The shelves trembled as the porcelain mask turned.
It was tall enough to scrape the mist, shoulders narrow, arms too long. Its hands almost dragged the floor, fingers black as ink. Each step erased sound instead of making it.
[Warden Approaching]— Aspect: Silence— Protocol: Stillness Required— Failure: Voice → Echo → Erasure
Kael froze. The air thickened, crushing his chest until even his heartbeat fell silent.
The Warden did not walk—it collapsed distance. One blink, it was far. The next, it loomed a breath away. The porcelain face was cracked like a broken idol.
The cracks weren't random. They were letters. For a moment, Kael thought he could almost read them. Then one word blazed brighter:
HOLLOW.
The word burned through his bones. His thoughts buckled beneath it.
[Do not speak. Do not breathe loudly. Do not remember.]
Do not remember. The warning rattled inside him. What memory wasn't he supposed to have?
The Warden bent close. Porcelain hovered inches from his face, a mask of silence. No mouth, yet he swore he heard teeth grinding.
His lungs spasmed. He couldn't hold it. He needed to cough, to breathe—just once—
The Compass flared against his chest. Its spectral needle spun, locking suddenly on the Warden. At the same time, the Key of Low Tide throbbed in his pocket.
Kael clenched his jaw, tasting blood, forcing himself to stay still.
The Warden tilted closer. The cracks lit again—HOLLOW—before sealing once more.
Darkness spotted his vision. His fingers wrapped around the Key, its teeth biting into his palm. The Compass needle jerked, pointing downward—toward a seam beneath the Warden's feet.
Kael pressed the Key to the stone. It sank with a whisper.
The Warden shuddered. The floor swallowed it—ankles, knees, waist—until only its mask remained. The glowing cracks flickered, fragments bleeding through:
We keep what rules keep… The Hollow returns…
Then silence.
[Binding Achieved]— Constraint: 7 Breaths— Cost: 1 Echo (spent)— Mark Potential: 11%
Kael staggered back, lungs burning as he finally exhaled.
The mask sank beneath the stone. Sound bled back into the corridor—the groan of shelves, the hiss of his breath, and, faintly, the toll of a bell.
Once.
Kael didn't wait for a second strike. He ran.
AN-If you're enjoying the story so far, please add it to your library, leave a comment, or drop a review please :))