Echoes of the song

The Spire pulsed with a slow, steady rhythm. A heartbeat that was no longer just its own.

Elias stood in the center of the vast, hollow chamber, his fingers grazing the harp at his back. It still hummed faintly, though it was different now. It was no longer just an instrument.

It was a key.

And he was the lock.

His breath fogged in the dim, cold air. Though the battle had ended, the weight of the Spire remained heavy in his chest. He could feel its power stretching deep into the rock, its magic woven into him.

Was this what the others had felt? The past Songbearers, the ones who had stood where he stood now?

He was the latest In a long line of guardians.

The last one.

The realization settled over him like a stone.

For all the stories he had followed, for all the roads he had taken, he had never thought his journey would end like this. Alone. Bound to a place few would ever see, singing a song no one would ever hear.

The silence stretched for what felt like hours.