The Lantern Keeper

There were places the world forgot.

And then there was the Timewound Chapel — a place even time itself had abandoned.

Shattered spires floated in still air. Candles burned upside down. The moon overhead flickered like a dying lightbulb in the sky.

Cael and Selara stood at its entrance.

"This is where the Seers fell," Cael murmured.

"Where they prayed, and no one answered."

"Why are we here?" Selara asked, voice tight. "The Chains—"

"Can't follow me here. Even their curses won't work where time is broken."

They stepped inside.

The chapel was silent… but not empty.

A soft blue light flickered ahead — floating above the cracked altar.

And then she appeared.

Nehra, the Lantern Keeper.

Her silver-blue hair floated as if underwater. A cracked porcelain mask hid her face. She moved without footsteps, the Lantern of Aether chained to her wrist.

The flame inside the lantern danced, showing shadows from other timelines — futures that never were, deaths yet to come.

"Cael Rothveil," she said. "The boy with a god's hunger in his soul."

Cael bowed.

"I seek truth. And the name of what lives in me."

"You already know the name," Nehra whispered.

She lifted the lantern toward him.

"What you seek is not truth. It is memory."

Selara stepped forward, wary.

"What is she?"

"The last Seer," Cael said. "Bound to the chapel by her own spell. She sees everything… except the end of her own story."

Nehra turned to Selara.

"You fear him. But you love the boy beneath the flame."

"That boy is dead," Selara muttered.

"Then why are you still following his ghost?"

Silence.

Cael stepped forward and gazed into the Lantern.

Visions surged — his hands drenched in blood, thrones made of bone, Selara lying in his arms with eyes closed forever. The city of Arkhadia burning... again.

He clenched his fists.

"Show me the path that leads to their end."

Nehra hesitated. Her voice softened.

"To walk it… you must shed what remains of your heart."

"Then I'll burn it out myself."

Thunder cracked overhead. A shadow spilled into the chapel — not through the door, but through every crack in reality.

And then it landed.

A tall, robed figure.

No eyes. No mouth. No name.

The Herald of Chains.

His presence sucked the warmth from the air. Magic itself bent away from him. Even Nehra's flame flickered, dimmed.

"They sent it," Selara breathed.

"They're afraid," Cael said. "They should be."

The Herald moved without sound — faster than any spell. He raised a finger, and the chapel screamed. Glass shattered. Stone twisted. Selara was flung back.

Cael stood firm.

Blood spilled from his palm. Not red — but black fire.

He muttered a name.

The world flinched.

"Gravewake Form."

A crimson crown erupted from his skull. Shadows wrapped his body like armor. His third Godbrand ignited, pulsing with unholy light.

Even the Herald paused.

Cael smiled — eyes glowing.

"You erase magic," he said.

"Good. I stopped using it two deaths ago."

He stepped forward, the ground rotting beneath him.

The Blood-Forged Kingsoul throned itself behind him — an ancient spirit born from dead kings and cursed warriors. Its presence shattered the chapel's silence.

The Herald struck — a black shockwave of null-magic.

Cael raised a hand.

"Kneel."

The Herald stopped mid-air — chains bursting from the ground, wrapping around it like vines from hell.

Cael walked toward it, each step heavier with power.

"You think I'm a weapon?"

"I'm the echo of every oath your gods broke."

He reached out.

"And I remember."

A single pulse of red light.

The Herald exploded — not in fire, but in silence, its body erased from existence.

Smoke settled.

Selara knelt beside a broken pillar, staring at him — not with fear… but with awe.

"You're not human anymore."

Cael didn't answer.

Nehra approached, her lantern glowing soft again.

"Three Godbrands now burn," she said. "When the seventh awakens, the gods will come for you."

"Let them come."

"You don't understand," she said, her voice a whisper of sorrow.

"The gods did not fall asleep.

They were chained.

By someone with your crown."

Cael's eyes narrowed.

The ground beneath them whispered.

"Hail to the Hollow King."