Echoes Beneath the Crown
The rubble of Arcanhelm groaned with the weight of silence. Smoke and dust still curled in the air, carrying with it the scent of scorched stone, ancient blood, and forgotten magic. Above the broken pillars and crumbled towers, the heavens split not with lightning, but with light. Ethereal beams cut across the sky in three directions, each humming with forgotten truth.
Kael stood motionless at the edge of the highest ledge, his boots half-buried in debris, his gaze distant and unreadable. In his grasp rested the Crown of Echoes, no longer dormant. The once silent artifact now pulsed with warm light like a heartbeat.
Lireen, limping but still determined, approached him slowly. Her armor was scorched and torn, her lips cracked from dried blood. But her eyes those bright violet eyes still held fire.
"Is it... over?" she asked, her voice barely more than breath.
Kael's lips moved slowly, as though unsure whether to answer. The weight of fate had never felt this heavy.
"No," he said, his voice deep and quiet. "This... was only the prelude."
---
The wind howled, carrying a sound that was not quite wind. It whispered names neither of them had spoken aloud. It hummed with songs of a time before kingdoms, before the Architect. The sky itself shimmered bent like water around the beams of light.
Lireen followed his gaze. "Those lights... they're calling something. Or someone."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "They're more than just light. They're keys. Or maybe warnings. Each one leads to a place tied to this crown... to my blood."
Lireen bit her lip. "What kind of power does it take to split the sky?"
Kael didn't answer. Instead, he placed the crown against his chest.
And for a moment just a moment his heartbeat echoed outward like a drum.
He saw visions. Frozen cities under starlight. Mountains split open like wounds. A black tower where time itself unraveled.
And in the center of it all, a throne built from voices screaming, singing, pleading.
He gasped.
Lireen caught his arm. "What did you see?"
Kael wiped cold sweat from his brow. "A future. Not ours yet. But coming."
---
As night claimed the sky, the ruins of Arcanhelm grew quiet. The aftershocks had stopped, but the world held its breath. Animals refused to approach. Even the insects were silent.
Kael and Lireen found shelter inside what was once an observatory. The stars above were clearer here, untouched by the curses of the earth below.
"We need answers," Lireen muttered, folding her arms as she stared into the dwindling fire.
Kael nodded, watching the flames. They moved... wrong. Not upward, but toward him.
He leaned forward. "Do you hear that?"
Lireen looked at him, puzzled. "Hear what?"
And then a voice soft, velvet, terrible spoke inside his skull.
"Kael... do you know your name is not your own?"
His hands trembled.
The flames died.
From behind the wall, a pulse of light.
Stone cracked, not from age but obedience.
A hidden passage opened with a whisper.
Lireen gasped. "The crown... it's showing the way."
---
They descended into darkness. Each step was colder, heavier.
The stairwell led to a hall untouched by time. The walls were carved with voices not words, but sound itself. Waves and pulses etched in stone.
At the center, a pedestal.
And atop it a mirror.
But this mirror showed no reflection. Only a field of ash.
Kael approached slowly.
He saw a man in the ash. Wearing a crown. Bleeding. Screaming silently.
It was him. But not him. An echo. A warning.
Lireen trembled. "Kael, don't touch it—"
But his fingers were already on the glass.
It didn't shatter. It dissolved.
And with it, the walls began to weep.
Sound. So much sound.
Thousands of voices, speaking in forgotten tongues. One louder than the rest:
"He is the Voice That Shouldn't Speak."
Kael fell. The crown burned in his grasp.
Lireen screamed his name.
He gasped, eyes wide.
And saw the Architect.
A shadow wrapped in golden strings. A mouth sewn shut.
And then
a heartbeat.
The Architect turned.
And smiled.
---
Kael awoke with blood dripping from his nose. Lireen held him tightly.
"You stopped breathing," she whispered, shaking.
He rose to his feet, still pale.
"It's awake now. The Architect isn't just real. It's waiting. Watching. And we... we triggered it."
He looked toward the staircase.
"We have to leave. Now."
---
As they emerged into the broken night, a new presence watched them from above the cliff.
A girl. White mask. One eye glowing red.
She whispered: "Finally... the crown chooses."
---
📣 Chapter 15 Teaser:
Kael & Lireen flee Arcanhelm, hunted by shadows and soldiers alike
Salvaria appears an immortal city outside of time
A masked girl challenges Kael's right to hold the crown
Lireen's hidden past is exposed
Kael dreams of fire, feathers, and the day Lireen will die
📢 Don't forget to tap ♥, comment your thoughts, and add this book to your library! Every echo counts toward breaking fate! 🌟
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