Silence.
It was the kind of silence that came after a storm, deep and suffocating, like the world had exhaled and forgotten how to breathe again.
Lucien's knees hit the broken stone floor with a crack, dust billowing around him as he stared at the place where Eira had stood only moments ago. The light was gone. The Hollow Heart no longer pulsed. The runes around the seal flickered weakly before dying altogether, leaving behind scorched earth and an unnatural stillness.
She was gone.
His sword slipped from his fingers with a dull clang. "Eira…"
Ravien was the first to move, limping toward the crater left by the explosion of magic. "Is she… Did she—?"
"She sealed it," Lyselle whispered, her voice hollow as she clutched the ancient codex to her chest. "Just like she said. She sacrificed herself to close the Hollow Heart."
"No," Lucien said through gritted teeth. "She wouldn't leave us like that. There has to be something—some way to bring her back."
Lyselle opened her mouth to respond, but another voice cut through the silence.
"She's not dead."
All heads turned toward the source—Valtherion.
He stood at the edge of the ruined throne, his form ragged, wings diminished, robes torn from the magical backlash. But his eyes… they burned with something fierce and unreadable.
Lucien surged to his feet. "What did you say?"
"I felt it," Valtherion said, placing a hand over his chest. "The bond didn't break. She's still alive."
Ravien frowned. "But where?"
Valtherion stared at the sealed Hollow Heart, where the blade still glowed faintly, embedded in the crystal structure that had formed around the city's core. "She is within the seal. Her soul… it became part of the lock."
Lyselle knelt beside the crystallized core, scanning the inscriptions. "He's right. There's still energy pulsing inside. Faint, but active. She didn't just seal it—she merged with it. She is the seal now."
Lucien clenched his fists. "Then we're getting her out. I don't care what it takes."
"She's not just locked in a room, Knight," Valtherion said coldly. "She became part of the weave. A living barrier. Removing her could unmake the entire city."
"And leaving her like that?" Lucien growled. "That's not an option either."
Valtherion's expression darkened. "You presume you understand what she is. You don't. None of you do."
"Then enlighten us," Lyselle said sharply, rising to her feet.
Valtherion's jaw tightened. "She is more than a key. She is a relic of a lost world—an echo of divine power. The gods marked her soul for rebirth again and again, tying her fate to mine. The seal recognizes her because she's always been its heart."
Ravien shook his head. "You're saying she was always meant to sacrifice herself?"
"No," Valtherion replied. "She was meant to choose."
Lucien stepped forward, drawing a dagger from his belt. "And we'll choose to save her, no matter what she was meant for."
The chamber trembled slightly.
All eyes turned toward the crystal again.
This time, a whisper echoed across the room—not in sound, but in thought.
"Lucien…"
He froze. "Eira?"
The voice came again, softer, like wind brushing through a field of wheat.
"I'm still here…"
Lucien dropped to his knees beside the core, placing a hand against the surface. "Can you hear me? Eira, we're going to get you out, I swear."
Valtherion turned away, staring at the ceiling of the Hollow Heart. "Fools…"
"She's still in there," Lucien snapped. "She's reaching out."
"She's trapped," Valtherion said, his voice laced with fury. "Her soul is being devoured slowly by the power she sealed. The longer she stays, the less of her remains."
Lyselle's face went pale. "There has to be a way to transfer the seal without destroying her."
Valtherion didn't respond. He simply looked at the crystal core again, his eyes hollow.
Lucien rose. "Then we'll find that way."
"Even if it means breaking every rule?" Ravien asked quietly.
Lucien's answer came without hesitation. "Yes."
He turned to Lyselle. "You said the city beneath the bones is older than the empire. That it was built on remnants of even older civilizations."
"Several," she said, nodding. "Layered magic. The city's heart touches multiple timelines. It might explain how she's reaching us from inside the seal."
Lucien looked to the others. "Then we dig deeper. We find what came before. There has to be another path."
Valtherion scoffed. "You want to navigate ancient magic you barely understand and bargain with powers that consume gods?"
Lucien locked eyes with him. "If that's what it takes."
There was a long silence.
Then Valtherion looked back at the crystal. "If I help you… if I show you the lost pathways of this city… it's not out of loyalty. It's because she chose to spare me."
"That's fine," Lucien said. "Just help us bring her back."
Valtherion slowly extended his arm. "Then follow me. To the sanctum beneath the Hollow Heart. It holds what even the gods once feared."
Lyselle raised a brow. "You mean the Origin Gate?"
"Yes," Valtherion said. "If there is a way to rewrite the seal without destroying her… it lies there."
Lucien stepped forward, blade in hand, resolve burning in his eyes. "Then lead the way."
And so, they descended once more—into a darkness older than time itself, to challenge fate and reclaim the girl who had bound gods and kings with nothing more than the strength of her soul.