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Chapter 12: Echoes of the Eleventh
The air turned colder the moment they crossed into the Hollow Reaches—a land where even sound seemed hesitant to linger. The wind carried whispers, and the trees bore no leaves.
Kaelen rode in silence, five rings now circling his fingers like constellations. Aeris watched him closely. Too closely.
"You've stopped sleeping," she said at last.
Kaelen nodded. "Every time I close my eyes, I see them."
"The other bearers?"
He looked at her—and his eyes weren't entirely his. "The ones who failed."
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The Whispering Hollow
They made camp near an ancient cairn stone. Strange runes covered its surface, pulsing with a faint gray glow. Kaelen approached it—and it spoke.
"You carry five," it whispered, "but one sleeps within you."
Aeris drew her weapon. "What does that mean?"
Kaelen touched the stone. For a moment, his hand passed through it. Beneath the surface: a shadow, shaped like him… but crowned with a ring that none of the others had shown.
The Eleventh Ring.
Not of the original ten.
Something outside the cycle.
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The Oracle Appears
From the mists emerged a figure in white—blindfolded, barefoot, ageless. She held no weapon, but the air shifted around her like water bending to her will.
"I am the Oracle of the Unnamed Ring," she said. "And you, Kaelen, are the question the world keeps asking."
He frowned. "Then give me an answer."
She stepped forward. "You seek to gather the ten. But the ten are not the end. They are the lock. The Eleventh is the key."
Kaelen whispered, "The Herald…"
The Oracle nodded. "He seeks not power. He seeks release."
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A Glimpse of the End
The Oracle placed her hand on Kaelen's chest—and the world around him fell away.
He stood at the end of time. Ten thrones, all shattered. A black sun overhead. And a figure made of rings and ruin stood waiting.
The Herald.
Behind him, a door of light.
Beyond it?
Nothing.
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Return to the Present
Kaelen gasped as he returned to the Hollow Reaches.
Aeris caught him. "What did you see?"
He looked to the sky.
"The end."
And in the distance, a horn sounded—the sixth ring was awakening.
Somewhere in the world… War had begun.
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