The door did not close quietly.
It slammed.
Stone groaned against stone as the sanctum seals engaged, ancient runes igniting along the walls in a cascading pattern of blue-white light. The sound reverberated through Liora's bones, rattling her teeth, vibrating through the bond until it felt like her chest might crack open.
Then,
Silence.
Not the absence of sound.
The presence of it.
Liora lay sprawled on the cold stone floor, gasping, fingers curled tightly against her chest.
Every breath felt too shallow, too sharp as if her lungs no longer knew how to expand properly without permission.
"Kael…" she whispered.
There was no voice in response.
The bond was still there,wide, heavy, alive,but muffled, as if something thick had been wrapped around it. She could feel him distantly, like sensing heat through stone, but she couldn't reach him.
Panic surged.
She pushed herself up on trembling arms, vision blurring.
The chamber she'd been left in was smaller than the main sanctum,circular, windowless, carved directly into the mountain rock. Sigils covered every surface, etched deep and glowing faintly pulsing in slow, synchronized rhythms.
A cage.
Not for her body.
For whatever she was becoming.
Footsteps echoed.
Liora spun just as the door opposite her slid open.
Maeven entered first, composed as ever, followed by two Inquisitors clad in dark armor etched with suppression glyphs. Between them walked Aldric, shoulders slumped, staff dim, his gaze fixed firmly on the floor.
Liora surged to her feet. "Where is he?"
Maeven's lips curved faintly. "Safe."
"That's a lie."
Maeven shrugged lightly. "As safe as he can be."
Aldric winced.
Liora stepped forward,and slammed into an invisible barrier. Pain shot through her skull, white-hot, dropping her to one knee with a cry.
"Don't," Aldric said quietly. "Please."
Her breath came in ragged gasps. "You said… observation."
"I did," he replied, voice heavy with regret. I didn't say consent.
Maeven clapped her hands once, sharply. "Enough."
The runes along the walls flared brighter.
"Lesson one," Maeven said calmly. You are not in control.
Liora glared up at her through tears. "You won't break me.
Maeven smiled. Everyone says that.
She gestured.
The room changed.
The air thickened, pressing down on Liora's shoulders, forcing her back to her feet. The runes on the floor rearranged themselves, lines crawling like living things, forming a complex sigil circle around her boots.
Pain bloomed in her chest.
The bond reacted violently,surging, thrashing, slamming against whatever muffled barrier separated her from Kael.
She screamed.
Maeven watched with clinical interest. "Fascinating response time."
"STOP!" Aldric snapped, stepping forward. "She hasn't been trained,"
"That is the training," Maeven said coolly.
Liora collapsed again, vision darkening at the edges. Memories flashed unbidden,Kael screaming, shadows tearing free, his eyes going black.
No.
She clenched her fists, teeth grinding as she forced herself to breathe through the pain.
I'm here, she thought desperately.
The bond pulsed.
Something answered.
The pressure eased,just slightly.
Maeven's eyes narrowed. "Again."
The sigils flared harder.
This time, Liora didn't scream.
She focused.
On Kael.
On the heat of his presence she could still feel, distant but real. On the way his voice had sounded through the bond,I'm still here.
Her heartbeat slowed.
The pain didn't disappear.
But it shifted.
Instead of tearing her apart, it flowed through her,down her spine, into her limbs, grounding instead of shattering.
The sigils flickered.
Maeven went very still.
Aldric stared.
"Well," Maeven murmured. "There it is."
The pressure vanished abruptly.
Liora collapsed to her hands and knees, shaking violently, sweat plastering her hair to her face.
"What… did you do?" Aldric whispered.
Liora looked up slowly. "I didn't fight it."
Maeven's smile sharpened. "Lesson two," she said. "Resistance is inefficient."
She crouched in front of Liora, lowering her voice. "The bond responds to alignment, not defiance."
Liora spat blood onto the stone. "You're enjoying this."
Maeven didn't deny it. "Knowledge always comes at a cost."
She stood. "Bring in the second array."
The Inquisitors moved instantly.
The floor split open.
Chains rose.
Not metal.
Light.
They wrapped around Liora's wrists and ankles, lifting her slightly off the ground. The bond surged in protest, pain flaring so sharply she screamed despite herself.
Somewhere,
Far away,
Something roared.
Maeven's head snapped up. "Interesting."
Aldric paled. "She's reaching him."
"Good," Maeven said softly. "Let's see how far."
She gestured again.
The chains pulled.
Not on Liora's body.
On the bond.
Liora cried out as a flood of sensations slammed into her,heat, cold, rage, terror. Kael's pain. Kael's fear. Kael's anger.
She saw flashes,
Stone walls.
Runes burning into flesh.
Shadows tearing free and slamming back.
His scream echoed inside her skull.
"KAEL!" she screamed.
The room shook.
Runes cracked.
Aldric shouted, "Maeven, stop! You're destabilizing both of them!"
Maeven's breath hitched,not in fear, but in exhilaration. "She's amplifying him."
Liora's vision went red.
"No," she snarled.
The chains flickered.
The sigils buckled.
Maeven stumbled back a step.
Liora felt it then.
Not just the bond.
Something else.
A presence beneath it.
Deep.
Ancient.
Watching.
The same thing that had stirred when the Nightbeast died.
The thing that had opened its eyes.
Her heart thundered painfully as instinct,not thought,took over.
She reached.
Not outward.
Down.
The chains shattered in a burst of light.
Maeven was thrown backward, slamming into the wall hard enough to crack stone.
The chamber went dark.
Silence crashed down, absolute and stunned.
Liora dropped to the floor, gasping, staring at her hands.
They were glowing.
Faintly.
Aldric staggered forward. "Liora…"
She looked up at him, terrified. "I didn't mean to."
Maeven rose slowly from the rubble, blood at the corner of her mouth.
Her eyes burned with something close to reverence.
"Magnificent," she breathed. "You didn't draw power."
She laughed softly.
"You answered it."
The door behind her exploded inward.
Serin burst into the chamber, bow raised, eyes wild. "What did you DO?!"
Maeven turned, smiling. "I taught her."
Serin's gaze snapped to Liora, then widened in horror. "She's glowing."
Aldric whispered, "The conduit is active."
Maeven stepped closer again, unafraid. "Lesson three," she said gently. "You are not human anymore."
Liora shook her head violently. "I won't be your weapon."
Maeven's smile faded,just slightly. "That is not your choice."
The bond surged again.
Stronger.
Closer.
Kael's voice slammed into her mind like a scream breaking through water.
"LIORA,GET OUT!"
The floor cracked.
The mountain groaned.
Alarms screamed through the sanctum.
Maeven turned sharply. "He's breaking containment."
Aldric swore. "He'll tear the sanctum apart!"
Liora surged to her feet. "Let me go to him!"
Maeven hesitated.
Just for a heartbeat.
Then the walls shook violently as shadows exploded outward from somewhere deep within the complex.
Kael's roar echoed through the stone.
Maeven's eyes shone.
"No," she said softly. "Let's see what happens when you don't."
The ceiling split.
Darkness poured in.
And something else began to climb through the cracks.