Part 2
The thunderous impact made the underground chamber tremble.
Dust and small fragments of stone fell from the ceiling. The blue flame suspended above the pedestal flickered for an instant, as though it had felt the impact.
Darius was breathing hard.
"They've broken through the first line of defense! The dragons are setting the outer platforms on fire, and..." He paused. "It's not just soldiers from the Void Council coming."
Orien opened his eyes.
"What else did you see?"
"Creatures... creatures I'd never seen before. Some have four arms, while others look as though they're made of black rock. None of them feel fear."
Lyra tightened her grip on her sword.
"The Forged of the Abyss..."
Orien lowered his head.
"Eryon didn't come alone. He's opened the ancient portals."
A shiver ran through Kael.
"What are the Forged of the Abyss?"
"Warriors created during the War of the Seven Gods," Orien replied. "They weren't born. They were built to obey... and to destroy."
Another impact shook the Sanctuary.
This time, the floor tilted slightly.
The old man made a decision.
"Lyra, Darius... return to the surface."
"What about Kael?" she asked.
Orien looked at the young man.
"He's staying with me."
Kael stepped forward.
"I can't hide while everyone else is fighting."
"I'm not hiding you."
The old man pointed to the blue flame.
"If the First Fragment of Aether falls into Eryon's hands, this war will end before it even begins."
On the surface, the sky had become a sea of fire.
Dragons flew over the Sanctuary, launching columns of flame at the bridges and towers built between the branches of the Sacred Tree.
The Guardians answered with enchanted arrows.
Each projectile left a green trail in the air.
One of the dragons took a direct hit to the wing and crashed onto a wooden platform, blowing it apart.
But for every dragon that fell back, two more took its place.
Darius raised his sword.
"Don't let them reach the heart of the tree!"
The Guardians answered with one united cry.
The battle had truly begun.
Deep within the Sanctuary, Kael stood before the flame.
He felt something calling to him.
It wasn't a voice.
It was a feeling.
As if the little flame recognized him.
Orien spoke calmly.
"Close your eyes."
Kael obeyed.
"Don't think about the battle."
Don't think about Eryon.
Just listen.
At first, he heard only the distant rumble of battle.
Then...
He heard water.
A river.
Then the song of birds.
The wind through the leaves.
Finally, a soft voice.
"You've taken a long time to get here."
Kael opened his eyes wide.
He wasn't in the chamber.
He was standing in an immense meadow beneath a violet sky.
Before him stood a woman with golden hair who seemed to float above the grass.
Her white robe moved despite the absence of wind.
Her eyes were the color of dawn.
"Where am I?"
The woman smiled.
"In a memory."
"Who are you?"
She was silent for several seconds.
"Long ago, I was called Aelya."
Kael felt that name awaken something inside him.
"Are you... a goddess?"
The woman didn't answer directly.
Instead, she raised one hand.
Seven small lights appeared, circling around them both.
The same seven lights Kael had seen beside the silver tree.
"Time is running out."
"I don't understand any of this."
"I know."
And you still can't understand everything.
The woman looked at him sadly.
"Soon, you'll learn the truth about your father."
And you'll discover why Eryon doesn't want to kill you.
He wants something far more dangerous.
Before Kael could ask what it was, the meadow began to crack apart.
Aelya's image grew blurry.
Her voice was the last thing he heard.
"Don't let the seven fragments awaken... until you find the Crown of Origin."
Everything disappeared.
Kael opened his eyes again.
He was back in the Sanctuary chamber.
He had fallen to his knees.
He was breathing hard.
Orien caught him before he lost his balance.
"What did you see?"
It took Kael several seconds to answer.
"A woman..."
Her name was Aelya.
The old man stood perfectly still.
All the color drained from his face.
"That's impossible..."
"You know her?"
Orien took a step back.
"Aelya was one of the Seven Gods of Aether."
She died more than a thousand years ago.
At that exact moment, the blue flame on the pedestal began to rise slowly.
It spiraled around Kael.
Then, before Orien's stunned gaze, it entered the Mark on his left arm.
A brilliant glow filled the room.
Kael screamed.
The Mark changed.
Now, among the original seven lines, one of them shone with an intense blue light, while the other six remained dark.
Orien could barely whisper:
"You've absorbed... the First Fragment."
Before he could say anything else, a deafening roar ripped through the Sanctuary.
The ceiling trembled.
A massive crack appeared above the chamber.
The stone began to collapse.
And through the dust descended a gigantic black claw.
One of the dragons...
Had found the heart of the Sanctuary.