Chapter 11: The Crownshard's Call
Theme: Temptation and Truth / The Heir's Dilemma
The journey from the Ember Vale left ash in their mouths and shadows at their heels.
Kael felt the weight of the five shards more heavily than ever—each one pulsing with its own rhythm, its own voice. Together, they were a chorus of power, but also of warning. He felt himself changing.
He no longer needed to light a torch to see in the dark. The wind moved when he gestured. He could calm water with a glance. Fire curled playfully around his fingers even as he slept.
Seraeth watched him with quiet worry.
Vaelen said nothing, but his spells now came slower, his staff more often leaning on him than the other way around.
They followed the stars north—toward the lost kingdom of Vareth Tal, buried beneath ice and time, where legend said the final shard lay entombed.
The Crownshard.
Not just a fragment of power.
But the heart of Aetherion itself.
---
As they neared the mountain pass to Vareth Tal, the weather turned. Snow fell in sheets, each flake cutting like glass. The wind howled with ancient sorrow.
Kael summoned fire to keep them warm, but even it flickered uncertainly in the presence of what lay ahead.
At the mouth of the pass stood two enormous statues—guardians of old, half-buried in snow. They had no faces, only smooth stone where eyes should be.
Vaelen paused. "These are the Watchers of Vareth. They see what others do not. Beyond this point, the world itself may betray you."
Kael nodded. "We've come too far to turn back."
They passed between the statues.
And reality shifted.
---
Inside the pass, time frayed.
Moments stretched. Days shortened. At times, they found themselves walking on paths they'd already taken. The wind whispered in Kael's own voice.
Seraeth screamed once, waking from a nightmare she swore had lasted years.
Vaelen bled from the nose, muttering spells under his breath like prayers.
Kael kept moving, the shards anchoring him to himself. But even he was beginning to hear… the song.
It was faint. Far off.
But it called to him.
A single note.
The Crownshard.
---
They finally reached the frozen gates of Vareth Tal on the twelfth day.
It was a city of ice and silence. Towering spires had collapsed under their own grandeur. Grand bridges lay shattered, connecting nothing.
In the center, encased in a pillar of blue crystal, floated the Crownshard.
It was unlike the others.
It was not elemental.
It was will.
And it saw Kael.
He stepped toward it, and the crystal cracked.
"Wait," Vaelen warned. "This is no simple relic."
But Kael couldn't stop.
The shard pulsed.
And the world fell away.
---
Vision: The Throne of Aetherion
Kael stood in a grand hall.
Golden banners hung above a throne of living stone, shifting with breath and memory. The ceiling opened to a sky filled with stars.
A figure sat on the throne.
It was Kael.
Older. Crowned. Eyes glowing with power so immense it bent the air.
The Crownshard hovered at his chest, merged with the others.
"You have come far," the future Kael said.
Kael stepped forward. "Is this… me?"
"It could be. It should be."
"I don't want to rule."
"You will. The shards demand it. They were not scattered to be hidden—they were scattered to be earned."
Kael looked away. "And if I refuse?"
The future Kael stood.
The throne wept blood.
"Then the Hollowed King becomes more than a tyrant. He becomes truth. And all you've done will be undone."
Kael felt the weight of the shard in his heart.
And he woke.
---
The crystal prison had shattered.
The Crownshard hovered before him.
Seraeth was on her knees, bleeding from the ears. Vaelen clutched his head, weeping.
Kael alone could see it clearly.
It was beautiful. Terrible. Infinite.
He reached out.
---
The moment he touched it, the shards flared.
And a voice filled the sky.
Not the Queen of Glass.
Not the Hollowed King.
Something older.
"The Crown is claimed. The Pact is renewed. The bearer ascends."
The mountain shook. Ice cracked. The city of Vareth Tal began to collapse.
"Run!" Vaelen cried.
Kael didn't move.
He was seeing… everything.
Memories not his own.
The forging of the shards.
The betrayal that shattered Aetherion.
The first bearer, who broke the world to save it.
And the truth:
The Hollowed King had once been a shardbearer.
The first.
---
They barely escaped the city as it collapsed into a crater of light. Snow turned to steam. Magic cracked the sky.
Kael collapsed on the far ridge, the shards quiet at last.
All six.
Fire, Water, Wind, Echo, Heartfire, and Crown.
He had them.
But now he knew:
The Hollowed King had never sought power.
He had sought release.
And now Kael understood why.
Because the shards were not just keys.
They were chains.
And the final lock…
Was Kael himself.
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End of Chapter 11