A dull, orange haze painted the sky as the group stepped out of the half-collapsed chapel. The burned city around them crackled softly with wind and ash. The echoes of chaos still lingered in the air—screams that had long faded, etched into the blackened stone. But the battle was over, for now.
Liam winced, hand pressed against his ribs where a fiery tendril had caught him. Nyra was at his side, supporting him while glancing back toward the smoldering remains of their enemy. Aeris and Kael walked slightly ahead, quiet but alert, eyes tracking the ruins as though expecting another ambush.
"That was the third one," Kael muttered, breaking the silence. "Three fragments. Three trials. Each one worse than the last."
"And there's still four more to go," Nyra added, her voice low, tired.
Liam's eyes met Aeris's. She had been distant ever since the fragment revealed itself through the memory of the fallen guardian—one of the protectors who had remained hidden in the human world, just as she'd predicted.
"You knew he would be there," Liam said quietly, slowing his steps.
Aeris didn't respond at first. Then, softly, "I had hoped. I wasn't sure."
There was something else in her tone. Regret, perhaps. Or guilt.
They reached a crumbled garden wall, half-covered in vines that had survived the fire. Kael climbed atop a piece of stone, surveying the horizon.
"We should rest. We've moved nonstop since the fight. We're no good to each other half-dead."
They agreed. As campfires were lit using enchanted flint, Liam found himself unable to rest. The image of the guardian's last words haunted him still:
"You'll find what you seek… only when you understand what you've lost."
He didn't know what it meant yet. But something stirred within him—a thread of memory, of a time before all of this. A forgotten part of himself.
As night fell, Aeris wandered off a short distance, standing alone at the edge of a dried-up fountain. Liam followed her, quietly.
"You said the realmwalker gave you that crystal," he said. "The one that brought us here."
Aeris nodded.
"Was it someone you trusted?"
She hesitated. Then looked up. "He was someone who saved me when I was very young. When I was… here. In this world."
Liam blinked. "You're from the human world."
She nodded again. "Not by birth. But I lived here for a time. Lost, scared, before I found my way back to the realm. That's why I know these streets. That's why I knew the hidden protectors were real. Because once, I was one of them."
Liam sat down beside her on the cracked fountain edge. The firelight from camp flickered in the distance.
"And Nytherion? Did you know him before all this?"
Aeris's breath hitched. "Only through Elira. I knew they were close. He wasn't always like this."
Liam watched her closely. "You've been holding all of this in for a long time. Why didn't you tell me?"
Aeris looked at him, eyes shining faintly. "Because I didn't want you to see me as someone broken. Or worse—complicit. I was there the day the first rift opened. I saw what was unleashed."
Liam's hand found hers. "Then that makes two of us carrying guilt. Maybe more. But we're not alone anymore."
The next morning, they journeyed north. According to the guardian's dying vision, the fourth fragment was in the mountain region—buried beneath the ruins of an ancient fortress known as Volgrath Keep, once a stronghold of the veil guardians.
As they traveled through the forested outskirts, Nyra rode beside Kael, her tone soft. "Did you hear it too? The voice?"
Kael nodded. "A whisper, like the wind carried it. It said my name. Twice."
"Mine too," Nyra said. "Like something is watching us. Or remembering us."
Behind them, Liam gritted his teeth. He had heard it too. And this time, it wasn't Elira's voice—it was something darker.
They reached a jagged cliffside overlooking a mist-covered valley. Below, in the shadow of the mountains, rose the shattered remains of Volgrath Keep.
"There it is," Kael said. "But getting down won't be easy."
Suddenly, Aeris stopped, raising a hand. "Something's wrong. The air is too still."
A low growl echoed through the valley. Then another. Dozens. Eyes gleamed in the dark—shadows leaping from rock to rock.
Liam drew his weapon. "We're not alone."
From the mist emerged twisted hounds with blackened bones and ember-filled maws—Wraithwolves, bred from the remains of corrupted realm beasts.
They attacked.
Nyra summoned a massive spectral guardian to block the front lines, its translucent arms catching the first wave. Kael surged forward, his wind blades slicing through air and fur, dancing between enemies.
Liam fought with precision—each strike fueled not just by power, but memory. Aeris moved with fluid grace, weaving spells and shadow between each step, eyes glowing with focused fury.
Fire met wind. Magic clashed with claw.
As the last wolf fell, the group stood breathless. The way down to Volgrath Keep was now open.
And the true trial had only just begun.