East Wing

The halls of Eclipsevane were quiet as Kael made his way toward the east wing, his footsteps muffled against the worn stone floor. The dim torchlight flickered unevenly, casting long shadows that seemed to move with a life of their own. The weight of anticipation sat heavily on his chest, each step forward feeling both too fast and too slow.

Why am I so nervous? he thought, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. It's just a conversation. That's all. But he couldn't shake the unease that had been growing since Jane had asked to meet him.

As he approached the east wing, the atmosphere shifted. The air was cooler here, tinged with the faint scent of damp stone and old wood. The guild's decay was more evident in this part of the fortress—cracks spiderwebbed across the walls, and dust coated the once-polished floor. A faint hum of magic lingered in the air, a subtle reminder of the guild's former glory.

Kael reached the appointed spot, a small alcove tucked between two large, arched windows that overlooked the courtyard. The moonlight spilled through the cracked panes, bathing the space in a silvery glow. He leaned against the wall, folding his arms as he tried to steady his breathing.

A soft rustle of fabric caught his attention, and he turned to see Jane stepping out of the shadows. Her presence was immediate, commanding the space without effort. She was dressed simply, her burgundy tunic and dark trousers blending with the dim light, but her emerald eyes seemed to glow with their own inner fire.

"You came," she said, her voice low but clear.

Kael nodded, straightening. "You asked me to."

Jane offered a faint smile, though there was a seriousness in her expression that tempered it. "I wasn't sure if you would."

Kael tilted his head, studying her. "Why wouldn't I?"

She didn't answer immediately, instead stepping closer and leaning lightly against the opposite wall. Her gaze drifted out the window, her features illuminated by the moonlight. For a moment, she seemed lost in thought.

"Kael," she began, her tone carefully measured. "I need to know something. Why are you really here?"

Kael frowned, caught off guard by the question. "I told you—Lysa asked me to find you."

Jane's gaze shifted back to him, sharp and probing. "And you just agreed? Without knowing why?"

Kael hesitated, the weight of her question pressing down on him. "I owed her," he said finally. "She and Meryn… they've done a lot for me. This was the least I could do."

Jane studied him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. "You're an interesting one, Kael," she said softly. "Most people wouldn't walk into a place like this on someone else's word."

Kael shrugged, his discomfort growing. "I'm not most people."

"No," Jane agreed, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You're not."

The silence that followed was heavy, stretching between them like a taut string. Kael shifted uncomfortably, his hands flexing at his sides. "Why did you want to meet here?" he asked finally, his voice cutting through the tension. "What is it you want to say?"

Jane looked away again, her gaze distant. "There's something about you, Kael," she said quietly. "Something I can't quite figure out. But it feels… familiar."

Kael's heart skipped a beat, his chest tightening. Familiar. What does she mean by that?

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said carefully, his voice steady despite the storm of emotions swirling inside him.

Jane turned back to him, her emerald eyes piercing. "Maybe you don't," she said softly. "But I think you will."

Kael's brow furrowed as Jane's words hung in the air, cryptic and heavy. He shifted his stance, leaning slightly against the wall, trying to steady himself under her unrelenting gaze. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, his voice quieter now. "Why would Meryn want me to come here?"

Jane let out a soft breath, turning her eyes back toward the fractured window. The moonlight illuminated the tension in her features, a shadow of something deeper behind her calm exterior. "Meryn is someone who always sees more than she lets on," Jane began, her tone measured. "She doesn't act without a reason, even if she doesn't always explain it."

Kael stayed silent, letting her words settle. Jane glanced at him, studying his face as if searching for something. "If she sent you here, it wasn't just about me," she continued. "Meryn knows how things work in this guild. She knows what Eclipsevane is becoming, what it's already become."

Kael frowned, his chest tightening. "And what is that, exactly?"

Jane's lips pressed into a thin line, her eyes narrowing slightly. "A graveyard," she said bluntly. "It used to be a sanctuary for people like us—people who didn't belong anywhere else. Now? It's falling apart. People are leaving, disappearing, or worse. The few of us who are still here are either too stubborn or too broken to walk away."

