"Then let them come."
Kael's voice echoed across the Rift like it had weight. Like the darkness heard him and paused for a moment to listen.
Null didn't respond. He simply turned, those void-black eyes narrowed slightly — not in fear, but curiosity.
The boy — no, the being — studied Kael like one studies something unstable.
"You speak like a god," Null said finally. "But bleed like a man."
Kael didn't flinch.
"Then I'll learn to bleed better."
The Rift rumbled beneath them. Not like thunder. More like something massive shifting in its sleep.
Kael didn't understand it fully, but he could feel it — the world itself was listening.
Null stepped forward, wing shadows folding against his back.
"The Rift took your memory," he said. "A year of your life, gone."
"I don't remember losing it," Kael muttered.
"That's the curse."
They walked. Not toward anything, really — just deeper. The Rift had no paths. No direction. Only pull.
But Kael needed answers. Needed control. Needed power that didn't cost everything.
"You said I summoned you," Kael said, breaking the silence. "And the cost was mine to pay. But where did you come from?"
Null smiled faintly, as if humored.
"I don't remember."
Kael stopped walking.
"You're lying."
"Maybe," Null said. "Or maybe the Rift took something from me, too."
A flicker passed across Null's eyes — pain? Doubt?
Kael didn't press. He just nodded, accepting the silence as truth for now.
🌑 Later.
They reached a canyon carved straight down into the Rift's surface — filled with skeletal ruins and flickering, rune-covered stones. The place pulsed with low hums of energy — something ancient and broken.
Kael paused at the edge.
His chest tightened. Not fear — something else. A name on the tip of his tongue that he couldn't remember. Something warm… fading.
His hand clenched.
"It's happening again, isn't it?" he asked.
Null didn't reply.
But in the black stone below, Kael saw something glow.
A symbol.
His symbol.
[RIFTBORN TRAIT AWAKENED: "Recallbind"]
You may resist memory loss at great cost. Or choose what to forget.
Kael gasped, falling to one knee. His mind surged — fragments of laughter, faces without names, a child's hand holding his, a promise whispered in a storm.
Then gone.
[Choose: Suppress memory or Sacrifice body to retain it.]
Kael clenched his jaw.
"I'll keep it," he said through gritted teeth.
Pain exploded through his limbs. Blood leaked from his eyes.
Null didn't move.
"You'll die if you try to hold onto too much," he warned.
"Then I'll die remembering."
When the pain faded, Kael stood again — body shaking, but mind clear.
Something new was inside him. Not just resolve.
A skill.
[New Skill Unlocked: Rift Echo (Level 1)]
Briefly repeat an opponent's last attack with half power.
Warning: Each use consumes mental clarity.
Kael's lip curled.
Not flashy. Not world-ending.
But enough.
Enough to survive the next fight.
Suddenly, a laugh echoed from behind the canyon wall.
Not Null's.
Not Kael's.
A third voice — low, broken, and very much amused.
From the shadows, a figure stepped out — half-burned, armor melted into skin, one eye missing and replaced with a glowing red crystal.
"Another summoner," the man rasped. "Another toy of the Rift.
Kael stepped back, body instinctively tensing.
Null didn't move. Just stared.
The man raised a cracked black blade. It hummed like it wanted to drink something — blood, soul, anything.
"You've made your first contract," the man said. "Now you owe. To the Rift. To us."
"Us?" Kael asked.
The man grinned.
"I am Veyr. Riftwalker. Former knight. Former father. Former everything. Like you… once."
Kael held his ground.
"I'm not like you."
Veyr chuckled. "Not yet."
He lifted his hand — and from behind him, two Rift beasts slithered forward, chained to his wrist with rune-burned links.
"You'll break soon enough."
Kael's mind raced. Two summons. A blade. Veyr was seasoned — dangerous.
Null leaned toward him.
"Command me."
"At what cost?" Kael asked quietly.
Null smiled darkly. "Do you want to win or count coins?"
Kael exhaled. Looked down at his hand. Blood trembled on his fingers.
"Then hear me, Rift."
He whispered a word. One that didn't exist in any language he remembered — maybe one he once knew, long ago.
The ground cracked.
Symbols lit up.
The sky… blinked.
[NEW CONTRACT INITIATING]
Warning: Price = "A name you hold dear."
Kael froze.
A name? A person? A memory?
He couldn't even remember who — but the pain in his chest told him it mattered.
"Choose," the Rift demanded.
Null watched.
Kael closed his eyes.
"Take it," he said.
A coldness swept over him like death.
The symbol flared.
A second summon stirred beneath the stone.
And Kael… forgot a girl's laughter. A brother's voice. A promise made at dawn.
"Let them come," he said again, voice colder now.
"Let them all come."
⚔️ To be continued...