The wind across the island died. Not a whisper remained.
Kaen stood at the edge of the abyssal tear, his eyes narrowed. The glass-like void suspended in the crater pulsed—once, then again—each beat sending silent tremors through the ground beneath them.
Zian stepped beside him, her golden eyes scanning the crater. "It's not a rift," she said softly. "It's… sleeping."
Kaen didn't answer. The others were setting up defense wards around the perimeter—Lirien issued orders quietly, already anticipating trouble.
Rin's runes glowed blue and gold as she adjusted the barrier field. "The tear is rejecting stabilizing mana," she reported. "It's not hostile. But it doesn't want to be understood."
Mira cracked her knuckles. "That's a poetic way of saying it's creeping me out."
Rayden unsheathed his dual sabers. "Feels like something's buried under us."
And it was.
Kaen could feel it now—the shape curled in the depths beneath the crater. It wasn't just sleeping.
It was listening.
He knelt slowly, placing a hand on the cracked obsidian surface surrounding the tear. The moment his skin touched it, the world blinked.
For a breathless instant, he was elsewhere—not on the island, not even in the world as it was. A sea of darkness stretched around him, and in the center lay a giant chained being, its form obscured by swirling shadows. Eyes opened—millions of them—each one burning with loyalty.
A voice echoed:
"Our king has returned."
Kaen's expression didn't change, but his soul trembled. Not fear—recognition.
Back on the island, Lirien shouted, "Kaen!"
He blinked—and the vision vanished.
"I'm fine," he said, standing.
Zian looked at him closely, but said nothing.
Lirien stepped closer. "What did you see?"
Kaen glanced back at the crater, its pulse now slowing, as if soothed. "A piece of what I left behind," he answered vaguely.
"Should we report this?" Selene asked, her hand on her blade.
Kaen shook his head. "No one would believe it. Not yet."
As the team prepared to leave, the tear dimmed, its heartbeat slowing until it vanished entirely.
But far below, under endless chains, something ancient smiled.
And whispered one word through the void:
"Soon."