The figure stood motionless, wrapped in layers of shifting darkness that seemed to move outside the confines of time. Though their face was obscured, Orion could feel the weight of their gaze pressing into him—studying, measuring.
"You stand at the precipice," the Keeper of the Unwritten spoke. "To proceed without understanding is to risk unraveling everything."
The air pulsed. The space around them was unstable, twisting at the edges, as if it might collapse at any moment. Lyra had one hand on her weapon, though she did not draw it. The Vault Keeper remained still, his expression unreadable.
Orion, however, met the figure's presence with something deeper.
A pull in his very essence.
"What do you mean?" Orion asked, voice steady despite the unease clawing at his mind.
The Keeper stepped forward—not walking, but gliding through the fractured space. The moment they moved, the world around them flickered, and suddenly—
They were somewhere else.
No transition. No sensation of movement. Just a shift.
Orion's breath caught. Lyra stiffened beside him, and the Vault Keeper let out a quiet sigh, as if he had expected this.
The new space was vast, endless, and void of all form.
No ground. No sky.
Only an expanse of possibility.
"This is the Unwritten Realm," the Keeper said. "A place between existence and oblivion." They turned to Orion. "And you, Orion, are now part of its fabric."
Orion felt something stir within him. The strange silver glow beneath his skin pulsed, faint but undeniable.
"You wield something that does not belong to this reality," the Keeper continued. "Something that resists the nature of the void itself."
Orion swallowed, his mind flashing back to the battle—the way he had repelled the formless horror that sought to erase them.
Lyra exhaled sharply. "And what does that mean for him?"
The Keeper was silent for a moment. Then:
"It means he has a choice."
Orion's pulse quickened.
"A choice?" he echoed.
The Keeper nodded. "The power within you is tied to something far older than you realize. If left unchecked, it will pull you toward its origin. Toward something that may not be meant to awaken."
A cold dread crept into Orion's bones.
The Keeper extended a hand—long fingers woven from shadows and flickering light.
"I offer a bargain."
Orion hesitated, his breath shallow.
"If you accept, I will teach you to control what lies within you," the Keeper said. "But in return, you must agree to something absolute."
Orion glanced at Lyra. She was watching intently, her brows furrowed.
"What's the price?" Orion asked.
The Keeper's form rippled.
"If you take this path, there will be no turning back. You will be bound to the Unwritten, and the forces that watch from the edges of existence will take notice."
Silence stretched between them.
The weight of the choice settled over Orion like a storm waiting to break.
He had already crossed into the unknown.
And yet—
Something inside him told him that this was only the beginning.
And the moment he answered…
The course of his fate would be forever changed.