"This place feels wrong."
Although Lila's voice was hardly more than a whisper, it could have passed for a scream in the oppressive quiet of the subterranean vault.
Grayson remained silent. He tightened his hold on the lantern, guiding its faint, fluttering light around the rugged stone walls. They pulsed slightly, almost like breathing, the symbols engraved into them. Observing.
Emery shuddered. No, she had only imagined that. Most likely.
Clara traced a sign with her fingertips and muttered, "I don't think this was meant to be found." Beneath her fingertips, a light shimmer rippled and vanished as fast.
With his jaw fixed, Grayson let out a short exhale. "We will not go back."
And with that, he rushed ahead.
With each stride, the air grew thicker and pressed down on them like an invisible force. They were drawn farther into the darkness by the narrowing wet stone walls. Their footfall sounded strangely, as if the vault itself could hear them.
The stairway then came to an end.
A huge, round room filled with darkness extended in front of them. And there was a huge obsidian obelisk in the middle, looming over everything.
Emery gasped for air.
It wasn't only standing there. It was bound, encased in thick chains with blazing runes engraved on them, each link throbbing like a heartbeat.
It felt wrong in some way.
As if it were more than an artefact.
As if it were living.
"This isn't a vault," Grayson said in a strained voice. As realisation set in, his fingers clenched into a fist.
With the weight of something invisible bearing down on them all, his eyes were fixed on the obelisk.
"It is a prison."
"Step away." Although the voice was quiet, the order echoed like a bell around the room.
They pivoted.
A man wearing dark black robes stood at the room's edge. Even though his face was hidden by a hood, it was clear how serious his eyes were.
The Keeper.
"You don't know what you're awakening."
Lila stiffened. "What is this?"
She went unnoticed by the Keeper. He had Grayson in his sights. "Something that ought to have been forgotten, or let go."
Emery felt her heart pound in her ears. So why keep it locked away? Why not destroy it?
Slowly, the Keeper let out a breath. "Because it's not always possible to destroy."
Grayson could hardly hear them.
His heart pounded in his skull at a deafening pace, and his chest felt constricted. He heard something calling to him in a language he didn't comprehend.
It had been holding out.
He twitched his fingers. He leaned forward and pressed his hand against the obelisk's chilly, smooth surface before he even knew what he was doing—
The air was shattered by a roar.
White-hot runes flared as the chains caught fire. Everyone staggered back as a burst of raw power surged from the obelisk.
A deep, old, ravenous voice blazed through Emery's mind as she gasped and gripped her head.
"At last."
The world then started to shatter.
"This wasn't meant to hold power."
Emery stepped back, her breath catching in the unusual cold, and her voice faltered.
"It was meant to contain something."
The markings on the obelisk flickered like dying coals as it pulsed once again. The air grew heavier, pushing down on them with a conscious weight.
There was a deep, bone-chilling laugh in the vault.
"Very good, child."
Grayson tensed. The voice wasn't coming from just one place; it was coming from everywhere, like ghostly fingers curling around their ribcage and pressing into their heads.
The chains rattled after that.
"The vault at Blackwell..." The voice was old and ravenous, like silk and smoke. "Desperation built into a cage." Not to be wealthy. Not to keep secrets, but to keep myself in place.
Lila's gaze expanded. "Who are you? What are you?"
The atmosphere changed. After one pulse of the obelisk, a figure emerged, the darkness extending and twisting into the hazy silhouette of a man.
Emery said the words in a whisper, "The Shadowbound King."
With ember-lit eyes and a shifting fog of shadow on its face, the monster grinned. "Oh. My name is well known to you. Then you must also be aware of the Blackwell bloodline's reality.
Grayson's heart pounded. He didn't respond.
He was not required to do so by the Shadowbound King. It was aware already.
The creature purred, "Your family did not use steel and sweat to build their empire. They purchased it. A blood-sealed contract that bound them to me. I was the source of their riches and influence."
Emery felt sick in her stomach.
The shadow went on, its voice wrapping around them like smoke, "But pacts demand payment." For a throne, souls. Until one idiot tried to break the bond, generations of Blackwells owed their lives.
"Alexander," said Grayson in a whisper.
His dad.
The Shadowbound King hummed softly in amusement. "He made an effort. However, it is always more expensive to terminate a contract than to keep it.
Grayson had a dry throat. "How much did that cost?"
The darkness grew deeper. The temperature dropped.
