They moved under the veil of morning mist, where trees grew tall and thin like grasping hands, and the roads turned to stone riddled with roots.Kael said little as they walked. His body ached from travel, but it was the ache of truths, not just muscles—the kind that crept into your bones and refused to let go.Thorne walked ahead, muttering lines from a weathered scroll. Seris took up the rear, blade wrapped in its weather cloth but never far from reach. The pendant at Kael’s chest had been quiet since Drenn’s Hollow, but its silence didn’t bring peace. If anything, it felt like the breath before a scream.[System Update: Codex Entry Unlocked — “Echo-Born: The Wyrm Keys”]The message had arrived that morning, glowing faintly in his vision as they crossed into the last pass before the Vanguard ruins.Kael read it again now.Codex Entry: Echo-BornIn rare cases, a child born from two powerful, opposing bloodlines may inherit both strengths—and both curses. Such children are called Echo