The first step Kaelen took as the new Keeper sent tremors racing through the Abyss.
Stone spires groaned and cracked, releasing plumes of black mist into the air. The Heart floated behind him now, tethered by chains of shadow that pulsed like veins, feeding him power with every breath.
Outside, in the shattered hallways of the Rift's outer edge, Liora and the others felt it—an unnatural gravity pressing against their chests, as if the very air had grown heavier.
"Something's wrong," Liora whispered, gripping her blade tighter. "The Rift… it's waking."
Within the cathedral, Kaelen extended his hand. The shadows obeyed without hesitation, snaking across the floor and walls, pulling shapes from the dark—creatures with eyes like molten silver, their bodies shifting between smoke and flesh.
> "Go," he commanded, his voice deep and resonant, carrying an authority that wasn't entirely his own.
"Sweep the edges. Drive them into the abyss."
The creatures scattered into the void.
For the first time, Kaelen understood the temptation—why the Keepers before him had fallen. It wasn't weakness. It was the knowledge that with such power, the world above was no longer safe from him.
Yet, buried deep under the tide of shadows, a small fragment of his old self stirred—a faint echo of a promise made before stepping into the Abyss:
> "I'll come back… no matter what it takes."
The Heart's voice cut through the thought like a blade:
> "You already have. This is who you were meant to be."
Kaelen turned toward the exit of the cathedral.
The Abyss awaited its first conquest.
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