Kael had grown accustomed to the unnatural quiet of this place—the way the trees stood too still, the way the wind seemed to avoid disturbing the canopy. But this... this was different.
Dryx, who had been draped across his shoulders like a living scarf, suddenly stiffened. The little creature's claws pricked through Kael's tunic, sharp enough to draw blood. Its ears twitched, swiveling toward something unseen.
Then, without warning, Dryx launched itself forward, landing in a crouch a few feet ahead. It turned back, eyes wide and unblinking, and let out a sound Kael had never heard from it before—a high, keening screech that raised the hair on his arms.
And then it ran.
Kael hesitated only a second before following.
Mana flooded his legs as he pushed forward, his boots barely skimming the ground. Dryx was a blur ahead of him, bounding through the undergrowth with impossible speed, its small body weaving between trees like a shadow given form. Kael gritted his teeth and poured on more speed, using his spear to vault over roots and fallen logs, the forest blurring around him.
He almost missed the clearing.
One moment he was crashing through thick brush—the next, the world opened up, and his breath caught in his throat.
It stood at the center of the clearing, a monolith of pure, depthless black, its surface so smooth it seemed to drink in the light around it. It stretched upward, impossibly tall, vanishing into the sky beyond sight.
Dryx had stopped at its base, hopping from foot to foot, its entire body vibrating with tension. It turned to Kael, screeching again, and jabbed a tiny clawed finger toward the pillar.
Kael approached slowly, his grip tightening on his spear.
Something was wrong.
The air here was thick, pressing against his skin like a physical weight. His resonance core—the oblivion shard buried in his soul—pulsed, a slow, heavy beat that echoed in his bones.
And then he saw the carvings.
Runes and symbols covered the pillar's surface, ancient and worn, telling a story in a language he couldn't understand. He circled it slowly, his fingers hovering just above the stone, not daring to touch.
Then he reached the other side.
And froze.
The eye.
No—not just an eye.
The moon.
The same moon from his dream, the one that had watched him from that endless gray expanse. It was carved into the pillar with terrifying precision, its surface slightly raised, as if it were pushing through the stone from the other side.
Kael's breath left him in a rush.
It was looking at him.
The Weight of the Void
His knees buckled.
The world tilted, the ground rushing up to meet him as his legs gave out. He caught himself on his hands, his fingers digging into the dirt, his entire body shaking.
This wasn't fear.
This was something deeper. Something older.
The pillar loomed over him, not just in space but in time, in meaning. It wasn't just tall—it was infinite, stretching beyond comprehension, a thing that existed in dimensions he couldn't fathom.
And the eye—
The eye saw him.
Kael's throat worked, but no sound came out. The silence here was absolute. No wind. No rustling leaves. Not even the sound of his own heartbeat.
Just the eye.
And the pressure.
It wasn't physical. It wasn't magic.
It was the weight of nothingness itself, pressing down on him, crushing him into the earth. His ribs ached, his lungs struggling to expand against the unseen force.
He was drowning in open air.
A gasp tore from his lips—
And dust spilled out.
Not breath. Not smoke.
Fine, gray particles, rising from his skin like embers from a dying fire. They curled into the air, drifting toward the pillar, absorbed by the stone.
Kael's eyes widened in horror.
It was taking him apart.
With every wisp of dust that left his body, he felt lighter.
Weaker.
His hands trembled as he raised them, watching as the edges of his fingers blurred, as if he were dissolving into the air itself.
No—
His resonance core screamed, the oblivion shard inside him resonating with the pillar, feeding it.
It's eating me.
Panic surged, raw and primal. He tried to stand, but his limbs wouldn't obey. His body was unraveling, piece by piece, his very existence being erased.
Memories flashed—
Sven's sneer. Eva's warnings. The cold weight of the spear in his grip.
The fury that followed was the only thing keeping him whole.
NO.
With a snarl, Kael forced himself up, his muscles screaming, his bones threatening to splinter under the pressure.
The eye stared.
And Kael roared back.
The pillar thrummed, the carvings along its surface flickering with a faint, sickly light.
Dryx screeched, the sound piercing the unnatural silence, and suddenly leaped, landing on Kael's shoulder with enough force to stagger him. The little creature's claws dug in, anchoring him, its small body trembling with effort.
Kael didn't understand—but he felt it.
A connection. A thread.
The pillar wasn't just taking.
It was offering.
The oblivion shard in his core pulsed again, and suddenly, he knew.
This was the trial.