Darkness.
Endless darkness.
Kael could not feel his body.
Could not hear the rain.
Could not feel the cold.
There was only silence.
Then—
A voice echoed.
“You have awakened.”
Kael’s eyes snapped open.
Or at least he thought they did.
There was no sky.
No ground.
No stars.
Only an endless black void stretching beyond imagination.
“What… is this place?”
His own voice sounded distant.
Small.
Insignificant.
No answer came.
Instead, something appeared.
Far away.
At first it looked like a mountain.
Then Kael realized it was moving.
His blood froze.
A throne.
A colossal black throne larger than entire cities.
Ancient.
Broken.
Covered in countless cracks.
And upon it sat a figure.
A shadow.
Featureless.
Motionless.
Watching him.
Kael took a step back.
The shadow took none.
Yet somehow it felt closer.
Much closer.
“Who are you?”
Silence.
Then the figure slowly raised one hand.
The void trembled.
Suddenly—
Millions of voices exploded inside Kael’s mind.
Screams.
Laughter.
Crying.
Prayers.
Last words.
Final regrets.
Countless lives.
Countless deaths.
Kael fell to his knees.
“MAKE IT STOP!”
The voices vanished instantly.
His entire body shook.
“What was that?”
The shadow finally spoke.
Its voice sounded like thousands speaking at once.
“Memories.”
Kael stared.
“Whose memories?”
The answer came immediately.
“The dead.”
His heart stopped.
The dead?
All of them?
Impossible.
No human could carry that burden.
“No…”
The shadow slowly leaned forward.
“You sought power.”
“I wanted to save my sister.”
“You sought death.”
“I sought life!”
The throne cracked.
A deep sound echoed throughout the void.
For the first time…
The shadow laughed.
A cold laugh.
An ancient laugh.
“A meaningless distinction.”
Kael clenched his fists.
“Who are you?”
The shadow pointed toward the throne.
“I am what remains.”
The answer made no sense.
“What does that mean?”
Another silence.
Then—
The shadow began fading.
The throne began fading.
The void itself started collapsing.
Kael felt panic rising.
“Wait!”
“My sister!”
“Can I save her?”
For the first time…
The shadow seemed to hesitate.
Then it spoke.
One sentence.
A sentence that would haunt Kael forever.
“Every life demands a death.”
The world shattered.
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK.
Reality broke apart like glass.
Kael felt himself falling.
Falling endlessly.
Then—
His eyes opened.
He was back.
Back inside the small wooden house.
Back in the real world.
The storm still raged outside.
The broken ceiling remained above him.
The smell of rain filled the air.
For a moment Kael thought everything had been a dream.
Then he looked at his hands.
Black symbols slowly crawled across his skin.
Like living shadows.
His breath caught.
It was real.
Everything was real.
A weak sound came from the bed.
Kael immediately turned.
“Lyra!”
She was alive.
Barely.
But alive.
Relief flooded his body.
Then something strange happened.
A single drop of blood fell from Lyra’s lips.
The moment it touched the floor—
Kael saw a vision.
A little girl laughing.
Running through a field.
Holding flowers.
Crying beside a grave.
Growing older.
Dreaming.
Hoping.
Living.
An entire lifetime flashed before his eyes.
In one second.
Kael stumbled backward.
His heart pounded violently.
“What…”
The vision disappeared.
Lyra stared at him.
Confused.
“Brother?”
Kael couldn’t answer.
Because he finally understood.
The memories were real.
The dead were real.
And somehow…
The Throne of Death had made him hear them.
Outside the house, distant bells began ringing.
Not one.
Not two.
Hundreds.
Across the entire city.
A terrified scream echoed through the streets.
Then another.
Then dozens more.
Kael rushed toward the window.
And froze.
Above Elaris…
The black pillar of the Death Throne was growing brighter.
Brighter than ever before.
As if something had awakened.
Or worse.
As if something had finally returned.
End of Chapter 2