The True Origin
The aftermath of the attack left the temple in shambles. Stones were cracked, walls darkened by fire, and blood stained the floors. Grief filled every corner. Mothers cried until their voices gave out, fathers stared in silence, and children clung to the bodies of those they had lost.
The Bound who survived were badly hurt. Some limped through the halls, their clothes torn and soaked with blood. Others were carried in, pale and barely breathing. The infirmary was full. Beds were taken, the floor crowded with the wounded. The air smelled of blood and herbs, thick and hard to breathe. Groans echoed softly, mixed with quiet prayers and broken sobs.
As I passed the infirmary, my heart searched for one person alone. Fear tightened in my chest as I moved from bed to bed, from room to room, my steps growing faster, my breath shallow.
Then I saw him.
Doya lay on the bed, unmoving. His body was covered in wounds, strips of linen stained dark with blood. The sight of him shattered something inside me. I did not remember walking closer, only that I was suddenly there, standing at his side.
Tears burned my eyes.
"Doya?" I whispered, my voice barely a sound.
My hands shook as I touched his face, cold beneath my fingers. The sob tore out of me before I could stop it. I pressed my forehead to his arm, my chest aching, my breath breaking.
"Please, you must leave the room so we can treat him," one of the healers said gently.
I did not move.
"No," I begged, my voice cracking. "Please, save him. Do something. Use a healing spell."
Even as the words left my mouth, I knew the truth. This was beyond simple healing. Beyond quick spells and whispered prayers. His injuries were too deep.
"You have to leave now," the healer said again, firmer this time.
Hands closed around my arms, careful but unyielding, pulling me away from him. I fought weakly, tears blurring my sight, until the room faded behind me and Doya was torn from my reach.
I forced myself to breathe. I had to pull myself together. Then I went in search of Kumbuye.
I moved through the temple, my eyes scanning every corridor, every corner. My steps slowed when I passed the stables, the familiar smell of hay and leather reaching me. Bali was kept here, along with the other horses.
I broke into a run.
When I saw her, whole and unharmed, my knees nearly gave way. She stood calmly in her stall, ears lifting at the sound of my steps. Relief flooded me so sharply it hurt. I slipped inside and wrapped my arms around her neck, pressing my face against her warm side.
"It's alright," I whispered.
She neighed softly, nudging me as if to remind me she was real, alive. I stayed there for a moment longer, letting the steady rise and fall of her breath calm the shaking in my chest.
Then I pulled away and continued on.
Kumbuye was nowhere in sight. Not in the corridors. Not among the wounded in the infirmary. Fear crept back in, slow and cold. My thoughts spiralled as I made my way toward the Sanctum Grounds, hoping he had returned to the room set aside for him.
The grounds were untouched.
No blood. No broken stone.
The Forsaken had not reached this place.
The thought unsettled me. If they never entered the Sanctum Grounds, why did the Ascend and High Bound hide in the vault?
The question followed me as I reached his door.
I pushed it open.
Kumbuye sat on the edge of his bed, shoulders slumped, one arm wrapped with white cloth, dried blood staining the cloth. He looked up at me, eyes widening.
"Are you alright?" he asked at once.
The sound of his voice calmed me.
"Yes. How are you holding up?" I asked.
His mouth twitched, then fell. "I'm alive," he said softly. "I suppose that counts for something." He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I was worried. I looked everywhere for you."
The words lodged in my chest. I did not know how to tell him that I had been hidden away, locked behind stone while others bled. So I only shrugged.
"I looked for you too," I said. "I couldn't find you."
His shoulders eased a little. "I'm just glad you're alright."
So was I. More than I could say.
But my thoughts drifted to the compass. To the key. I hoped they were still where I had left them.
I left Kumbuye's room and made my way back to my own. The corridor felt too quiet, every step echoing louder than it should have. When I reached my door, I froze.
It was slightly open.
I pushed it wider.
Giselle was inside.
She stood with her back to me, rifling through my things, drawers pulled out, fabrics disturbed.
"Giselle," I called.
She flinched hard, shoulders jerking. Fear flashed across her face but it vanished almost at once, smoothed into something careful.
"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice firm despite the chill crawling up my spine.
She hesitated, then forced a small smile. "I… I was looking for you."
I stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind me.
The sound was soft, but it landed heavy.
Giselle's eyes flicked to it, then back to me. Her smile did not reach them.
"You were looking for me," I said slowly. "In my drawers?"
She followed my gaze, then laughed, too quickly. "I did not mean to upset you."
Silence stretched between us. The air thickened.
She straightened, brushing her hands against her dress as if wiping away guilt. "You always were suspicious of me," she said softly. "Even before everything."
"That is because you never tell the whole truth," I said, almost screaming.
Her eyes darkened. "Careful, Dana."
The way she said my name made my skin prickle.
I crossed the room, stopping beside the table where my things lay disturbed. My heart sank when I noticed it.
The small golden box.
It was open.
My breath caught. I stepped closer, my fingers shaking as I looked inside.
Empty.
The key was gone.
I turned to her slowly. "Where is it?"
She tilted her head. "Where is what?"
"Do not play with me," I snapped. "You were searching for something specific. You found it. Where is it?"
Her lips parted, then curved into a thin smile. "You keep dangerous things, Dana. Things you do not understand."
Rage flared hot and sudden. "What is wrong with you?"
Giselle's gaze hardened. "People are dead," she stepped closer. "And this is only the beginning."
My pulse thundered in my ears. "Give it back."
