By dawn, the mist still clung to the trees like a thick veil, refusing to lift. Aria sat beside the glowing embers of their spent campfire, Ethan's silver chain gently resting in her hand. She couldn't sleep—not after what had happened the night before.
Kael was sharpening his sword a few feet away. He hadn't said much since the attack. The air between them felt heavier than usual.
"We need to move," he finally said. "They'll come again."
"Where?" Aria asked. "Where do we even go now?"
Kael looked at her, eyes serious. "There's one place left. The Chamber of Memory."
Aria had heard of it once — a myth, spoken only in stories passed among the Windborne. A chamber hidden deep beneath the spine of the world, said to hold echoes of the past, of people long gone… and truths that should have remained buried.
They set off immediately.
The journey took them through narrow ravines and across high ridges dusted with snow. The world grew colder, quieter. Even nature seemed to hold its breath.
When they reached the cliff edge known as the Stone Teeth, Kael found the sigil — a faded mark carved into the rock that only the Bound could see. He placed his palm on it.
A low tremor rolled through the earth.
Then, the rock split.
A staircase, ancient and steep, led down into blackness.
As they descended, the air turned icy. The walls shimmered faintly with glowing runes. The silence was complete — even their footsteps were swallowed by the shadows.
Finally, they reached the chamber.
It was vast, domed, lit by bluish flames floating in the air. In the center stood a crystal pillar, cracked and humming with power.
Aria approached it, feeling her bracelet pulse.
The moment she touched the crystal, her mind was pulled inward.
She stood suddenly in a vision — not a dream, but a memory.
She saw her parents. Her mother, younger, glowing with magic. Her father, holding a crying baby wrapped in sky-blue cloth — her. Behind them stood three figures: Tristan, Darius, and Ethan, but alive. Not spirits. Not souls trapped. Real.
Then, a voice:
"She carries the three because she was born to unite what was broken."
Aria gasped as the memory shattered. She stumbled backward, falling into Kael's arms.
"What did you see?" he asked.
"I… I saw them all. My parents. My brothers. They were alive… and I was the reason they gave everything up."
The crystal dimmed. The chamber trembled.
Kael looked around. "We need to leave. Now."
But as they turned, a deep rumble echoed through the walls.
From the darkness, a guardian awoke — shaped from stone and fire, forged to protect the truth Aria had just touched.
It roared — and the chamber shook.
The trial had begun.