🌌 Three Nights Later – The Edge of the Deadwoods
Kael stood alone on the ridge, staring at the valley below — a wasteland of charred trees and broken stones.
His fingers trembled.
Not from fear.But from something worse — uncontrolled power.The Second Vein inside him pulsed with a wild hunger, and ever since the Whispering Relic shattered, the voices had grown louder… more demanding.
"Let us out," they whispered."Let us take over."
He clenched his jaw.He couldn't let them win. Not yet.
But Lyra… she wasn't there to keep him grounded anymore.
🥀 Flashback: Two Days Ago – The Breaking Point
"Kael, listen to me," Lyra had said, eyes fierce. "This path you're on — it doesn't end with peace. It ends with you becoming the thing you hate."
"You think I don't know that?" Kael had snapped. "But I don't have the luxury of walking away!"
"And I don't have the strength to watch you burn alive."
She'd turned.
"I'll come back," she whispered. "If you're still Kael."
She didn't look back again.
🕳️ Present – Beneath the Deadwoods
Kael climbed down into the canyon. According to the journal, this place — Gravemaw Hollow — was the resting place of an ancient truth.
He found it.
A stone circle covered in blood marks older than the empire.In its center lay a black crown, shattered into three pieces — the Crown of Silence.
As he stepped forward, the wind vanished.The air stopped moving.And a voice, ancient and female, filled the silence.
"The Crownless must choose."
Suddenly — fire.
Visions surged into Kael's mind:
The First King commanding gods.
The Hollow King screaming in chains.
Kael's own face, wearing the black crown... and killing Lyra.
"NO!"
Kael fell to his knees, clutching his head. The Veins surged.
His back burned.
And then — a third sigil appeared. Crimson, curved like blades, glowing along his spine.
The Third Vein had awakened.
"This one…" Kael gasped. "...is pain."
💀 Elsewhere – The Town of Braethorne
The Hollow King arrived.
He didn't speak. He didn't threaten.
He simply walked through the main gate… and everything behind him began to rot.
Wood turned to dust.Stone cracked and aged.People screamed — and forgot their own names.
One child stared at him and asked, "What are you?"
The Hollow King knelt.
"I am what happens… when kings lie."
He stood, raising one hand — and summoned a beast from memory itself.A Mourning Wyrm, stitched from forgotten dreams and dying prayers.
The town was erased before it could even cry for help.
🥀 Meanwhile – Lyra, far away in the monastery ruins
She sat in front of a withered statue — a goddess long forgotten.
"I left him," she said softly. "Because I thought I was saving myself."
She placed a pendant — a shard of her mother's blade — at the altar.
"But maybe... saving him would've saved me too."
She turned — and saw a woman in red robes standing at the doorway.
Her eyes glowed blue.
"You are not just an assassin," the woman said. "You are a keeper of balance. And your Vein... is waiting."
Lyra's hand trembled.
"I don't want that power."
"Power does not care what you want," the woman said. "It only waits for the broken."
🔥 Back in the Hollow – Kael stands
Kael stood now, breathing hard.
The Third Vein flowed through him — not wild like the Second, not silent like the First.
This one was hot. Heavy. Like guilt made flesh.
The crown pieces floated in front of him.
"I won't wear it," he whispered.
But the shadows around him smiled.
"You already are."
Suddenly, a whisper echoed from beyond the canyon:
"Kael…"
His eyes widened.
Lyra stood at the ridge, her cloak torn, her dagger drawn.
"What have you done?" she asked.
Kael turned, his eyes glowing like dying stars.
"I've stopped running."
🐉 Far above, in the royal palace
Thorne stared at a blood map.
Braethorne was gone.
The Hollow King had begun his march.
"Then it's time," Thorne muttered. "The last prince must fall."
Behind him, a prison gate opened.
And something older than gods… smiled.