Night fell over the Dead Ash Plains.
Kael sat alone, the winds howling around him, his sword buried in the earth beside him. Yanis kept her distance, watching from a ruined tower. Rek hadn't returned from the perimeter sweep.
But Kael wasn't really here.
His HUD flickered.
> [New Path Detected: The Forgotten Throne]
[Status: Not a location. Not a Gate. A concept.]
[Trigger: Seed Fragment Sync ≥ 2]
[Warning: Memory Anchor Will Weaken Upon Entry]
Kael stared at the interface. His hand hovered over the accept command.
The Seed whispered in a voice not his own, nor the girl's:
> "Come home, Kael. Come back to the place before stories were written."
He closed his eyes and accepted.
---
The Forgotten Throne
There was no sky.
There was no ground.
Just echoes—a gray world where the wind carried names too faint to hear. Where ruins hung upside down in the void, chained to nothing.
Kael appeared standing before a great obsidian staircase.
At the top stood a cracked throne—and scattered around it were twelve broken weapons, each etched with the names of former Seedbearers.
None of the names stayed in his memory.
Every time he read one, it slipped away.
> [WARNING: Memory Anchor Weakening – Estimated Retention: 92% → 79%]
Kael moved forward.
Each step took something from him.
On the third step, he forgot the taste of his favorite food.
On the sixth, he couldn't remember his first mentor's face.
On the ninth—
He hesitated.
> "Don't go further," said a voice beside him.
Kael turned.
The girl in red stood at the edge of the void, barefoot, her long hair drifting like it was underwater.
> "You're not ready."
> "I have to know," Kael said. "Why me?"
> "Because you were the only one left who forgot what he did," she said softly.
> "Who?"
The girl looked at the throne.
> "The first Seedbearer. The one who shattered the Gates. The one who made the world like this."
> "You were his weapon."
Kael staggered back.
> "You're lying."
> "I wish I was."
She stepped closer—then looked away.
> "You'll remember it all when you claim the third. But by then… you won't be you anymore."
Kael gripped his head. The Seed burned.
> [Corruption Spike: 25.6% – Memory Fragment Locked]
[Voice Tag Matched: "Red Girl" — Connection Deepening]
[New Objective Unlocked: Reach the Throne Before Fragment 5]
The girl stepped forward and pressed her forehead to Kael's.
> "If you love anything in this world… when you remember who you were… kill me. Before I become her again."
The Throne cracked behind them.
> [Anchor Failing – You are being ejected]
Kael vanished.
---
Back in the real world
Kael woke up, coughing blood. His HUD scrambled, rebooting.
Yanis was at his side. "Kael—your name just disappeared from the logs. Who were you talking to?"
Kael whispered, his voice hoarse, shaking:
> "She told me to kill her…"
---