The ground split asunder at their feet, the earth protesting in pain as if the very foundations of the Sanctum itself had been torn asunder. Elira's own breath had caught in her throat, her heart racing with the sheer revulsion of what they'd just accomplished. The Keeper, standing in the doorway, watched after them with an expression of vicious satisfaction, his form wavering in the warped energy that coalesced around them.
"Do you feel it?" the Keeper's voice called out, hardly a whisper, but it cut through the tension like a blade. "The Rift is awakening. You are bound to it, Elira. Whether you wish it or not, you are part of its very essence."
Kael stepped forward, his jaw clenched, the Void roiling around him like a tempest. His presence itself appeared to battle the air itself, shoving back the crushing power that sought to engulf them.
"No," Kael snarled, low and deadly. "We will not be your puppets, Keeper. Never now, never ever."
