Falling felt nothing like falling.
It felt like being unthreaded.
Eiryn's body dissolved into streaks of pale light, his thoughts stretching thin as he spiraled through the Vein. Darkness didn't surround him—it absorbed him, curling around his mind like smoke searching for cracks.
Whispers slithered across his consciousness.
You were born for this.
You opened the door.
Come home, Lantern-child…
"Shut up," Eiryn hissed, forcing his mind to stay intact.
The Pale Lantern flickered around him—a beacon, but fragile, trembling. Every second inside the Vein drained him. Every heartbeat felt like someone carving into his memories.
Then—
Light.
A violent flash.
And the fall ended.
Eiryn hit the ground hard, dust exploding beneath him. Air slammed into his lungs. He coughed, groaning as he pushed himself up onto shaky hands.
The Hollow Below.
It wasn't a place.
It was a scar.
A vast cavern stretched out in front of him, illuminated by veins of pulsing black-violet light embedded in the stone walls. Shadows crawled across the ground like living ink. The air felt thick, heavy, humming with pressure that vibrated against his bones.
And the worst part—
There were no sounds.
No footsteps.
No dripping water.
No echoes.
The Hollow Below was absolutely, unnaturally silent.
Eiryn swallowed. "Riven…?"
His voice echoed—and the echo didn't come back.
Only a soft, distant throb traveled through the stone floor, like a pulse forcing reality to breathe.
He stood, brushing dust off his shirt, though his hands shook. The Lantern flickered weakly behind him.
He wasn't alone.
He never was, down here.
The Vein watched.
It remembers you.
Eiryn ignored the whisper and moved forward.
Every step revealed more of the cavern—pillars twisted like bone, pools of dark fluid reflecting broken images of the world above, trails in the dust leading deeper into the hollow.
Then he saw it.
Footprints.
Not his.
Not human.
The claw marks beside them dug into rock like wet clay.
He crouched low, touching one. It was warm.
"They're close," he whispered.
A rumble echoed—tiny vibrations running through the floor.
Eiryn froze.
The Lantern flickered nervously.
Something was approaching.
He turned sharply—
A sharp, metallic scraping carved itself into the silence.
Then a figure emerged from between the stone columns, wrapped in tar-black growths that pulsed with violet veins. Its face was hidden by a mask carved from bone, the symbol of the cult etched into its forehead:
The Crimson Helix.
The figure lifted its head and spoke in a voice that rattled like gravel.
"You arrived earlier than expected… Lantern-bearer."
Eiryn stepped back. "Where is Riven?"
The creature tilted its head. "Alive. For now."
"Take me to him."
A low chuckle. "You think we would bring you this deep into the Vein just to handover our bait?"
Another figure stepped into view.
Then another.
Then three more.
A circle of masked cultists surrounded him, their bodies half-human, half-corrupted by Helunsntion exposure. Their flesh fused with the stone beneath them. Their fingers split into jagged talons.
Eiryn's heart pounded.
But fear didn't paralyze him.
Not this time.
The Pale Lantern flared.
Light rippled outward in a trembling halo.
The creatures hissed, shielding their faces.
"Blinding us won't save you," one snarled. "You don't even understand your gift."
Eiryn stood tall despite the trembling of his legs. "Then teach me."
A cold silence followed.
Then—
"Very well."
All six surged toward him.
Eiryn's body moved before his thoughts did. His Manifestation burst open—
THE PALE LANTERN — FULL IGNITION
Light exploded from his palms, twisting into spiraling rays that cut through the darkness like blades. He lunged backward, barely dodging a talon swipe that shattered stone as it struck the ground.
One cultist grabbed his arm—
Eiryn slammed the Lantern's glow into its chest.
The creature screamed, its body disintegrating like ash caught in a storm.
Two more lunged from the sides.
Eiryn ducked—
Rolled—
Pushed his palms forward.
A luminous shockwave blasted them back, cracking pillars and sending debris cascading across the cavern floor.
He gasped, clutching his chest. The Lantern's glow was draining fast.
The last cultist stepped forward, unaffected.
Its voice was calm.
Too calm.
"You shine too brightly, child. You will burn your own mind."
Eiryn steadied his breathing. "Then I burn."
He raised both hands.
The Pale Lantern flared to its brightest yet—
But the cultist moved faster.
A claw shot out—
Clamping around Eiryn's throat.
He choked, feet lifting off the ground as the creature held him effortlessly.
"You cannot fight the Vein," it hissed. "You were born to obey it."
Eiryn struggled, kicking, clawing at the fingers crushing his windpipe. Black dots filled his vision.
The Lantern flickered erratically.
His strength waned.
The cultist leaned close.
"Sleep, Lantern-child."
Eiryn's eyes faded—
But then—
A voice echoed through the cavern.
Soft.
Weak.
But familiar.
"Put him down."
Eiryn's heart jolted.
It was Riven.
The cultist froze.
Eiryn's vision blurred as he twisted his head—
There.
Deep in the cavern.
Bound by chains of living shadow, kneeling, body torn and bleeding—
Riven.
Alive.
Barely.
His eyes, dim but focused, burned with defiance.
"Touch him again…" Riven whispered hoarsely, "and I'll tear your mind apart myself."
The cultist hissed. "Silence, prisoner."
But Riven lifted his head, weak smile breaking through blood.
"Eiryn… you made it."
Hearing his voice—
The Lantern surged.
Eiryn's pulse spiked.
His mind snapped into clarity.
The Pale Lantern erupted with a scream of light—
A blinding burst that shattered the cultist's mask and hurled the creature across the cavern.
Eiryn collapsed to his knees, gasping.
But he wasn't down.
Not anymore.
He pushed himself up.
Hands trembling.
Blood on his lips.
Lantern burning like a second heart.
Riven stared at him, wide-eyed. "Eiryn… your eyes—"
Eiryn didn't hear the rest.
He felt the change.
His irises glowed with swirling pale-white fractals.
Lantern fractals.
He walked toward Riven, ignoring the pain lancing through his ribs.
The cult shadows lunged—
Eiryn blasted them apart without looking.
Stone crumbled.
Chains shattered.
Riven fell forward—and Eiryn caught him, pulling him close.
For a moment, everything stopped.
Riven's voice trembled.
"You shouldn't have come."
Eiryn's voice cracked as he whispered, "Then don't disappear again."
They held each other amid the trembling cavern.
But the Vein was not finished.
The ground beneath them rumbled violently. The cavern walls split open, tearing like flesh. A howl of ancient voices rose from below.
The Vein pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
A third time—
Then something started rising from the abyss.
Tall.
Twisted.
Dripping with the essence of nightmares.
Not a cultist.
Not a human.
A Primordial Manifestation.
The first creature ever born from Helunsntion.
Eiryn's blood froze.
Riven whispered, terrified—
"Eiryn… that's the one from your childhood."
The shadow with black-water eyes.
The one that first spoke to him.
The one that marked him.
The one that whispered:
You see me.
The Primordial turned its head slowly.
Its gaze locked onto Eiryn.
And it smiled.
"Welcome home."
The cavern collapsed into darkness—
And Chapter 10 ends exactly there.