The night after the ruins trial was far from peaceful.
Though they'd all survived, something in each of them had cracked a little.
They sat around a small fire in a clearing beyond the ruins, not speaking much. The second fragment hovered gently in Liam's hand, sealed in a magical casing Aeris had conjured to prevent it from "attracting attention," as she put it.
"I keep hearing his voice," Liam finally said, breaking the silence.
"Whose?" Kael asked, sharpening his blade against a flat stone.
Liam stared at the flames. "My father… maybe. Or something pretending to be him. It felt real."
Nyra hugged her knees. "That place messed with all of us. I saw... someone who once abandoned me. I thought I'd moved past it, but it hit me like a wave."
Mog squeaked and climbed onto her shoulder in comfort.
Aeris stood up and walked a few paces away. "The ruins show you what you fear most," she said, not turning around. "But it also shows you what you need to remember."
Liam glanced at her. "And what did you remember?"
She didn't answer.
Later that night, while the others slept, Liam found himself staring at the stars.
The second fragment pulsed faintly in his bag. It didn't feel victorious. It felt heavy.
A whisper tickled his ear.
"You're not ready…"
He jolted upright, looking around.
A shimmer moved in the trees — something unseen but watching.
He rose, slowly stepping toward the sound.
"Show yourself."
A figure emerged from the trees, cloaked in pale gray — face hidden beneath a porcelain mask with cracks running through it.
It spoke in a low, hollow tone.
"They call me Ivar, servant of Sareth. I come to offer you mercy."
Liam tensed. "Sareth?"
"He who binds souls. He who knows your truth. Turn back now, Liam Gray. Or the next ruin will tear more than your past. It will tear your soul."
Liam reached for his blade, but the figure vanished like smoke.
And in its place… a stone with a mark — the symbol of a chained eye.
Meanwhile, Aeris walked alone in the woods.
She wasn't scouting.
She was listening.
In her hand, a small crystal flickered — a communication link, one forged in the realm long ago.
She raised it to her lips.
"He passed the second test. He's stronger than before."
A voice replied, distorted but soft.
"Continue guiding him. But remember, Aeris, he is not to be trusted."
She clenched her jaw. "He's not like they said—"
"He is the cause of the realm's fall. Do not let his growth blind you to the truth."
The crystal dimmed. She pocketed it, eyes troubled.
The next morning, they made their way down a narrow canyon trail that led toward the third known fragment location — a place called the Sunken Spire, a temple buried upside down in the sand dunes of Draelith.
Kael walked beside Liam. "You okay?"
"Not really. But I guess that's the point of this journey, huh?"
Kael smiled. "We grow stronger because of failure, not despite it."
Nyra skipped up beside them, her fox spirit now glowing faintly gold.
"I think Mog leveled up," she said proudly. "He burped and accidentally summoned a baby dragon for ten seconds."
Mog chirped like it was an accident worth celebrating.
"I feel like we're actually improving," Nyra added. "Even if we suck half the time."
Kael grinned. "Speak for yourself."
But Liam felt it too. A slow shift. A bond forming.
It wouldn't last long.
Elsewhere, in a fortress of bone and frost…
Sareth knelt in a ritual circle of black salt.
Before him, seven phantoms stood — his personal allies, the Harbingers of the Bound Oath:
Ivar, the Pale Whisperer – master of illusions and fear.
Lady Vexa, enchantress of broken time.
Brimholt, a beast who consumes forgotten names.
Noctune, a masked assassin who walks between shadows.
Siphros, the soul-thief oracle.
Thorn, the silent knight of ironwood.
Velka, who sings songs that shatter minds.
Each of them had once been human, twisted by dark promises.
And now… they were sent to claim the fragments before Liam's group could.
Sareth whispered, "Let's see how strong our little heroes really are."
Back at the canyon, as they neared a narrow pass, Aeris suddenly halted.
"Everyone. Quiet."
Kael drew his weapon instinctively. "What is it?"
Nyra's ears twitched. "I hear something…"
The ground beneath them trembled.
Then the rocks above cracked.
From the cliffs, a monstrous shadow dropped down — a creature made of jagged bones and rusted chains.
Its eye sockets glowed with the chained eye symbol.
Kael cursed. "It's one of Sareth's!"
Liam activated his blade, but it pulsed wildly — unstable.
Nyra tried to summon Mog, but her sigil flickered.
"It's nullifying our magic!" she yelled.
Aeris stepped forward, raising a blade made of raw light.
"Then we fight without it."
The creature lunged.