Kael returned to Emberlight with silence trailing him like smoke.
He did not speak of Therin.
Not yet.
But every motion he made—the tightening of his jaw, the pause before sleep, the way his eyes drifted to the eastern horizon as if expecting the Hollow to reach for him again—told Lirae all she needed to know.
He had seen something that cut deeper than blades.
And survived.
But barely.
⸻
Council of Concordance
The Emberlight inner circle convened beneath the Dome of Wills.
Archon Valarion presided, silver robes gleaming like moonlight.
"We've reviewed the sanctum echoes," he said. "You accessed the Hollow. Alone. You engaged a confirmed Hollow Flame. And you returned… with a wound touched by unbeing."
Kael said nothing.
They weren't asking.
They were judging.
Valarion continued, "You disobeyed protocol, broke through the Vaults, and risked the breach of our wards."
"Because your protocols fail to act when it matters," Kael said quietly. "Therin wasn't just a threat. He was a warning."
"A warning of what?"
Kael's gaze turned iron.
"The Circle is preparing something. That dagger wasn't a weapon. It was a key. And he wasn't trying to kill me."
Silence.
Then murmurs.
A key?
⸻
The Fragment Awakens
Later that night, Kael unlocked the meditation chamber deep within the Triune Relic's chamber.
The scar from Therin's blade still shimmered faintly along his ribs, glowing with a sickly silver hue.
As he meditated, the relic at his side pulsed.
The Immortal Legacy within—still fragmented, still wounded—stirred.
"You have touched the Hollow," it whispered in three voices at once. "And survived. Now… the path splits."
Kael closed his eyes.
"Show me."
The chamber darkened.
He was no longer in Emberlight.
He stood in a void of stars, with three thrones before him.
One of Body, glowing crimson and pulsing like muscle.
One of Mind, cold and labyrinthine, constructed of shifting mirrored planes.
One of Spirit, burning with ethereal fire, yet impossibly distant.
But a fourth throne had appeared.
Broken.
Corrupted.
Inverted.
"This wasn't here before," Kael muttered.
"Because it should not exist."
The relic trembled.
"The Circle is attempting to forge a fourth aspect… The Hollow Self. A parody of unity. A lie of power."
Kael's breath caught.
A false ascension?
A path that bypassed the Path of Syncretic Ascension… by unmaking the soul?
"The Immortal's Key was part of the Triune Design," the relic revealed, "but it was hidden before the War. If the Circle now holds a fragment—"
Kael opened his eyes.
"They'll try to awaken it."
"And succeed… if you do not."
⸻
The Key and the Flame
Kael returned to the Dome the next day—not to apologize, but to warn.
He laid out the evidence: the Hollow dagger, now sealed in stasis; the echo of the Circle's mark hidden on its hilt; and the dream fragment shown to him by the relic.
Valarion leaned forward.
"You're telling us that the Circle of the Hollow Veil has recovered a piece of the Immortal's Key? That they're trying to replicate ascension through un-being?"
"Yes."
"And you believe… this is why they resurrected Therin?"
Kael looked down, jaw tight.
"No. They didn't resurrect him. They twisted him."
Another silence.
Longer this time.
Then: "You'll need to find the remaining fragments," Valarion said.
Kael narrowed his eyes. "You believe me now?"
Valarion's smile was thin. "We always believed in your potential, Kael. But now we must believe in your necessity."
The words rang hollow.
But they opened the gates.
⸻
The Journey Begins Anew
Kael knew where he had to go first:
The Celestial Forge of Eldros—an ancient site where part of the Immortal Legacy had once been sealed, rumored to still contain echoes of the original crafting of the Key.
Lirae insisted on coming.
So did Riven.
"Yes, I hate you," the young warrior said. "But I hate being left behind more."
Kael didn't argue.
He needed them now.
They set out at dusk, riding upon windwalkers—beasts made of spirit-thread and air.
As they disappeared into the glowing horizon, a final whisper from the relic echoed in Kael's mind:
"If the Key is awakened by the wrong hands… it won't just unlock ascension."
"It will unlock the Devourers."