Rain fell in sheets over the mountain pass, washing away the blood and ash of the rebellion's last skirmish. The northern winds howled like ancient beasts mourning something long gone — or perhaps, something about to return.
Lyn trudged forward, cloak soaked, his gaze locked on the distant peaks ahead. The mark on his chest pulsed with that same golden crack, faint but alive. Umbra moved alongside him, shadow against storm, silent until the path turned to stone and mist swallowed the horizon.
—You feel it too, don't you?
"The call?" Lyn's voice was a low murmur. "It's been louder since last night. The Seal's voice… it's not gone. It's splintering."
Umbra's eyes burned faint violet. —Fragments of the Seal's mind remain. When it broke, its memory scattered. The world hears it as storms. Earthquakes. Nightmares.
Rhea's voice called from behind, breathless but determined. "Then those dreams everyone's having—?"
"The Seal's dying thoughts," Lyn said grimly. "Echoing through every bond still tied to the old order."
They crested the ridge. Below them, the Valley of Mirrors stretched endlessly — a wasteland of shattered crystal plains, each reflecting the stormy sky above. The legends called it the place where gods fell asleep.
Umbra's wings unfurled, spreading shadows across the glassy ground. —This is where the Third Seal was born.
A pulse hit Lyn's chest, almost like a heartbeat that wasn't his. His breath hitched as the voice — fractured, broken, yet somehow alive — whispered again.
"You followed the chain… why?"
He froze. "Because you called me."
"I called none. I only remembered."
The shards of crystal around them trembled. From each reflection, faint figures emerged — outlines of tamers, beasts, gods — all half-formed, all fading.
Rhea stumbled back, eyes wide. "Spirits of the fallen… no, these are memories!"
Umbra's tone grew heavy. —Not memories. Echoes.
The ground cracked beneath them. A surge of white flame erupted, not fire but light, burning without heat. Lyn shielded his eyes — and through the glare, a colossal sigil appeared across the valley's floor.
Nine interlocking circles, each connected by golden chains.Eight were dim. The ninth flickered faintly — alive.
"The Third Seal…" Lyn whispered.
The air vibrated with a sound that wasn't quite a roar, wasn't quite a scream. Then came the voice — not a whisper now, but a thunder that shook the world itself.
"The Third… awakens."
Every beast bond across the continent — from the smallest familiars to ancient wyrms — howled in unison. The rebellion camps far away felt it too; beasts trembling, tamers clutching their marks in pain.
Rhea fell to her knees, eyes glowing faintly white. "Lyn—it's inside me too! It's— it's trying to show something—!"
Lyn knelt beside her, gripping her shoulders. "Stay with me! Tell me what you see!"
Tears streamed down her face. "A temple… beneath the sea of glass. Chains of light. And a throne that's empty."
The voice boomed again, shattering the reflections around them.
"The throne must not remain empty."
Umbra stepped forward, growl echoing through the storm. —It's searching for a new bearer. A new Seal Keeper.
Lyn's mark flared in violent gold. He clenched his fists as power surged through him, raw and ancient. "If it's looking for someone… it'll find me."
Umbra turned to him sharply. —You'd let it bind to you? After everything the Seals have done?
"If I don't, someone else will. Someone the Empire can control."
Rhea stood shakily, eyes still distant. "Then we find the temple. We find that throne before the Council does."
Lyn nodded once, determination hardening in his voice. "Then the Third Seal won't command us. We'll command it."
The storm broke above them — light tearing through the clouds, illuminating the path ahead. Beneath the Valley of Mirrors, the ground shimmered, forming the faint outline of a massive doorway of chained light.
Lyn stepped forward. Umbra followed. The storm roared behind them.
And as the first step echoed, the shattered voice whispered one last time:
"Then come, bearer of rebellion. Let the chains judge your heart."