restraining the magic that now surged through his veins like wildfire. His skin glistened with sweat, and his pupils remained dilated—tinged with crimson, a side effect of touching the Ethereal Vein.
"She's not waking up," he whispered hoarsely.
Liora knelt beside Elaria and pressed her ear against her chest. Her brow furrowed. "She's alive… but it's like her mind is somewhere else."
They had followed the old manuscript's ritual precisely, invoking the First Seal of Veyrith, hoping to awaken the dormant energy hidden inside Elaria's bloodline. The ritual was not only forbidden—it was irreversible. The price for such power wasn't merely physical. It reached deeper.
Kael had hoped they'd be ready.
They weren't.
A tremor passed through the floor. The markings surrounding Elaria flickered, and from her lips came a breath so cold it formed mist in the air.
Kael reached for her hand. "Elaria. Please. Come back."
Liora watched him with silent concern. This was no longer just about Elaria's potential. Something else had stirred during the awakening—something older, primal, and watching.
And then—
A gasp.
Elaria sat up sharply, eyes wide open.
Only… they weren't her eyes.
Where once a soft hazel gaze had lived, now glimmered a deep, iridescent silver. Not reflective, not entirely opaque—just… not human. The temperature in the room dropped, the candle flames shrunk and flickered as if reacting to her presence.
Kael stepped back, unsure.
"Elaria?"
She looked at him, her head tilting like a curious child seeing the world for the first time. And then she smiled—but not with her lips. It was something colder, more instinctual. A presence smiled through her.
"You did well to follow the rite," she said in a voice layered with echoes. "But you have only unlocked the threshold. The gate... remains."
Liora drew her dagger instinctively. "That's not her voice."
"No." Kael shook his head. "It's something... inside her."
The being inside Elaria slowly stood, her posture fluid yet regal—unnaturally precise. She brushed her fingers over the stone walls and hummed a strange tune that caused the very air to thrum.
"I am not here to harm you," the voice said, softer now. "You summoned me by blood and rite. I am Elenai, Fragment of the Forgotten Chorus. Long before your ancestors built this tower, I existed. A memory, imprisoned within Elaria's lineage."
Kael dared to ask, "Why now? Why her?"
The entity blinked slowly, and for a moment, the silver in her eyes faded—revealing Elaria's terrified soul beneath, like a candle buried under frost.
"She was born at a time when the veils between worlds began to thin," Elenai answered. "And your meddling has hastened what must come."
Liora lowered her dagger but did not put it away. "Then what must come?"
Elenai's gaze turned distant, as if watching events unfold in dimensions beyond time. "The Convergence. The Fates have aligned once more. Worlds are bleeding into each other. This body—your Elaria—is the Tether."
Kael's jaw clenched. "So we've doomed her."
Elenai turned to him. "Not doomed. Chosen. Her will remains. I am but a flicker, guiding what she will become."
And then her form trembled. A sharp intake of breath—Elaria's own—escaped her lips, and she collapsed again, as if the weight of what inhabited her was too much to hold.
Kael caught her.
He cradled her trembling body in his arms. "Elaria? Are you in there?"
Her fingers twitched, and she whispered so faintly he had to lean in close.
"I… I saw it, Kael. The other side. The sky was black… and the stars were screaming."
Liora's eyes widened.
"She saw the Astral Collapse," Liora murmured. "The prophecy…"
Elaria coughed and tried to sit up. "There's more. A voice—no, many voices. They're coming. I heard a name—Varenth."
At that, Kael's blood ran cold.
Varenth wasn't just a name. It was a sealed gate, a sealed god. A legend spoken in half-truths and desperate prayers. And if it was waking…
They didn't just wake Elaria.
They invited the end.
Later That Night
Elaria slept in the high tower chamber, guarded by every rune Liora knew how to carve. Kael remained outside, staring into the stormy horizon.
He could feel it. The world was shifting.
A chill wind blew past him and carried with it whispers in no known tongue. He clutched the old journal tighter. It had gotten them this far—but every step deeper into this path came with heavier costs.
Liora joined him, her voice quiet. "She won't be the same."
"I know," Kael replied. "But I'll walk with her to the end."
They stood together in silence, watching lightning streak across the sky, illuminating the strange crack forming in the heavens.