2026-08-31 23:21:41
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Lucy stood completely still.The light around her had become so bright that Patrick could barely see her face, but he could still see her eyes, and that was enough.She was afraid.Not of the chamber.Not of the voice.Of the choice in front of her.The light continued to circle her hand, waiting for something.Patrick didn't know what.The voice had given her an offer, and somehow that made the entire thing more dangerous than any monster they had fought in the dimension.There was no blade to block.No attack to dodge.No enemy to defeat.Only a decision.“You said sacrifice something else,” Lucy whispered.The chamber remained silent.“What?”The voice answered.“Something you value.”Patrick's stomach tightened.Lucy looked toward him.He could see the question in her expression.What would you do?Patrick didn't know.He wanted to tell her to reject the offer completely, but something stopped him.The medallion did not seem to be forcing her.It was testing her.And if this was t
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The staircase seemed to have no end.Patrick had counted the first fifty steps before realizing that the number was becoming meaningless, because every step looked exactly like the one before it, every wall was the same dark stone, and every few seconds a faint vibration travelled through the structure beneath his boots.Nobody spoke.The silence had become too deliberate.Patrick led the way, the Blazing Sword held low in his right hand while the Energy Blade remained ready in his left. The faint light from both weapons touched only the steps immediately ahead, leaving the rest of the staircase buried in darkness.His sister walked directly behind him.Titus stayed behind her.Lucy, Heather, Borius and Seth followed.Patrick could hear all of them.Footsteps.Breathing.The occasional scrape of a weapon against stone.And beneath everything else, that distant vibration.Whatever was beneath the fortress was still there.Waiting.Patrick finally stopped.Everyone nearly walked into hi
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The blood trail disappeared into the darkness less than twenty metres ahead of them.Patrick slowed as he approached it, keeping the Blazing Sword lowered but ready, while the others followed close behind. The fortress had become unnaturally quiet again, almost as though whatever had awakened beneath them had settled back into silence, leaving only the faint dripping of blood somewhere beyond the next turn.Patrick didn't like it.The silence reminded him of the moments before an ambush.He raised one hand.Everyone stopped.“Listen.”They waited.Nothing.No footsteps.No breathing.No movement.Seth shifted uneasily.“I am listening.”Patrick glanced at him.“And?”“And I hear absolutely nothing, which I would normally consider good news, except that every time we've heard absolutely nothing in this place, something terrible has happened shortly afterward.”Borius sighed.“You are becoming predictable.”“I prefer predictable to dead.”Patrick almost smiled.Then he saw the blood aga
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For several seconds, nobody moved.The crack in the floor continued to widen beneath their feet, spreading through the stone in thin, jagged lines while dust drifted down from the ceiling and disappeared into the darkness below. Patrick could hear the slow groaning of the fortress around them, the sound of ancient stone adjusting to something that had been disturbed after remaining still for far too long.His sister's hand was still wrapped around his arm.“They said you wouldn't be the one choosing what happens next,” she repeated, quieter this time.Patrick looked at her.“What exactly did they say?”She shook her head.“I don't remember everything.”“Try.”She swallowed.“They were talking about the medallion. About you. They said you'd eventually find your way back here, even if you didn't know where you were going.”Patrick glanced at the medallion hanging from his hand.Its light had faded.But it remained warm.“They expected me.”“Yes.”“Why?”“I don't know.”Patrick studied h
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“Patrick. Welcome back.”And for one terrible second Patrick forgot how to breathe.It was Kael.Not similar to Kael, not merely a voice with the same tone, but close enough that every instinct in Patrick's body reacted as though the creature he had killed was standing on the other side of the door.His hand tightened around the hilt of the Blazing Sword.Behind him, Lucy had gone completely still.Heather raised her bow.Borius stepped forward, spear already in his hands, while Seth moved instinctively closer to the wall, his eyes fixed on the door with the particular expression he wore whenever the world had presented him with something he deeply wished it hadn't.Titus did not move.Patrick glanced at him.The general's face had lost its colour.“You said he was dead,” Patrick said quietly.“He is.”Titus's answer came immediately.Patrick stared at him.“Then who is that?”“I don't know.”The voice beyond the door laughed.It was a short, dry laugh.Kael's laugh.Patrick's stomach
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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVEPatrick barely remembered leaving the battlefield.One moment he had been standing beside Titus and the next he was running up the narrow trail with the others behind him, every thought in his mind reduced to two words that refused to leave him.His sister.At the fortress.Alive.Or at least Titus believed someone had taken her there.Patrick didn't know which possibility frightened him more.He pushed harder.The mountain path twisted between steep cliffs, forcing them into single file. Titus led them, moving with the confidence of someone who had traveled the route many times before.Patrick stayed directly behind him."How long?""To the fortress?""Yes.""Two hours if we move quickly."Patrick grabbed Titus's shoulder and forced him to stop.The others nearly collided with them."You're going to explain."Titus turned."There isn't time.""There is now."Patrick's voice was low."You told me my sister is at that fortress."Titus looked at him.
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