Kaelen took a deep breath, his heart still hammering from the encounter with the Emissary. The others were watching him, concern clear in their eyes, but no one spoke right away.
The wind howled through the broken landscape, carrying the last remnants of the Emissary's presence—a cold, unnatural stillness that made the world feel… wrong.
Lyria exhaled sharply. "Alright. What in the name of all things magical was that?"
Kaelen shook his head. "I don't know, but it wasn't here to kill me."
Thorne scoffed. "It sure felt like it was trying to erase you from existence."
Kaelen frowned. "That's the thing—it could have. But it didn't."
Umbra's voice was quiet. "It was delivering a warning."
Kaelen nodded. "Yeah. And I don't think that was the last time we'll see it."
Lyria crossed her arms. "So, what do we do now? Because waiting for another creepy, faceless void creature to appear and tell you you're doomed isn't exactly my idea of a plan."
Kaelen rubbed his temples. "We go to the Arcane Keepers. They've studied ancient forces longer than anyone. If there's a way to fight this thing—or at least understand it—they'll know."
Umbra nodded. "Then we leave at first light."
Thorne stretched, his armor clanking. "Fine. But if another one of those things shows up, I'm hitting it first and asking questions later."
Lyria smirked. "That worked so well last time."
Thorne rolled his eyes, but Kaelen barely heard them. His mind was still on the Emissary's words.
"You are not meant to exist."
The thought made his stomach turn.
He had fought gods, warlords, and monsters beyond imagination. But this?
This felt different.
This wasn't a battle of power.
This was a battle of existence itself.
And he wasn't sure how to win.
---
The Journey to the Arcane Keepers
By morning, the group was on the move. The Arcane Keepers' stronghold lay deep within the Evershade Mountains, a place few dared to tread. Legends spoke of the mountains being older than time itself, where reality bent in strange ways and whispers carried the voices of forgotten gods.
"Remind me again why every ancient order has to live in the most dangerous place imaginable?" Thorne muttered as they trekked up a steep incline.
"Because if it were easy to find them," Umbra said dryly, "they wouldn't be very secretive, would they?"
Thorne huffed. "Yeah, yeah. I just don't like how the air here feels. It's… heavy."
Kaelen felt it too. The deeper they went, the more the world itself seemed to shift. Shadows moved without a source. The wind carried voices that weren't there.
And every now and then—
Kaelen swore he saw something watching them.
Lyria noticed him glancing over his shoulder. "You feel it too?"
Kaelen nodded. "Yeah. We're not alone."
Umbra's daggers were already in his hands. "I noticed."
Kaelen's magic stirred instinctively, golden energy crackling at his fingertips. But whatever was following them didn't attack.
Not yet.
Thorne exhaled. "I swear, if another faceless nightmare shows up—"
Before he could finish, the ground trembled.
A low growl rumbled through the trees.
Then, from the mist, it emerged.
---
The Guardian of the Keep
Standing at least twenty feet tall, the creature's body was made of stone and ancient roots, glowing with the faintest traces of arcane energy. Its eyes were burning blue orbs, locked onto them with unnatural focus.
"A golem?" Lyria whispered.
"No," Kaelen muttered. "Something older."
The creature let out a deep, resonating roar—and then it charged.
"MOVE!"
The group scattered just as the beast slammed its massive fist into the ground, sending shockwaves through the earth.
Kaelen barely dodged, rolling to the side as splinters of rock and dirt flew in all directions.
Thorne wasted no time. He lunged forward, sword igniting in celestial fire, and slashed at the beast's arm.
The blade sank in—
But the wound sealed instantly.
Thorne barely had time to curse before the golem backhanded him, sending him flying into a tree.
Lyria's arrows struck true, hitting the creature's glowing eyes—
But the arrows simply dissolved, as if erased from existence.
Umbra flickered through the shadows, slashing with his daggers—
Only for his entire arm to phase through the creature, as if it wasn't entirely real.
Kaelen's mind raced.
This wasn't a normal battle.
This thing wasn't just strong.
It was bound to the mountain itself.
Which meant—
They couldn't kill it.
But maybe they didn't need to.
Kaelen closed his eyes, reaching out with his magic—
Feeling the flow of energy in the air.
And then—
He felt it.
A single point of power—the thing that anchored the creature to this world.
A pulse of energy buried deep within its chest.
Kaelen's eyes snapped open.
"I need a clear shot!"
Lyria heard the urgency in his voice and nodded. "On it."
She fired a shot—not at the beast, but at the ground in front of it.
The arrow exploded into a burst of blinding light.
The golem staggered, momentarily disoriented.
That was all the opening Kaelen needed.
His magic flared, golden energy bursting from his hands, and he launched forward—
Slamming his palm into the golem's chest.
For a split second—
Nothing happened.
Then—
The golem froze.
Its entire body shuddered, cracks of golden light spreading across its form.
And then—
It crumbled, collapsing into a heap of glowing dust.
Silence.
Kaelen exhaled, his hands still crackling with residual magic.
Thorne groaned from where he lay in a tree. "Next time, can we fight something that doesn't punch like a mountain?"
Lyria smirked. "Where's the fun in that?"
Kaelen turned to Umbra. "You okay?"
Umbra nodded. "I'll live."
Kaelen glanced at the pile of dust.
The golem hadn't been trying to kill them.
It had been testing them.
And that meant—
The Arcane Keepers already knew they were coming.
Kaelen exhaled.
Good. Because they had a lot of questions to answer.
TO BE CONTINUED…