"Everything."
The creature then leaned closer and met Grayson's eyes with ember-lit eyes.
"The last heir is you."
Deep in his bones' marrow, the words slithered into his head.
"I will make you greater than your father ever imagined if you let me go," the Shadowbound King muttered.
Grayson sensed it.
The burden of centuries. Something ancient was pulsing for him.
The Shadowbound King repeated, "Free me," in a softer, almost enticing voice. "And the world will bow to you."
The illumination dimmed as the inscriptions on the chains flickered. Like a waiting beast, the shadows coiled closer to Grayson's feet.
The draw was palpable to him. The assurance.
It purred, "Consider what you could do." "You could destroy the Shadow Order with my power. Take out your adversaries. Change the world to suit your needs.
Grayson's fists clenched. His ribs were hammered by his heart.
The Shadowbound King, however, was not done yet.
"Or," it whispered, its voice gliding through the atmosphere like silk, "you could leave me here."
Suddenly, the vault seemed smaller. The walls are closing in.
The thing went on, "If you don't leave me, you'll still be pursued." The covenant is still upheld by the Order. They won't give up until the last Blackwell is forgotten.
Grayson breathed quickly.
He had two options.
Unleash it to acquire unquestionable power.
Or leave it behind and run for the rest of his life.
He sensed that people were observing him. Awaiting.
However, the voice in his head was the only sound he could hear.
"Choose, heir."
"We don't have time for this, we need to decide..."
The air was broken by the gunfire.
A red bloom blossomed across the Keeper's chest as his body trembled uncontrollably. Time seemed to stop for a second, and he stumbled to his knees, his eyes wide with surprise. Then he let out a quiet sigh and fell.
"No..." Lila let out a gasp.
Grayson's heart slammed against his ribs as he swung around.
Smoke curled from the barrel of Sarah's rifle as she stepped behind them.
"Sarah?"
She didn't give him a regretful glance. She didn't flinch at all. She held the weapon steadily. Managed.
"I apologise, Grayson," she murmured in a strangely composed tone. "But this war was never meant for you to win."
Emery gasped for air. "You..." "She belongs to the Shadow Order."
Grayson's own voice sounded hollow and faraway. He was urged to reject it by his thoughts. But he could see the truth clearly.
Sarah's head tipped slightly. "With them?" she repeated, her lips forming an almost pitying curve. "No, Grayson. I am them."
Hot and harsh, the weight of treachery sank into his chest. He reflected on all those occasions, when she paused, when she gently nudged them in the direction of this vault, now. It was never a coincidence.
From the beginning, she had guided him to this point.
Grayson's voice was dangerously low as he continued, "You used me."
With a little sigh, Sarah lowered her rifle a little but left it in her hand. "I took the necessary action. The Blackwells have already escaped their doom.
Emery yelled, "The Shadowbound King was never intended to be released."
With an enigmatic expression, Sarah turned to face her. So why does he give Grayson a call? What makes him such a fantastic fit for this story? She stepped closer to Grayson and turned back to him. "You sense it, don't you? The draw. The reality. You were destined to complete the task that your ancestors began.
Grayson's fists clenched.
The obelisk pulsed once more behind him, fractures creeping through the surface. The vault shook.
He needed to decide something.
A roar echoed through the room, deep and unnatural.
Dark energy crackled through the air, a furious pulse that sent shock waves shooting outward, and the obelisk broke.
As the shadows came to life, Sarah took a step back.
Lila was flung off her feet before she could even grasp the stone altar.
She yelled, "Grayson!" but he hardly heard her.
Because he was hearing from the darkness.
"Your bloodline led you here."
The vault shook. Runes died and flared.
"You were never meant to be just a man, Grayson Blackwell."
The walls were devoured by the shadows, causing the estate's foundations to collapse.
Their second thought was, "Take my power."
The obelisk cracked with a final, thunderous crack that sent a wave of raw, unnatural energy across the vault, splitting the air. Sarah grinned as she saw the essence of the Shadowbound King emerge from its captivity, evil tendrils reaching out towards him.
Emery grabbed him. "Don't, Grayson!"
He had seconds to make up his mind.
Run. Leave the Shadowbound King imprisoned, but you will always be cursed and hunted.
Embrace its might and turn into the monster his father dreaded.
Grayson let out a breath.
His thoughts became calm.
Then... He moved ahead.
"I determine my own destiny."