The cave’s breath was cold.
Not wind.
Not chill.
But memory.
The kind that slithered against skin, brushing past the hair on Rowan’s arms like phantom fingers. Hollowmere didn’t welcome them—it measured them. Judged them. And found them wanting.
The Descent
The first few chambers were empty save for old carvings and dormant sigils. Rowan walked in silence, surrounded by the elite guard while Quinn and Jace remained close.
Each step deeper made the mark on his palm throb harder.
“What is this place really?” he asked Kaelen in thought.
“A reliquary,” Kaelen replied. “Built by the Echo to hold pieces of us... the Sovereigns. Not our bodies. Our essence.”
“Like a tomb?”
“No. Like a warning.”
Their footsteps echoed as they entered a vast, hollowed chamber. Pillars carved from obsidi
