The forest ahead was dead.Not burned.Not cut.Just… forgotten.
No birds.No wind.Only silence that pressed against the skin.
Eron led the way.His steps sure, despite the missing arm.
Vael walked behind him.The crown whispered softly, but didn't scream.It was listening.
Reylen stayed close to Nyra.She hadn't spoken much since the Echo realm.Something had changed in her eyes.
"Why is it called the Ruined Vault?" Vael asked.
Eron didn't turn."Because what was sealed inside… wasn't meant to break."
They reached the edge.
A wide canyon split the land.At its center, a sunken structure—Half buried.Made of dark stone, smooth as glass.
It pulsed faintly.Alive.
"That's it," Eron said.
Nyra shivered."I feel it. Something ancient."
"It's not alive," Reylen said."But it's not dead either."
Vael stepped forward.The crown tightened.
Then—
A whisper.Not from within.From below.
"You brought it back."
The vault responded.The stone shimmered.A path formed, leading inward.
Eron sighed."Once we go in… there's no clear path out."
Vael nodded."I don't need a path.I just need the truth."
They descended.
Inside, it was colder.Walls shimmered like starlight.The air felt heavy.
Symbols lined the halls.Each one pulsed as Vael passed.
He could feel them reading him.Judging him.
Then they reached a door.No lock.No handle.
It opened on its own.
Beyond it—A vast chamber.
At its center—A crystal heart, floating in chains of silver.
Vael's breath caught.The crown burned.
"That's it," Eron said."The oldest Echo.The one that gave the first crown shape."
Vael stepped forward.
The crystal pulsed once.
Then broke.
A shockwave hit them all.Light. Memory. Screams.
Nyra collapsed.Reylen covered his face.
And from the shards—A form began to rise.
Not beast.Not man.
A shape made of grief, time, and war.
Eyes without mercy.A voice without sound.
And Vael heard it—
"You've come to forget.But I will make you remember."