The Depths

The cold stone corridors beneath the Sanctum Order were not meant for students. They were old, forgotten spaces—parts of the Sanctum buried with time and fear, their walls etched with strange markings and scars that pulsed faintly in the dim torchlight. Kaien's boots echoed with each cautious step. The air was damp and heavy, like it remembered blood.

Eira walked beside him, quiet as always, her hand grazing the wall as if searching for something unseen. Lyra followed just behind, her cloak brushing against her legs, her Flame Aspect held in a tight sphere of warmth to ward off the chill. Zedd trailed last, muttering complaints to himself as he swept the corridor with his Gale-enhanced perception.

"This place wasn't in the academy blueprints," Lyra murmured.

"It's older," Eira said. "Predates even the Sanctum's founding. The texts call it 'Veilreach.' A place where the veil between Veyl and Blight is... thinner."

Kaien stopped. "So why are we down here?"

Eira looked at him. "Because your power reacted to the wards near the library. Whatever is awakening in you—it's tied to this place."

Zedd grinned. "Great. Creepy tunnels and ancient curses. Just another Tuesday."

As they pressed deeper, the markings on the walls grew more elaborate—circular patterns spiraled into each other, sometimes glowing faintly with residual Veyl energy. Some were drawn in red. Some in what looked like ash.

Kaien's heart thudded louder with each step. The pull inside him was undeniable, like something buried was calling for him.

Suddenly, Eira stopped. Her eyes had lost their usual calm. "It's here."

They stood before a massive sealed archway, covered in markings that pulsed with Shade and Tide energy. A sigil at the center was cracked, as though struck from the inside.

Lyra approached, analyzing the symbols. "This was a Blight seal. Designed to trap something."

Kaien felt his hand reach out before he could stop it. The air shifted. The markings flared.

"Kaien—don't!" Lyra shouted.

But it was too late. His fingers brushed the seal.

There was a sound—a deep, low hum, like an ancient horn resonating through stone. The seal flared with blinding light. The door shattered into fragments of energy, cascading like sparks around them.

From the darkness beyond, a figure stepped forward.

It wasn't Wretched.

It wasn't human.

It was veiled in shadow and gold, its form flickering between armor and smoke, its voice like wind through bones.

"Null Veyl... reborn."

Kaien fell to his knees as a wave of raw force slammed into him. Visions flashed—cities in ruin, Veyl fractured, and a figure standing in fire and ash, his own face looking back at him but eyes glowing void-white.

"Kaien!"

Eira grasped his arm, her Tide energy wrapping around him, calming the storm inside. The figure didn't move closer. It simply... watched.

Lyra flared her Flame, standing between the figure and Kaien. "Who are you?"

The voice echoed again. "I am memory. Echo. The first wielder of the Hollow Veyl. And he..." The figure pointed at Kaien. "...is the last."

Kaien gasped. "What... what is Hollow Veyl?"

"An end. And a beginning. The power that cannot be balanced, for it devours balance itself."

Zedd barked a laugh. "Yeah, okay, dramatic much?"

The figure ignored him. "The Choir rises. The Sanctum fractures. The Veil weakens. And you... will choose what remains of Aetherra."

Then, it vanished. No explosion. No flourish. Just gone.

Silence returned to the corridor. Kaien struggled to stand.

Lyra helped him up. "We need to tell Rhain. Now."

Eira looked at the shattered seal. "It's already begun."

They returned to the Sanctum surface, only to find the upper levels in disarray. Alarms echoed. Veylbound were scrambling across the grounds.

Rhain met them near the council chambers. "You felt it too?" he asked, eyes fixed on Kaien.

Kaien nodded. "We opened something."

"You weren't supposed to find Veilreach," Rhain said. "It's where we sealed the remains of the Hollow Wielder a hundred years ago."

Zedd tilted his head. "Remains?"

"His soul never passed on," Rhain said. "It lingered, corrupted by Null Veyl. The Sanctum buried it."

"And now Kaien's linked to it," Eira whispered.

Rhain turned to her. "Not linked. Chosen. Or cursed."

Lyra stepped forward. "Then train him. Help him control it."

Rhain shook his head. "This isn't a power you master. It's one you survive—if you're lucky."

Kaien felt the room closing in. "Then what do I do?"

Rhain placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "You walk the path. But you don't walk it alone."

Kaien looked at his friends. At Lyra's determined gaze. At Zedd's smirk. At Eira's quiet support.

No. He wouldn't be alone.

Later that night, Kaien stood at the edge of the training grounds, looking at his hand. No light came this time. No disintegration. Just silence.

Eira joined him. "You're afraid."

He nodded. "I don't want to be a weapon."

"You aren't," she said. "You're a choice. For all of us."

He looked at her. "Do you think I'll lose control?"

She didn't answer immediately. "I think the more you fear it, the more it grows. Embrace what you are. Even the broken pieces."

A soft smile tugged at Kaien's lips. "You always talk like a prophet."

She chuckled. "Just a student who reads too much."

In the shadows of the Sanctum's outer perimeter, a figure watched.

Veylor Saine lowered his hood.

"It awakens," he whispered.

Another figure stepped from behind the trees—Zedd's brother, a cruel smirk on his lips.

"The Choir is ready."

Veylor turned his gaze toward the Sanctum towers. "Then the Veil must fall."

Meanwhile, deep in Veilreach, the shattered seal began to pulse again.

Something stirred beneath the stone.

Not memory.

Not echo.

But flesh.

And hunger.