Her words hit harder than Kael had expected, and he felt a pang of something close to guilt. Is this what I left behind? Is this what became of the place that took me in?

Jane crossed her arms, her gaze distant again. "Meryn must have thought you could help, somehow. Maybe not with the guild itself, but with me." She paused, her voice softening. "I think she knows I'm… not the same as I used to be."

Kael tilted his head slightly, confusion flickering across his face. "What do you mean?"

Jane hesitated, her expression unreadable. "I've changed," she said finally. "We all have, in one way or another. But Meryn—she has a way of sensing when someone's about to lose their way completely."

Kael swallowed hard, his mind racing. Does she mean what I think she does? He hesitated before asking, "And what do you think Meryn expected me to do?"

Jane's smile was faint, almost wistful. "I don't know," she admitted. "Maybe just be here. Sometimes, that's all it takes."

Kael frowned, his unease growing. "This isn't exactly the kind of place where just 'being here' fixes things."

Jane laughed softly, though there was little humor in it. "No, it's not. But Meryn is rarely wrong. If she sent you here, it's because she thought you could make a difference—whether you believe it or not."

Kael looked away, his jaw tightening as her words sank in. "I'm not some hero," he muttered. "If that's what she's expecting, she's going to be disappointed."

Jane's gaze softened, and she stepped closer, her voice quiet but firm. "Maybe you're not. But you're here. And sometimes, that's enough."

Jane's posture shifted slightly as she spoke, a barely noticeable change, but one that Kael caught. She leaned in just a fraction closer than necessary, her eyes lingering on his face longer than before. Her voice, still steady, seemed to drop into a softer, more intimate tone.

"You've done more than you think already," Jane said, her words carrying an unusual warmth. Her emerald eyes locked onto Kael's, and he felt an unexpected intensity behind them, as if she were trying to draw something out of him that even he didn't know was there.

Kael shifted uneasily, the air between them growing heavier. "I'm just doing what Meryn asked," he said, his voice faltering slightly under the weight of her gaze. "That's all."

Jane smiled faintly, but there was something in her expression that Kael couldn't quite place—something deeper, almost vulnerable. She stepped closer, closing the small distance between them. "You don't give yourself enough credit, Kael," she murmured, her tone almost too soft. "Not many people would do what you've done."

Kael swallowed hard, his pulse quickening. He wanted to step back, to put some space between them, but his feet felt rooted to the ground. "It's not… I'm not—" he started, but the words caught in his throat.

Jane's fingers brushed against the edge of the window frame as she leaned slightly closer, her presence almost overwhelming now. "You're different," she said, echoing Eryon's earlier words but with a weight that felt entirely her own. "And that's not a bad thing."

Kael's heart pounded in his chest, and he struggled to hold her gaze. "Jane, I—"

She straightened suddenly, her expression shifting as if she'd caught herself. The intensity in her eyes dimmed, replaced by a flicker of confusion. She blinked, her brows furrowing slightly as she stepped back. "Sorry," she said quickly, her voice losing its earlier warmth. "I didn't mean to—"

Kael exhaled, relief and unease mingling in his chest. "It's fine," he said, though his voice sounded strained even to his own ears. "Really."

Jane looked away, her jaw tightening. She crossed her arms, as if trying to physically shield herself from something unseen. "It's late," she said, her tone clipped now. "You should get some rest."

Kael hesitated, watching her carefully. "Jane… are you okay?"

She glanced at him, her emerald eyes clouded with something he couldn't identify. "I'm fine," she said quickly, too quickly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Before Kael could respond, she turned and walked away, her footsteps echoing softly down the empty corridor. Kael remained where he was, his thoughts racing. What just happened?

As he stared after her, a faint unease settled over him, though he couldn't explain why. There had been something in her gaze, something fleeting but undeniable—a hunger that didn't belong. And for the first time, Kael wondered if Jane's struggles ran deeper than she had let on.

