Chapter 12: The Seal’s Whisper
The Outer Vale was quieter than Kairo expected.
Too quiet.
The maze behind them had collapsed into nothing more than broken stones and curling mist, but the silence that followed felt heavier than the dangers they’d faced inside. Every step echoed in his skull.
Kaelen walked ahead, sword still drawn, eyes scanning the pale horizon. Lysandra trailed behind them, her hand occasionally brushing the runes etched into her staff, as if drawing reassurance from their steady glow.
Kairo stayed in the middle.
It was safer that way.
Or at least, that’s what he told himself.
The Seal rested where it had burned into his skin, embedded beneath the surface like a buried ember. The first time it pulsed, he ignored it. The second time, it spoke.
Not in words — not e
