The transition from the bed to the floor felt like a harsh lesson in gravity. My legs were unsteady, a reminder that while my spirit had been walking through golden fields with my parents, my physical form had acted as a conduit for a power meant to anchor mountains. It should have torn a mortal apart; instead, it had left me feeling raw, like a new blade tempered in ice.
Silas was at my side in an instant, his hand steadying my elbow. There was a new softness in his gaze—not the pity I had once feared, but a profound, quiet reverence that made me feel more exposed than being without my mask ever had.
"The Sentinels are calling," he said, his voice a low vibration that seemed to match the thrumming in the walls. "The very stones of the mountain are vibrating with your name. Kaelen and Elara are already waiting at the Threshold."
I looked down at my hands. The emerald glow had retreated beneath the surface, but I could feel it there, coiled like a sleeping dragon in my marrow, waiting for the breath of the wind. I followed Silas through the corridors of the Inner Sanctuary. Everything here was alive; the walls were woven from ancient, flowering briar, and the floors were polished petrified wood that felt warm and welcoming beneath my bare feet.
We emerged into the Chamber of the First Seed.
It was a cathedral of nature, a soaring space where the boundary between architecture and forest dissolved. At the center, a massive column of translucent amber rose toward a crystalline dome, and within that amber sat a single, pulsating heart of light—the Root of Yggdrasil. Kaelen stood to the left, looking uncharacteristically small against the grandeur, while Elara knelt in silent, rhythmic prayer.
As I stepped onto the central dais, the three stone Sentinels—now manifested in smaller, ethereal forms of light and moss—tilted their heavy heads in unison.
"ALYSIA AEDES," the Lead Sentinel resonated, the sound echoing not in my ears, but in the hollows of my chest. "YOU HAVE RETURNED THE KEY. NOW, YOU MUST CLAIM THE LOCK."
"I don't understand," I said, my voice trembling. "My mother said I would know the truth in time. Is this the time?"
The Sentinel extended a hand of shimmering light toward the amber pillar. "YOU WERE BORN OF TWO WORLDS. A FATHER OF MORTAL NOBILITY AND A MOTHER WHO WAS THE LAST GUARDIAN OF THE BEYOND. YOU ARE NOT MERELY A DESCENDANT; YOU ARE THE REBIRTH. THE HIVE SOUGHT THE SCROLL TO RULE THE WORLD OF MEN, BUT THE SCROLL IS NOT A MAP TO GOLD OR ARMIES."
The amber pillar began to glow with a blinding, sun-white intensity. Inside the resin, images began to flicker like a rapid-fire dream. I saw the Great Tree, Yggdrasil, its branches holding the heavens aloft while its roots bound the abyss. But I also saw a shadow—a creeping, oily rot—eating at the base of the trunk.
"THE SECRET POWER OF AETHELGARD IS NOT DESTRUCTION," the Sentinel continued. "IT IS RESTORATION. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO WEAVE THE BROKEN PIECES OF REALITY BACK TOGETHER. THE HIVE WANTS TO BURN THE TREE BECAUSE THEY FEAR THE LIGHT THAT EXPOSES THEIR SHADOWS. BUT YOU... YOU ARE THE GARDENER."
I reached out, my fingers hovering inches from the amber. As I touched the cool surface, the "secret power" flooded into me. It wasn't a weapon; it was a symphony. I could hear the song of every living thing in the kingdom—the struggle of the grass through the frost, the deep breathing of the northern forests, and the dying, choked gasps of the lands Califer had poisoned with his greed.
But there was a darker note in the melody.
In the depths of the vision, I saw the Hive. Califer wasn't just a man driven by gold; he was a vessel for the rot I had seen in the vision. He was trying to sever the world from its heart so he could rule the hollow carcass left behind.
"I can feel them," I whispered, tears pricking my eyes. "The trees he burned to build his war-machines... the families he tore apart to fill his ranks. It's all connected to me."
"It's a heavy burden for one girl," Silas said, stepping up beside me. He placed his hand over mine on the amber, a solid, grounding presence. The gold in his eyes flared, reflecting the emerald light of the Seed. "But you aren't the only branch on this tree, Alysia."
The Sentinel's light grew solemn, the chamber dimming. "THE ROT HAS NOT LEFT THE SHORES. CALIFER HAS SURVIVED THE DISPLACEMENT. HE IS GATHERING A DARKNESS WE THOUGHT LONG EXTINGUISHED. TO DEFEAT HIM, YOU MUST UNLOCK THE FINAL SEAL OF THE INNER SANCTUM—THE ARMORY OF THE UNSEEN."
With a thunderous crack that shook the mountain to its core, the floor of the chamber split open, revealing a staircase of white stone descending into the very bowels of the island. A scent of cold iron and ancient ozone drifted up, sharp and biting.
"He's coming back, isn't he?" Kaelen asked, his hand tightening on his hilt until the leather groaned. "He won't stop until this place is ash."
"Let him come," I said.
For the first time, my voice didn't sound like the Black Reaper's—it didn't sound like a blade being sharpened. It sounded like the earth itself—ancient, immovable, and terrifyingly full of life.
"I am Alysia Aedes. I have spent ten years learning how to kill. Now, I will learn how to save." I turned to Silas, Kaelen, and Elara, the emerald light of the Root reflecting in my eyes. "We go down. We find whatever is in that armory. And then, we finish this."