Something else.
Something older.
Something that feels like coming home and stepping into darkness all at once.
I swallow hard as I step forward, but Finn grabs my arm, stopping me before I can cross the threshold. His hand is warm against my suddenly chilled skin.
“Wait.” His voice is softer than usual, his joking edge gone. “Does anyone else feel that?”
I do.
The pull is stronger now, making my heart race and my breath catch. The runes pulse in time with my heartbeat, or maybe my heart is matching their rhythm. I can’t tell anymore. My shadows writhe restlessly, caught between drawing closer to the doorway and shrinking back from whatever waits inside.
And I don’t think I’m ready for what’s waiting there.
Finn, Aspen and Torric take a few hesitant steps inside, and when nothing happens, they continue on. Their footsteps echo strangely, as if the sound is coming from much further away than it should. Malrik hangs back, his silver eyes distant, seeing something beyond the present moment.
“I used to come here, as a child,” he says with a softness I’ve rarely heard from him. The words seem to ripple through the air, carrying echoes of childhood memories I can almost feel. “My father held meetings in this room. He said… he said he always found the answer here.”
His silver eyes meet mine, filled with an understanding that makes the bond in my chest ache. “Perhaps you will too, Kaia. Perhaps we all will.”
With a small smile, he squeezes my hand. His touch grounding me against the pull of ancient magic as he walks into the room, leaving me there to think about what that might mean for all of us.
The runes pulse once more, beckoning, waiting for me to step through and face whatever truths the Hall of Echoes holds.
My shadows press close as I take a deep breath and follow them into the chamber, feeling like I’m crossing a threshold I can never un-cross.
Chapter 20
Kaia
The moment I step fully into the chamber, the world changes. What seemed vast from the doorway now feels infinite inside, towering columns disappear into shadows far above, their surfaces etched with spiraling patterns that shift when I'm not looking directly at them. The air is thick with magic, pressing against my skin like a physical weight.
My shadows coil tightly around me as I take it all in, the ancient power of this place humming in my bones. The Hall of Echoes isn't just a name, whispers seem to drift through the air, fragments of conversations long past, remnants of those who stood here before.
Before I can process it all, something slams into me.
It's not physical, not even entirely magical, but it drags me down like a riptide, knocking the breath from my lungs. My knees give out before I can stop them, the stone floor cold against my palms as I catch myself.
Pain explodes in my chest.
Not an injury. Not magic.
Something else.
Something worse.
It's the same ache I've felt since arriving in this realm, the one that started as a dull pull and has only grown stronger. But now, it's unbearable, pressing against my ribs like it's trying to tear me apart from the inside out.
My shadows curl around me instinctively, but it doesn't help. Bob tries to form a protective barrier while Patricia's frantic movements blur together. Even Mouse presses against my leg, his violet eyes wide with concern, but none of it stops the pressure building inside me.
I hear movement, a curse muttered somewhere behind me, but it's distant, unimportant. The only thing that matters is the weight pressing into me, the way my lungs feel like they can't fully expand, the way the ache is sharpening instead of fading.
"Kaia."
Kieran's voice is sharp, his presence suddenly in front of me, kneeling. His golden eyes burn with something I can't name—concern, but also anticipation. "Breathe."
I try, but the pressure in my chest is suffocating.