For a moment, she only stared at me. Then she slipped a hand into her sleeve and revealed the key, resting it on her palm like a prize.
"I only want answers," she said quietly. "And so do you."
I lunged forward and tore it from her hand.
The room seemed to shrink around us.
I lowered my arm, my voice shaking with fury. "You should not be here."
Her eyes sharpened, hard and cold. "Neither should you."
She brushed past me, her shoulder grazing mine as she reached the door. It opened, then she paused.
"Be careful, Dana," she said without turning. "Some doors do not close once opened."
Then she was gone.
I stood alone in the wreck of my room, my heart pounding hard enough to hurt.
Giselle was not just broken.
She was dangerous.
I did not stay long enough for the thought to settle. Unanswered questions pushed me forward. I left my room and walked through the corridors, my steps sharp against the stone floors. Torches burned low along the walls, their flames unsteady, as if the temple itself was still shaken.
Ascend Kaelric's quarters stood untouched, guarded and silent. I knocked once.
"Come in," his voice answered, calm and steady.
He was standing near the window, his hands clasped behind his back. The scent of incense lingered in the room, thick and heavy, doing nothing to ease my unrest.
"The King of the West has returned to his castle," he said before I could speak. "He left the moment we were alerted that the temple was secured."
"You all hid," I said, unable to keep the edge from my voice, ignoring what he had just told me. "The Ascend. The High Bound. You hid while the Forsaken slaughtered people outside. You are strong enough to face them, so why did you not fight? And why leave the Sanctum Grounds when they were untouched?"
Kaelric turned to face me. His expression did not change, but his eyes sharpened.
"We were not hiding," he said. "We were preserving the heart of the Sanctum."
He paused, as though weighing his words.
"All seven Ascend are vital to keeping this temple standing. Our duty is not to enter battle. That burden falls on the Bound."
The words struck me harder than I expected.
"That is not fair," I said quietly. Images of blood soaked stone and broken bodies filled my mind. "Many of the Bound died for you."
"I know," he replied. "And their sacrifice is not forgotten."
I clenched my hands at my sides.
"The Sanctum Grounds were evacuated because no blood is allowed to be spilled here," he continued. "It is sacred ground. A place for prayers, rituals, and celebration. Once blood stains it, the balance is broken."
Silence followed. I just stood there, staring at him.
"Now your duty begins in full," he continued. "Your power has returned, even if it is weak and unstable. It exists within you again. That is enough."
I swallowed. I could feel it, faint and restless, like an ember buried under ash.
"You must begin your search for the Cranium," he said. "This attack has made one thing clear. Balshak has grown impatient. He wants to be released, and he wants it soon."
Fear crept into my bones.
Something had been burning in my chest since the attack, a question I could not ignore.
"How were the Forsaken taking orders while Balshak was trapped inside his fortress?" I asked, my voice sharp with disbelief. "And the ones who were on Earth, how were they following him if they couldn't reach him? How was all of this coordinated from so far away with Balshak in captivity?" My chest tightened with confusion.
Kaelric's face darkened.
"Balshak possesses a forbidden art," he said slowly. "Mind thralling. He can bend another's will and speak within their thoughts. Anyone who gives in to darkness becomes vulnerable to him. For centuries, he has used this power to recruit followers, promising them strength, power, and to some, immortality."
My heart clenched. A cold fear wrapped around me.
"How many people have heard his voice and thought it was their own?" I whispered.
Kaelric did not answer.
"For you to succeed," he said instead, "you must understand the true origin of the Cranium. A truth known only to the Ascend and a few High Bound we trust."
He drew a slow breath.
"Many centuries ago, Balshak was an apprentice to Anthos, bearer of the twin forces of creation and destruction."
I listened carefully.
"Balshak was gifted with knowledge and the ability to hear minds, but he lacked the strength to wield the kind of power Anthos possessed. Envy took root where patience should have lived. In secret, he searched for a way to claim what he could not inherit. Eventually, he uncovered a spell meant to neutralise his master, not to kill him, but to strip him of his power."
My stomach turned.
"Anthos discovered the plot," Kaelric continued. "Knowing his power could not be destroyed without unmaking the world, he forged a final spell. One of preservation. He poured the totality of his power into a Cranium, sealing it beyond Balshak's reach."
I felt a strange pull in my chest.
"The Cranium was not lifeless," he continued, his voice low and deliberate. "It chose guardians, granting them strength and endurance, binding their lives to its survival. Thus began the first of the Sanctum Bound. Koliasis."
The name echoed in my mind.
"Denied and enraged, Balshak turned his will toward the Cranium," Kaelric said. "Through centuries, guardians rose and fell, but the Cranium endured, protected by those sworn not to a god, but to a seal."
The room felt colder now, the weight of Kaelric's words pressing against my chest. I understood why people had died for it, why blood had been spilled, why the ache in my chest would not ease.
"This is why you must find the Cranium, Dana," Kaelric said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
I was speechless. The only words I could manage were barely audible. "Where is Anthos? Is he… dead?"
Kaelric's sigh was heavy, carrying centuries of worry. "We don't know anything about the true location of Anthos. We don't know if he's dead or alive. All we know is what I have told you. Beyond that… nothing."
Everything I had just learned pressed down on me. My mind spun, questions tumbling over each other. Was Giselle being manipulated too? Who could I trust anymore?
Fear settled in my bones, chilling and sharp, but beneath it, a spark of resolve kindled. I needed to be strong. I had to be.