The air in the ruins of the Voidforge Citadel clung thick with the scent of
crystallized shard in his pocket-Flicker's final remnant-its light cold against his skin. Around him, the freed Void Cores pulsed weakly, their glow dimming like dying stars.
Thalion knelt beside Rune, his cursed arm now clean of vines, though the scars remained, twisted and dark.
Sylviaris watched them from the shadows, her silver hair catching the citadel's eerie light.
"You've sealed the Devourer," she said, her voice a blade wrapped in silk.
"But cages rust, Core-bearer. And keys can be forged anew."
Veythar's jaw tightened.
"What now?" She smiled.
"Now, you face the truth." The ground trembled.
Not from the citadel's collapse-but from something*deeper*. A pulse, slow and ancient, thrummed through the shattered stone. The air itself *split*, revealing a sliver of violet light. A rift. But this one was different. Its edges were smooth, deliberate. *Alive*.
From it stepped a figure draped in tattered robes, their face obscured by a mask of polished bone, In their hands, they cradled a Void Core- brighter than any Veythar had seen, its light searing even through closed eyelids.
"Ah," Sylviaris murmured. "The Keeper arrives."The figure-the Keeper-tilted their head.
When they spoke, their voice was a chorus, layered with echoes of countless others.
*"You have stolen fire, thief. But fire burns both ways."*
Thalion's sword was in his hand before the last word faded.
"Another damn cultist?"
The Keeper ignored him, their masked gaze locking onto Veythar. *
"The First Core was never meant to be wielded. It was a *lock*. And you, Veythar of the Shattered Vales, are the key."*Veythar's breath hitched.
The words slithered into his mind, unlocking a flood of fragmented memories-*a man with his eyes, plunging a dagger into a beating star. A scream that shattered realms. A name: Veythar's own, but older. Hungrier.*
Sylviaris's shadow stretched toward the Keeper, her voice sharp.
"Enough riddles. What do you want?"
The Keeper's mask cracked into a grin. *
"To show him what he is."+ They hurled the Core at Veythar's feet. It *shattered*.
---
Light erupted-not outward, but *inward*. The world folded, reality splintering into a thousand shards. Veythar stumbled, his vision fracturing.
He saw:
- "*A throne of bones**, floating in the void. The Devourer coiled around it,its twelve eyes fixed on him. *"You are mine.* - "*Thalion**, older, his sword broken, standing alone against a tide of
shadows.
*"I won't leave you."*
- **Rune**, her golden eyes extinguished, her hands dripping with violet fire. *"It's too late."*
- "*Himself**, clad in Valenor's armor, laughing as he tore a Core from a screaming child's chest. The visions *burned*. Then-silence.
Veythar gasped, collapsing onto the citadel's cracked floor. The Keeper loomed over him, their mask now inches from his face. *
"The First Core is not power. It is *memory*. The Devourer's, and yours."*
Sylviaris's shadow lashed out, striking the Keeper's chest.
"Enough!"
The Keeper recoiled, their form flickering. *
"You fear the truth, scholar. But the Veil is thinning. The reckoning comes."*
With that, they vanished, the rift sealing behind them.
---
Rune was the first to move. She grabbed Veythar's shoulders, her golden eyes blazing.
"What did they show you?"
Veythar's hands trembled. "I don't-*I don't know*." But he did.
The memories clung like tar. The throne. The child. The *name*-not his, but *theirs*. The First Core-bearer. His ancestor. The one who had *started* the Shattering.
Thalion's grip on his sword tightened. "Whatever it is, we face it together." Sylviaris laughed, the sound jagged. "
*Together*? You're a fool, warrior. The Core's memories are a *curse*. They will eat him alive." Veythar met her gaze. "Then why help us?"
Her shadow stilled.
For the first time, something like hesitation flickered in her violet eyes. "Because the alternative is worse."
A gust of wind howled through the ruins, carrying whispers-*Flicker's* whispers. The crystallized shard in Veythar's pocket grew warm.
Rune's breath caught."It's... *calling* to you."
Veythar clenched the shard. The light pulsed, searing his palm. A voice- small, fragile-echoed in his mind:*"Help... us."* Not Flicker.*The Devourer.* ---
The ground trembled again. This time, the cracks spread *upward*, the sky itself fracturing like glass. Beyond the fissures, the Shattered Realms flickered-floating islands colliding, cities dissolving into ash. Sylviaris's face paled.
"No. It's too soon."
Thalion hauled Rune back as a chunk of the citadel's ceiling crashed beside. them.
"What the hells is happening?"
"The Veil." Vevthar whispered. "It's breaking.
The Keeper's words slithered back: *The First Core was a lock.* And he'd *unlocked* it.
The Devourer's laughter echoed through the crumbling ruins, its voice thick with triumph. *
"You see now, thief. You were never the hero. You were the*key*."*
Sylviaris grabbed Veythar's arm, her nails drawing blood. "Listen to me. The Core's memories are a *path*.
If you embrace them, you can *control* the breaking. But if you fight..." The sky *screamed*.
Veythar looked at Thalion, at Rune, at the shard in his hand. Power had a price.
And it was time to pay.
The citadel collapsed around them.
Veythar closed his eyes-and let the memories *in*.
The world *burned*.
And somewhere, in the heart of the Void, the Devourer *smiled*.