The doors shut behind her with a heavy, echoing thud.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Not cold darkness.
Not empty darkness.
Living darkness.
Aware. Listening.
Elara took a steady breath. Her mark glowed faintly beneath her tunic, spreading soft blue-gold light into the void.
"Hello?" she whispered.
Her voice drifted outward, swallowed instantly.
Then—
A soft pulse answered.
From the floor.
Elara looked down.
Symbols—thousands of tiny runes—lit up beneath her feet one by one, forming a path that stretched into the darkness like a trail of stars.
She followed.
Her footsteps were silent. The air was weightless, motionless. The Vault felt less like a room and more like a memory of a world that had once breathed magic into its bones.
As she walked, the runes changed shape beneath her gaze, forming words she could not fully understand but somehow felt.
Creation.
Balance.
Shadow.
Light.
Bond.
Her heart tightened at the last word.
Kael.
She tried not to think of him waiting outside, pacing, shadows sparking uncontrollably every time he imagined losing her again.
She kept walking.
After a long moment, the path widened into a chamber made of glowing crystal. Vines of light wove across the walls. A pool of silver liquid rippled at the center, reflecting nothing—not her, not the room, not the light.
Just emptiness.
Elara approached slowly.
The moment she touched the water—
The room ignited.
Light burst upward in a pillar, swirling with shadow and flame. A shape formed inside it—tall, indistinct, but familiar in a way that made her blood hum.
Footsteps echoed.
And then…
A man stepped from the pillar.
Tall. Cloaked. His hair dark as night. His eyes—two swirling galaxies of shadow and starlight. Power radiated off him in waves so heavy Elara nearly fell to her knees.
She couldn't speak.
Couldn't breathe.
The man tilted his head, studying her with an expression both curious and impossibly gentle.
"Daughter."
Elara's legs almost buckled.
Her voice came out as a whisper.
"Father?"
The word felt strange—like it belonged to someone else's life.
The Shadowborn King smiled—an echo of the softness she had seen in her mother.
"You have her eyes," he murmured.
Her heart twisted painfully.
"What… what are you?" Elara whispered. "A spirit? A memory?"
He shook his head. "An echo of power left behind. My true form lies beyond the Veil. But this… this is enough for now."
Elara swallowed, stepping closer. "Why did you leave us? Why did you leave my mother alone?"
His expression changed—shadow crossing the starlight in his eyes.
"I did not leave her," he said quietly. "I was taken."
Elara froze. "Taken? By who?"
"By the Devourer."
The chamber trembled.
He continued, voice heavy with a grief so deep it seemed centuries old.
"I helped the First Healer seal the Devourer. But it demanded balance—a sacrifice. I took her place. I became the tether that keeps the Devourer dormant."
Elara staggered backward.
"You're… holding the Devourer back?"
"Yes," he whispered. "And I have done so for centuries. But the seal weakens. It wears me down. And with every year, the Devourer claws closer to breaking free."
Elara's breath came fast. "Then—then why did you not tell anyone? Why didn't you warn us?"
"I tried," he said. "Your mother knew. And that is why she hid you. You were the only future with the power to mend what is breaking."
Elara pressed a hand to her mouth. "You mean… the prophecy is about me."
"No," he said softly. "The prophecy is about choices. Yours most of all."
The chamber dimmed.
Her father's form flickered slightly—cracks of light forming along his silhouette.
"You awakened the Second Seal," he said. "And with it, your connection to me."
Elara's chest tightened. "Can I save you? Can I free you?"
He smiled sadly.
"No, my child. If the tether breaks, the Devourer awakens instantly. There is no freedom for me. Only delay."
A tear slid down her cheek.
"Father…"
His expression shifted—shadows swirling behind his gaze.
"Elara."
His voice turned urgent. "Listen carefully. You must not trust the Elders. Nor the Sanctuary. They will try to use you as a weapon—to control the seals themselves."
"I already knew that," Elara said bitterly.
"But there is more." His voice fell. "The Devourer is awakening faster because another seal has been tampered with."
Elara stiffened.
"What do you mean? Which seal?"
"The Third Seal," he said. "The one linked to Kael's curse."
Her heart dropped. "Kael?"
"Yes," her father said, face grave. "Your bond stabilizes him. But the curse he carries—the origin of the Hollowborn—is tied to the Third Seal. If it breaks…"
Words failed him.
Elara whispered, "What happens?"
"The Hollowborn evolve," he said. "Become something worse. Something intelligent. And Kael… he becomes the Devourer's vessel."
Elara's knees hit the floor.
"No. No—he's fought it for centuries. He won't—"
"He won't have a choice," her father said quietly. "Unless the seal is reforged."
Elara looked up, tears falling freely. "Then how do I fix it?"
"You cannot," he said.
The world shattered.
Her father knelt before her, touching her cheek gently with a hand made of light.
"You cannot fix it alone."
Elara's breath echoed in the cavern.
"Then who can?"
Her father smiled softly.
"Kael."
She shook her head violently. "No. He's terrified of it. He doesn't even understand the full curse—he doesn't know—"
"He will," her father said sadly. "Or he will die."
Elara's vision blurred. "Father… please. There must be another way."
"There is not."
The Vault dimmed again.
Her father's form flickered—cracking like glass.
"Elara."
His voice trembled. "My time is ending. Listen closely. You must—"
The chamber shook violently.
The light flickered.
A roar echoed from beyond the Veil—terrifying, furious, ancient.
The Devourer.
Her father jerked violently, as though something had grabbed him.
"FATHER!"
He strained against invisible chains.
"Elara—listen—RUN—do NOT—trust—"
His form collapsed in on itself—
A shockwave blasted through the Vault—
And the echo shattered.
The chamber fell silent.
Elara collapsed to the floor, sobbing, reaching for a man who was no longer there.
Each breath was a knife.
Her father was alive.
Holding back the Devourer.
Dying slowly.
And Kael—
Kael was the key to the Third Seal.
She pressed a trembling hand to her chest, whispering:
"I won't let them take you. Not him. Not my father. Not anyone."
She stood on shaking legs.
Her power flickered around her like wings of shadow and gold.
"I will rewrite fate if I have to."
The Vault whispered around her—approving.
Then the doors burst open—
Kael rushed in, eyes wild, shadows spiraling violently.
"Elara!"
He caught her as she stumbled, pulling her against him.
"What happened?" he whispered desperately. "I felt the world shake—I thought—I thought—"
She buried her face in his shoulder, voice breaking.
"Kael… it's you."
He froze.
"What about me?"
"Elara," he whispered, hands shaking as he held her. "Tell me."
She lifted her head, tears clinging to her lashes.
"The Third Seal," she whispered. "It's tied to your curse."
Kael stiffened.
"And if it breaks…"
Her voice cracked.
"You become the Devourer's vessel."
His blood ran cold.
And the entire Veiled Path trembled—
As if destiny itself exhaled.