Kael remained standing in the alcove for what felt like an eternity, staring down the dim corridor where Jane had vanished. The weight of their conversation hung heavily in the air, but something else lingered, something far more unsettling.

Her words replayed in his mind—calculated yet strangely intimate. That moment when she leaned in, when her eyes bore into his with a hunger he didn't understand, sent a chill through him. It wasn't just her intensity—it was the way her demeanor had changed so suddenly. That wasn't the Jane he'd been told about, nor was it the Jane he remembered from their earlier encounters.

What was that? The question gnawed at him as he finally pushed off the wall, his steps echoing softly in the vast, crumbling corridor. He forced his thoughts to steady, though his chest still felt tight. She's been through a lot, that's all. This place… it breaks people. Maybe it's breaking her too.

The air grew heavier as he made his way back through the guild. The decay seemed more pronounced now, as though Jane's cryptic words had opened his eyes to just how far Eclipsevane had fallen. The faint hum of latent magic still lingered in the walls, but it felt muted, like a dying heartbeat. Shadows stretched unnaturally across the cracked stone, twisting as the flickering torchlight fought to hold them at bay.

Kael's thoughts were still tangled when he reached his room. The modest space was sparse but serviceable: a small bed with a worn quilt, a rickety desk stacked with blank parchment, and a single chair pushed neatly beneath it. Moonlight streamed through the narrow window, illuminating the faint dust motes that danced in the air.

Kael closed the door behind him and leaned against it, exhaling slowly. His mind raced, but the fatigue in his body was beginning to catch up. He walked to the bed and sat down heavily, resting his head in his hands.

What am I even doing here? The thought echoed loudly in the silence of the room. He had come here for answers, but all he'd found were more questions. Jane's behavior, her connection to Meryn, and the strange aura of the guild itself—it all felt like a puzzle with too many missing pieces.

His fingers brushed against his wrist instinctively, but there was nothing there. The absence of the Crimson Dagger was a hollow weight, a reminder of something he couldn't escape. His hand dropped to his lap as his gaze drifted to the window. The moonlight painted the walls in silver, its glow stark against the creeping darkness outside.

Kael lay back on the bed, staring up at the cracked ceiling. The quiet was almost suffocating, broken only by the faint creak of wood settling beneath him. His mind wandered, unbidden, to Jane's eyes—those piercing emerald eyes that had looked at him with something that felt far too personal.

She doesn't know who I am. She can't. He tried to reassure himself, but the lingering unease refused to fade.

As he turned on his side, his thoughts drifted to Meryn. Why had she sent him here? Jane seemed just as lost as the guild around her. What could he possibly do to help someone who didn't even know she needed saving? He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair.

A faint sound pulled him from his thoughts. It was soft at first, almost imperceptible, but it grew louder—a rhythmic tapping, like footsteps in the hall. Kael sat up, his body tensing instinctively. He moved quietly to the door, pressing his ear against it. The footsteps grew nearer, deliberate and steady, until they stopped just outside his room.

Kael's heart pounded in his chest. Jane? Or someone else?

The door creaked slightly, but it didn't open. Instead, a faint whisper, barely audible, slipped through the gap beneath the door. He couldn't make out the words, but the tone was unsettling—low and melodic, yet somehow wrong.

Kael's hand hovered over the handle. He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to focus. The whispering stopped abruptly, replaced by a suffocating silence. Kael waited, his breath shallow, but no other sound came. Finally, he pulled the door open.

The hall was empty.

The torches flickered weakly, casting uneven shadows that twisted along the walls. Kael stepped into the corridor, his eyes scanning the darkness. There was no sign of anyone. Just the still, oppressive air and the faint creak of the old guild settling around him.

A chill ran down his spine as he turned back into his room and shut the door. He leaned against it, exhaling shakily. This place… it's getting to me.

He climbed back into bed, but sleep didn't come easily. His thoughts refused to settle, circling back to Jane, to her strange behavior and the way her words had felt too close for comfort. And in the back of his mind, a faint hum lingered, like a distant memory of something he couldn't quite place.