As the corridor turned, the air seemed to thicken and become heavy, like liquid glass. Each step was difficult, and the sounds were muffled, as if absorbed by cotton wool.
"It's the influence of the Heart," the Elder whispered, and his voice barely broke the ringing silence. — It doesn't just suppress the will. It absorbs the very possibility of resistance."
Leng Wei felt it with his whole being. His own power, which had been so responsive a short time ago, now seemed to be caught in a web. The bracelet on his wrist radiated a dim but steady glow, an island of calm in a sea of oppressive silence.
They entered a circular hall with a high dome. The walls were covered with intricate mosaics depicting ancient vampire kings bowing before some shining artifact. In the center of the hall, a crystal the size of a human heart floated on an altar made of black obsidian. It was completely transparent, but there was such an intense emptiness emanating from it that it was impossible to look at it directly.
** The Heart of Silence**
Figures in crimson robes with hoods, members of the Council, stood in silence around the altar. But they didn't move, their glazed eyes expressionless. They didn't control the artifact, they were its puppets.
"They are... are they under his control themselves?" whispered Lin Mei in horror.
"No," Leng Wei replied slowly, peering into the streams of energy. "Worse." They voluntarily gave their souls to him. They are not slaves. They... acolytes."
A tall vampire in plain white robes emerged from the shadows behind the altar. His face was young and handsome, but his eyes held the endless weariness of millennia.
"I've been waiting for you, Heir," his voice was low, but every word penetrated my very heart. — I am the Guardian of the Heart. The last of the True Masters who still remembers the purpose of this creation."
Leng Wei stepped forward, feeling the silence pressing down on his mind, trying to force out all thoughts except one — to submit.
"What's the purpose? Turn everyone into weak-willed dolls?"
The guard smiled, and there was immense sadness in his smile. "Oh, no, I'm not. Our goal is to save our species. We vampires are made out of conflict. Our history is one of endless clan wars, betrayals, and power struggles. We destroyed ourselves over and over again. The heart of Silence... It's a medicine. It frees us from the very source of conflict—free will."
Han shouted in rage, "What kind of medicine is this! This is soul killing!"
"And what is a soul, warrior? The Guardian replied calmly. — The chaos of conflicting desires, selfishness, thirst for power? We give harmony. Eternal rest."
Leng Wei, looking at the glassy faces of the Council, felt not their enslaved wills, but something else. Relief. They were free from the burden of choice, responsibility, and suffering.
"They are... Are you happy?" Involuntarily, he blurted out.
"Serene,— the Guardian corrected. "And you can join them, Heir." Your strength, your will, is the last fragment of chaos that needs to be subdued. Give up the fight. Find peace."
The temptation was so strong that Leng Wei could physically feel it. He felt his own fatigue, the pain of loss, and the burden of responsibility urging him to give up. Just stop fighting.
Closing his eyes, he saw the face of Lee, his friend who had passed away free. He remembered his mother, who was fighting for every breath. I remembered Khan, who carried his repentance like a shield.
"Power is not control, son. Strength is balance." His father's voice sounded in his head as clearly as if he were standing next to him.
Leng Wei opened his eyes. There was no rage or fear in them. Only understanding.
"You're wrong," he said softly. "You're not saving our species. You're burying him. We can be cruel, selfish, destructive. But we can also love, sacrifice, and forgive. You're taking away both the bad and the good from us. You are not offering life, but existence."
He raised his hand, and the bracelet flashed, dispelling the oppressive silence.
"I will not rest with you. I'm going to live. With all her battles, her pain... and with joys."
The guardian sighed, "It's a pity. In that case, I'll have to offer you peace through force."
The heart of Silence began to beat, and a wave of deep apathy swept over them. The guards behind Leng Wei began to lower their weapons, their will melting like wax.
But Leng Wei did not give up. He felt not only his own will, but also the echo of the will of everyone who was next to him: Han, Lin Mei, Jin, the Elders, and even those guards who had just joined them.
He wasn't alone.
"You were talking to a rock," Jin shouted at him, barely able to contain the pressure. "Now talk to us!"
And Leng Wei... He started singing.
Not with my voice. Will. He did not fight the silence, but filled it with the echo of life: the rustle of leaves, the sound of rain, the beating of hearts, the laughter of children, the pain of loss and the joy of discovery.
The silence resisted, but it was powerless before this symphony of life.
The heart of Silence cracked.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" — for the first time, the Guardian's voice faltered. "This can't be happening!"
"Anything is possible,— Leng Wei replied, taking a step towards the altar. —Because we're free."
He held out his hand to the crystal. Not to destroy it, but to understand it.
And the Heart of Silence... It spoke.