The chamber where Kael Thorn had stood moments before was silent now, the energy that once surged through it dissipating into the void. Liana Sevier stood amidst the shattered remains of the monolith, her sword hanging loosely at her side, her body trembling. The golden light that had filled the chamber moments ago had faded, leaving her in an eerie darkness lit only by the faint glow of the broken runes scattered across the floor.
Her breath came in shallow gasps. She scanned the chamber desperately, her voice breaking as she called out his name. "Kael! Where are you?"
But there was no answer.
Kael Thorn, the man who had guided her through countless trials, the man who had relentlessly chased eternity, was gone. In his place, the room felt hollow, as though his absence was a wound left unhealed in the very fabric of reality.
Liana dropped to her knees, gripping the fractured pieces of the monolith that lay at her feet. "What did you do?" she whispered to the empty room, her voice barely audible. "What did you leave behind?"
But as the fragments of the monolith began to pulse faintly once more, she realized Kael's absence was not the end—it was the beginning of something far worse.
In the Void Beyond Time
Kael opened his eyes, and for a moment, he wasn't sure if they had opened at all. He was surrounded by an infinite expanse of void, an endless abyss where time itself felt stretched and distorted. The air, or what passed for air here, hummed with an eternal vibration, a sound that was both omnipresent and utterly incomprehensible.
This was no longer the mortal plane.
This was the Threshold of Eternity.
Kael's body felt weightless, his mind suspended in a strange clarity he had never known before. He looked down at his hands, which now glowed faintly with an ethereal light. The shards he had carried were gone, but their energy remained within him, coursing through his veins, reshaping him from the inside out.
A voice echoed through the void—not the fragmented whispers that had guided him, but something more unified, more profound.
"You have passed the trials. You have surrendered your mortal ties. You are reborn."
Kael turned slowly, searching for the source of the voice, but there was nothing—only the endless expanse of shimmering blackness. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice steady despite the overwhelming presence pressing down on him.
"We are the Echo of Eternity," the voice replied. "The remnants of the Eternals who sought the path before you. Their knowledge, their power, their failures—all live within this place."
Kael tilted his head slightly, processing the words. "And what does that make me?"
The voice hesitated, as though considering its answer.
"You are the bridge. The bearer of their legacy and the architect of what comes next. You will inherit what they could not complete."
Kael smirked faintly. "And what if I refuse?"
The void pulsed in response, a vibration that reverberated through his very being. "There is no refusal. There is no retreat. You are bound, as they were before you, to the truth of eternity."
Kael looked down at his hands again, flexing his fingers as he felt the power within him surge. His smirk grew, this time with genuine confidence. "Then show me," he said. "Show me everything."
Liana's Resolve
Back in the chamber, Liana rose to her feet, her eyes fixed on the faint pulsing of the broken monolith. The room was cold now, lifeless except for the energy radiating from the fractured fragments.
If Kael had truly ascended—if he had truly crossed into the realm of the Eternals—then there had to be a way to follow him.
She stepped closer to the remains of the monolith, her fingers brushing over the glowing runes. The energy stung her skin, but she didn't pull back. Instead, she closed her eyes, letting the pulse of the runes guide her thoughts.
"Kael," she whispered. "If you're still in there... if you're still you... I'll find you."
Her blade, now dull from the countless battles they had faced together, hung loosely at her side. But as the runes began to glow brighter beneath her touch, the energy surged into the weapon, reigniting its edge with a brilliant light.
Liana opened her eyes, her resolve hardening. If the Eternals' trials had claimed Kael, then she would face them herself.
She wasn't going to let him go alone.
The Convergence of Power
In the void, Kael's transformation continued. The shards' energy wove through his being, reshaping not just his body but his mind and soul. The visions of the Eternals' civilization—their rise, their hubris, their fall—flooded his thoughts, each fragment sharpening his understanding of the power he now carried.
But as the visions grew more vivid, Kael began to sense something else.
A presence.
Faint at first, like a distant star, but growing stronger with every passing moment. It wasn't part of the Echo. It wasn't part of eternity.
It was Liana.
Kael frowned, his thoughts focusing on the presence. She was reaching for him, her determination burning through the void like a beacon.
"She follows you," the Echo said, its voice tinged with something almost like curiosity. "Her bond defies our design."
Kael's smirk returned. "That's Liana for you. Stubborn."
"She will not survive the path," the Echo warned. "Her will is strong, but she lacks the strength to endure the cost."
Kael's expression darkened. "Then I'll make sure she doesn't pay it."
The void trembled, the Echo's voice growing sharper. "You cannot alter the design. To ascend is to stand alone. To remain tethered is to fail."
Kael's fists clenched, the glow around him flaring brighter. "If your 'design' means leaving her behind, then your design is flawed."
The void pulsed violently, but Kael didn't flinch. The power coursing through him was no longer just the Eternals' legacy—it was his own.
The Path Rejoined
Liana stood at the center of the chamber, the glowing fragments of the monolith swirling around her as the energy consumed the room. Her blade burned with the light of the Eternals, her resolve unshaken.
With a final pulse, the energy coalesced around her, and the chamber dissolved into blinding light.
When her vision cleared, she found herself standing on the same endless platform Kael had crossed into. The void stretched around her, vast and unending, but ahead of her stood Kael, his form glowing with the light of eternity.
"Kael!" she called, relief and anger mixing in her voice. "What the hell did you think you were doing, leaving me behind?"
Kael turned, his expression softening as he saw her. "Liana… you weren't supposed to follow me."
"Well, here I am," she said, stepping closer. "And I'm not leaving until I get you back."
Kael smiled faintly, though there was sadness in his eyes. "You don't understand. I'm not the same anymore. This power—it's not meant to be shared."
"Then we'll share it anyway," Liana said firmly. "Because you're not doing this alone."
The Echo's Judgement
The void trembled as the Echo's voice filled the space once more.
"You have defied the design. The path is broken. Reconciliation must be achieved."
The light around Kael surged, his connection to the Echo straining as Liana's presence disrupted the flow of eternity.
Kael stepped forward, his voice steady. "If reconciliation is what you want, then listen to me. Your path failed because it demanded isolation. Eternity doesn't belong to one. It belongs to those willing to fight for it—together."
The void shuddered, the Echo silent for a long moment. Then, finally:
"Prove it."