The forest changed as they walked.
The ground hardened.
The trees twisted.
The air carried the faint smell of scorched stone.
The deeper they went, the less the world felt like a game.
The less Zyren felt like a player.
The more everything moved with intention.
Selene kept her bow in her hand, but she glanced at Zyren more than at the shadows.
She watched the way he walked.
She watched the way he breathed.
She watched the cold light that pulsed faintly under his skin each time the trail ahead shifted.
She whispered at one point.
"Zyren, your aura keeps reacting. Does it hurt"
Zyren shook his head.
"No."
Selene studied him for a moment.
"You are lying again."
He did not answer.
They stepped over a fallen tree whose bark had been burned from the inside out. The light faded entirely here. Only the pale glow of the black silver trail guided them deeper.
A faint sound filled the forest.
Soft.
Distant.
Like the ringing of old bells buried under soil.
Selene stopped moving.
"Do you hear that"
"Yes."
"It sounds like crying metal."
"No," Zyren said quietly. "It sounds like someone calling."
Selene's throat tightened.
"Then we should not answer."
They pushed on.
The black silver trail bent to the left, following the river until the water thinned into a narrow channel. The banks rose sharply. Roots hung over the water like skeletal hands reaching down.
A shape appeared on the far side of the channel.
Selene stiffened.
Zyren slowed.
The shape did not move.
It sat against a tree with its knees pulled to its chest, wrapped in a ragged cloak that hid its face. At first glance it looked human. At second glance, the proportions were wrong. Its arms were too long. Its spine too straight.
Selene whispered with her voice barely a breath.
"Another hunter"
"No," Zyren said. "Hunters do not sit."
The shape lifted its head slowly.
Two dim lights glowed where eyes should be.
The figure spoke.
Its voice was thin.
Tired.
Creaking like old wood.
"Bearer."
Selene pulled her string back tight.
Zyren raised a hand lightly to stop her.
The cloaked figure tilted its head.
"You woke the gate. You walked past the roots. You heard the sentinel."
Zyren stepped forward.
"What are you"
The figure stood slowly.
Not fully.
Its body shook, as if it had not moved in a long time.
"A remnant."
"Left behind by who"
"By what came before the Court."
Zyren felt the cold in his chest stir.
Selene kept her arrow aimed directly at the creature's heart.
"What do you want," she asked.
The remnant turned its dim eyes toward her.
Silence held for a moment before it answered.
"To warn him."
Zyren's grip on his sword tightened.
"Warn me about what"
The remnant straightened slightly, its cloak sliding off one shoulder. Underneath was not flesh. Not bone.
Something between.
It whispered.
"You think the heralds are distant."
Selene's breath caught.
"They are not," the remnant continued. "They walked through the gate before you opened it. They waited. They tasted your breath the moment you stepped on sacred soil."
Zyren felt the weight of its words.
"And now they approach."
Selene stepped closer to Zyren.
"How many"
The remnant's head tilted slowly.
"Enough to test the worth of your silence."
Zyren looked directly into the creature's dim eyes.
"What do they want"
The remnant lifted a hand. Its fingers were cracked, thin, almost translucent.
"To break you. To open your chest and see what sleeps inside."
Selene lowered her voice to a harsh whisper.
"Then they can try."
The remnant shifted its gaze to her. Its voice softened.
"You stand beside him. Brave for a mortal. Heart loud. Fear real. It will try to use you against him."
Selene's jaw clenched.
"Let it try."
The remnant looked back at Zyren.
"You must move. The shrine lies ahead. But the herald moves faster."
Zyren stepped forward.
"What is the herald"
"Divine correction. Divine judgment. Divine hunger."
Selene whispered.
"Hunger"
The remnant nodded slowly.
"It eats what should not exist. It eats silence. It eats anomalies. You carry all three."
The trail pulsed brighter.
The remnant stepped back.
"The shrine will not protect you. It will only show you a memory. After that, you are alone in the forest."
Zyren narrowed his eyes.
"Are you here to help me"
The remnant's head lowered.
"No. I am here because I wanted to see the bearer once before I fade."
Selene blinked.
"Fade"
The remnant's body cracked.
Pieces fell like ash.
It whispered one more message.
"Run when the forest screams."
Then its body collapsed into dust that drifted across the river and vanished.
Silence returned.
Selene touched Zyren's arm gently.
"Zyren. I do not like this. I want you to know that."
Zyren met her eyes.
"I know."
She exhaled shakily.
"But I am still walking with you."
He nodded once.
They followed the trail until the trees opened into a clearing.
The shrine stood at the center.
It was small.
Circular.
Built from black stone blocks arranged like a broken crown.
A shallow bowl of cracked marble sat in the middle, filled with cold white fire that did not flicker.
The Hollow Flame.
Selene whispered.
"That is beautiful."
Zyren did not answer.
The moment he stepped closer, the flame reacted.
It rose.
It twisted.
It formed shapes inside itself.
A figure appeared inside the fire.
Tall.
Armored.
With a broken crown floating above its head.
Othrenis.
The fallen sovereign.
Selene stepped back in alarm.
"You know him," she said.
"Yes."
"You have seen him before"
Zyren nodded.
"He was in the realm beneath the meadow."
Selene's eyes widened with realization.
"That is who gave you the silence."
"No," Zyren said. "He did not give it. He offered it."
The flame cracked softly.
Othrenis spoke inside the fire.
"You walk the first path. You saw the sentinel. You woke the gate. Good."
Selene stared at Zyren.
"He is talking to you."
Zyren stepped closer.
"What is this place"
"A memory," Othrenis said. "A scar. A place where their lies burned so deep the truth could hide beneath it."
Zyren asked.
"What memory"
Othrenis raised his hand inside the flame.
The fire shifted.
A vision appeared.
A battlefield in the sky.
Gods clad in light.
A single dark figure standing against them.
A crown breaking apart.
A realm collapsing.
Selene inhaled sharply.
"That is… impossible."
Othrenis spoke through the flame.
"They erased this from the world. But the silence remembers. And now you carry it."
Zyren felt the cold expand in his chest.
"What does the Court want with me"
Othrenis lowered his gaze.
"They want to destroy you before you awaken what I lost."
Selene grabbed Zyren's arm.
"Zyren, we need to go."
Othrenis continued.
"The herald is near. Its breath already touches your path. If it finds you here, you die."
Zyren's eyes sharpened.
"Then tell me what to do."
The flame stilled.
"Break the false light."
Zyren frowned.
"What does that mean"
"Find their anchors," Othrenis said. "Destroy the chains that hold their sky together. Only then will silence rise."
Selene whispered.
"Zyren. He is asking you to destroy gods."
Zyren did not look away from the flame.
"I need more answers."
Othrenis stepped closer in the fire.
"You will get them. But not here."
The flame dimmed.
The vision faded.
A final whisper rose.
"The herald is coming. Run."
The Hollow Flame went dark.
Selene grabbed Zyren's wrist.
"Zyren. Get up. Now."
Zyren stepped back from the shrine.
The forest suddenly screamed.
Roots snapped.
Birds burst into the air.
Trees shook as if something massive brushed past them.
Selene's breath hitched.
"What is that"
Zyren unsheathed his sword.
"The herald."
The scream rose again.
Louder.
Closer.
Hungry.
Zyren met Selene's eyes.
"We run."
Selene nodded once.
They turned and sprinted into the trees, the forest twisting behind them as something enormous and divine tore through the shadows.
The herald was awake.
And it wanted Zyren.