Ancestry of Secrets

The Chamber of the Nameless Warden hummed with the weight of forgotten epochs. Ethan stood at its heart, a shard of crystallized starlight burning in his palm like a star plucked from the sky.

The air itself seemed to resist the artifact's power, shuddering as veins of light crawled up Ethan's arm, fusing with his flesh. The guardian—a being of shifting faces and echoing voices—watched silently, their presence as unreadable as the ancient runes etched into the walls.

"This is madness," the raven hissed, its golden eyes narrowed. It pecked sharply at Ethan's boot, as though physical pain might anchor him to reality. "You'll vanish. Poof. Like smoke."

Ethan ignored the bird, his jaw clenched against the fire searing his veins.

"Someone has to finish this."

The guardian's voice reverberated, a chorus of whispers layered beneath it.

"The First understood sacrifice. But they were not alone. You… are different."

"Different how?" Ethan gritted out, sweat beading on his brow as the shard dissolved into his skin.

"The First had no heart to lose."

The words struck deeper than the pain. Ethan's form flickered—solid one moment, spectral the next—as the chamber's light warped around him. The raven fluttered onto his shoulder, its feathers brushing his now-translucent cheek.

"Stop. Breathe. Before you're gone for good."

But Ethan was already gone.

Atop the Crossroads' crumbling battlements, Veyra and Kiren stood shoulder-to-shoulder, their truce as brittle as the stones beneath their boots. Below, the Dralei and Ashirai clashed with Cedric's horde, their cries swallowed by the void's cacophony.

"Your scouts swore the rift was stable," Veyra snarled, her bone armor rattling with every strike of her blade. "Now it's spewing abominations."

Kiren's tattoos flared, her shadow-walkers dissolving into smoke to flank the enemy.

"And your warriors swing steel like children. Focus, Dralei."

A soldier stumbled toward them, clutching a gash across his chest.

"Warlord—the eastern gate—"

"Hold it," Kiren snapped, cutting him off. "Or I'll feed your corpse to the void myself."

Veyra barked a laugh, bitter and sharp.

"Why help us? You'd sooner slit my throat."

Kiren's gaze flickered to the fray below.

"Your arrogance is preferable to Cedric's."

In the courtyard, Cedric carved through the ranks like a scythe through wheat. His void-forged sword hummed with a hunger that mirrored his own, its edge splitting shields and souls alike. A young Dralei lunged, only to freeze as Cedric seized his throat.

"Praying to the Duskheir?" Cedric sneered, his voice layered with static. "He's nothing now. Just a ghost chasing ghosts."

The warrior spat blood. "Still… better… than you."

A burst of starlight erupted, hurling Cedric into the rubble. Ethan materialized, his form flickering like a guttering candle, prismatic energy crackling in his wake.

"You always did talk too much," Ethan said, his voice echoing as though spoken through water.

The battle turned. Ethan moved like a storm—phasing through strikes, his blows leaving trails of iridescent light. The raven streaked overhead, its golden feathers searing through void-spawn like sunlit blades. Cedric roared, his void-blood sizzling where the raven's talons found purchase.

"What are you?" Cedric snarled, retreating as Ethan's spear grazed his chest.

"What you'll never be." Ethan's eyes hardened. "Free."

The raven shrieked a warning. Ethan spun, deflecting a tendril of void-energy aimed at Kiren. The Ashirai elder stared, her defiance tempered by something akin to awe.

"You… are not Duskheir," she said, her voice unsteady.

Ethan smirked, a flicker of his old self beneath the starlight.

"Today, I'm just Ethan."

At the rift's epicenter, the void's heart pulsed—a grotesque orb of green-black light, its surface writhing with faces trapped in silent screams. The raven landed on Ethan's shoulder, its feathers dulled by the oppressive dark.

"You don't have to stay," Ethan said, his voice barely audible over the rift's hum.

"And miss the show?" The raven's tone was light, but its golden eyes betrayed fear. "I'm no martyr."

The guardian's hologram flickered beside them.

"The bridge must hold. But bridges… can break."

Ethan stepped into the rift. Light and shadow collided, and the world screamed.