"When chasing something buried too deep, beware what digs its way up to meet you."— Fragment of the Inverted Testament
Vayren sat alone beneath a dying tree, its leaves shaped like forgotten letters.
The moon hung overhead—split in two, yet somehow whole—its reflection flickering in the pond like a breathing scar.
Lyra slept nearby, curled beside the remains of a sigil fire. Her dreams were uneasy. Every few minutes, her hand would twitch, flame flickering at her fingertips.
Vayren watched her for a while.
She was always the first to speak.
Now she was quiet.
He looked down at Veilbrand.
The blade no longer pulsed. It simply existed—silent and still, like a weight the world refused to carry anymore.
"Why did you call to me?" he murmured.
There was no answer.
Only the soft breeze that carried the scent of scorched earth and something colder.
Scene: The Dream That Wasn't a Dream
That night, Vayren dreamed.
But this one was different.
He stood in a white field beneath a black sun.
In front of him, a child sat.A girl. No older than ten. Her face hidden beneath a porcelain mask carved with seven runes. Her shadow was enormous—stretching beyond the horizon.
"You've broken the first law," she said without moving.
"I broke it to save someone."
"And who will break it to save you?"
Her fingers twitched.
The world shifted.
Vayren looked down—
He was bleeding stars.
"What is this place?" he asked.
"Not a place," the girl whispered. "A memory you were never meant to have."
Then she looked up.
Eyes glowing behind the mask.
"She's waiting for you. But so is the dagger. So is the mirror. So is the end."
And Vayren woke, gasping.
Scene: The Path Reveals Itself
By morning, Lyra had already mapped the route to the next relic's location.
A canyon of black glass—etched deep into the Hollowlands, a place forbidden even by the Church.
"There's a ruin in the canyon," Lyra said, eyes locked on the map. "Old. Older than anything the Church has tried to rewrite. The dagger's buried beneath it."
"Tenebranth," Vayren said.
"Yeah."
"You sure it's meant for you?"
Lyra didn't answer.
But her hands were shaking.
Lore Drop: Tenebranth
Forged not by gods, but by betrayal.
Tenebranth is said to pierce emotion itself.When it cuts, it severs the feeling, not the flesh.
Used by lovers, kings, and traitors—once even to kill love itself in a cursed kingdom that forgot why it ever went to war.
Scene: Serenya Watches
From atop the high cliffs beyond the canyon, Serenya stood still, arms folded beneath her wings.
The black feathers shifted softly in the wind.Her gold and white eyes tracked the two figures far below.
"Too slow," she whispered. "Too loud. Too late."
She stepped back.
And disappeared into the mirror-tomb awaiting beneath the ground.
Final Scene: The Crows Return
As Vayren and Lyra approached the canyon, the skies darkened.
Crows—dozens of them—circled overhead.
But their feathers weren't black.
They were grey.Ash-dusted. Vein-marked. Watching.
And as the pair passed into the shadow of the Hollowlands…
One of the birds whispered:
"She's already inside."