Chapter 8 – The Sage in Chains
The journey had been long, but neither Kael nor Nyx expected what lay ahead.
At first, it was just smoke. Thick, black, and curling into the blood-red sky. Then the heat hit them — waves of it, carrying the stench of burning stone.
When they crested the ridge, Kael stopped dead in his tracks.
"…What in the hell is that?"
Below them stretched a ruined city, its streets swallowed by flames that burned with no fuel. At its center rose a tower — massive, windowless, and ancient. Four colossal chains stretched from its peak to titanic anchor points in the mountains, as if holding the entire structure in place. Its base had only one entrance: an enormous iron door engraved with sigils that pulsed faintly.
Nyx's crimson eyes narrowed. "That… is not supposed to be here."
"You've never seen it?" Kael asked, glancing at her.
She shook her head, her black hair catching the light of the flames. "No. And I don't like things I can't explain."
Kael stared at the tower a moment longer, curiosity gnawing at him. "So… we're going in, right?"
She shot him a flat look. "Curiosity kills more than just cats here."
"Good thing I'm not a cat," he said with a smirk.
Nyx sighed, muttered something about reckless idiots, then dissolved into shadow and slipped through the narrow seam of the iron door. A moment later, it creaked open from the inside.
The air within was cold — unnaturally so. The sound of the burning city outside vanished as if swallowed.
At the heart of the vast chamber sat a woman. She was seated on a simple stone dais, her long white hair cascading like a waterfall, her gaze fixed on them with quiet amusement. Her beauty was otherworldly — too perfect, too still.
"Visitors," she said softly, her voice echoing unnaturally in the chamber. "How rare."
Nyx didn't return the greeting. She folded her arms, her tone cool and sharp. "What is a woman like you doing in a place like this?"
The woman's pale lips curved in a faint smile. "I am Astrili, the Sage of Aethern. Immortal, keeper of knowledge beyond time. This place… is my prison, though I do not mind the solitude."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "An immortal sage locked in a tower with chains bigger than mountains? Sounds like a bad fairy tale."
Astrili's gaze shifted to him, lingering. "And you… carry Rift Magic."
The room seemed to darken at her words.
Nyx stiffened, her hand brushing the hilt of her weapon. "How do you know that?"
Astrili ignored her, eyes never leaving Kael. "You wish to leave this world, don't you?"
Kael stepped forward. "If you're really a sage, then tell me — is there a way out?"
For a moment, her expression softened, as though she might answer. But then she tilted her head slightly, as if deciding something in her mind.
"There are many paths in the Dead World," she said slowly. "Some lead deeper. Some… end abruptly."
"That's not an answer," Kael said, frowning.
Her smile returned, faint and knowing. "Answers are dangerous things, Riftbearer. Sometimes the wrong one will kill you faster than ignorance."
Nyx took a step closer, her voice like ice. "If you're hiding something, I'll find out. Immortal or not."
Astrili met her glare without flinching. "Perhaps. But tell me — will you like what you find?"
The silence that followed was thick enough to cut.
Kael's gut told him this sage knew exactly how to leave the Dead World. And she wasn't going to hand that knowledge over easily.