Chapter 22: The City of Echoes

Kael's breath came in ragged gasps as he stared at Sienna. The dim blue glow of the eerie city cast strange shadows on her face, but it was her eyes that held him frozen.

They gleamed—not with the familiar warmth he knew, but with an unnatural, luminescent glow. It pulsed faintly, like the heartbeat of something ancient and unknowable.

"Sienna," he whispered, his fingers tightening around the Heartstone blade. "What happened to you?"

She held his gaze for a long moment, then turned away. "I don't know."

Kael swallowed hard. That answer wasn't good enough.

The city around them was silent, save for the occasional gust of wind that sent loose bits of dust spiraling into the air. The buildings loomed high and jagged, their unnatural architecture twisting into impossible angles. It was as if the city had been built in defiance of reality itself.

And then there was the rumbling—deep, distant, and growing stronger.

Kael forced himself to focus. Whatever had changed in Sienna, whatever this place was, none of it would matter if they didn't survive.

"We need to keep moving," he said, his voice steadier than he felt.

Sienna nodded, but she didn't look at him as she moved deeper into the city.

Kael followed, keeping a cautious distance. The moment they had crossed into this place, those shadow creatures had stopped chasing them. That meant something. Either they couldn't enter the city… or they didn't need to.

The thought made Kael's skin crawl.

The streets were paved with dark stone, cracked and weathered as if the city had been abandoned for centuries. Yet, despite its emptiness, Kael couldn't shake the feeling that they were not alone.

Sienna moved ahead, her posture tense, shoulders rigid. Her daggers were sheathed, but her hands flexed as though she were expecting an attack at any moment.

Kael decided to risk another question. "Do you remember what happened after the explosion?"

She hesitated before answering. "I woke up here. Alone."

Kael frowned. "No visions? No… strange voices?"

This time, she turned her glowing eyes toward him, studying him carefully. "You saw something, didn't you?"

Kael hesitated. He had barely processed it himself, but there was no time for secrets. "I was somewhere else," he admitted. "A void. And there was a woman."

Sienna stiffened. "A woman?"

"She said the Heartstone is part of some ancient power… something that even Ghorak fears."

Sienna didn't reply. She only stared at him, her glowing eyes searching for something in his face.

The rumbling grew louder.

Kael turned sharply toward the sound, every muscle in his body tensing. "That's getting closer."

Sienna exhaled sharply. "Then we run."

Together, they sprinted down the twisting streets, their footsteps echoing unnaturally through the empty city. The blue glow at the city's core intensified as they approached, casting elongated shadows behind them.

The further they ran, the heavier the air became, pressing down on Kael's chest like an invisible force.

And then—

The ground split open.

Kael barely had time to react before a towering figure emerged from the fissure in the street, black mist clinging to its massive form.

His heart stopped.

It was not the Keeper.

It was something worse.

A colossus, its body wrapped in heavy obsidian armor, stepped onto the street with slow, deliberate movements. Its head was crowned with jagged, twisted horns, and its face—if it had one—was hidden behind an ancient mask, its hollow eyes glowing with the same eerie blue light that filled the city.

Kael's grip tightened on his sword. "Sienna…"

"I see it," she breathed.

The colossus turned its head toward them.

And then it spoke.

"The Vessel… has come."

The voice was not human. It was layered, as if multiple voices were speaking at once, echoing across the empty streets.

Kael's stomach turned to ice.

The Vessel?

The whispers in the wind—the figures in the darkness—had been saying something similar before.

He comes. He awakens. The cycle begins anew.

What if… what if they hadn't been talking about the Keeper?

What if they had been talking about… him?

Sienna reached for her daggers, her stance shifting into a fighting position. "Kael, we need to go. Now."

Kael's body screamed at him to run, but something in the way the colossus stared at him made his feet refuse to move.

It knows me.

The colossus took a slow step forward. The very ground trembled beneath its weight.

"The Vessel… must awaken."

Kael felt something pull inside of him. A pressure, deep in his chest, like a door had been forced open.

Pain lanced through his skull.

Visions flashed before his eyes—

—A burning city.

—A throne of black stone.

—A crown hovering above an outstretched hand.

—And at the center of it all…

Himself.

Kael gasped, stumbling backward. The Heartstone blade pulsed in his grip, its glow flickering wildly, as if reacting to whatever was happening inside him.

Sienna's voice cut through the haze. "Kael! Snap out of it!"

Kael blinked, his vision clearing just in time to see the colossus raising its massive arm—

—and bringing it down.

Sienna shoved him aside at the last second. The colossus's fist slammed into the street where Kael had stood, shattering the stone into a crater of debris.

Kael hit the ground hard, coughing as dust filled his lungs. His ears rang from the impact.

Sienna grabbed his arm, hauling him to his feet. "We're leaving!"

Kael barely had time to react before she yanked him into another sprint.

Behind them, the colossus rose to its full height, its glowing eyes locked onto Kael with a terrible certainty.

It was hunting him.

And somehow, Kael knew deep in his bones this was only the beginning.