And then came the Arenya.
Giants among the elders, they advanced like living walls. Their skins turned to stone, and their muscles trembled with the accumulated strength of centuries of discipline. Each punch disintegrated a creature. One leaped over two creatures, crushing them with his weight and opening a crater where there had been ground. The impact reverberated across the battlefield. Behind the shield, the youths retreated further, terrified—even aware of the protection.
Tharolis swung the staff in a wide arc, channeling the air like a spear. The rune "Storm" appeared in his free hand. A vortex opened in the sky, and a column of wind descended like a divine arrow, dragging dozens of Children of Silence into the air, smashing them against the stones.
Yet, still... they kept coming.
"They don't stop..."Tharolis murmured, panting. "As if summoned... and they throw themselves upon the altar like blind beasts. But why?"
The ground vibrated beneath his feet. The stones trembled like hurried hearts. Something else approached—and it was not a creature.
As he launched new energy beams, his body shuddered. A sensation crawled up his neck like an ice spider. They were being watched. Not by ordinary eyes. His hairs stood on end. Each heartbeat was an alert response. He scanned the field with his golden perception.
Nothing.
But the sensation persisted.
Suddenly, one of the creature exploded from the inside out—not by magic, but by something older.
Something pierced Tharolis's electric barrier. Even surrounded by lightning and elemental energy, the impact was brutal. Launched like a living arrow, he collided with the youths' shield, which cracked upon impact. As he hit the ground, he spat blood.
Panting, he raised his eyes—and saw the impossible.
From the abdomen of the destroyed creature, a black fissure tore the flesh from the inside out. The creature's entrails writhed like living serpents, while the hole expanded, vomiting an unnatural energy that devoured all magical vibrations around.
Tharolis stood with difficulty. His body ached. His soul burned.
But he did not hesitate.
He knew the price. He knew the risk. He knew that activating all five gifts simultaneously could kill him.
But it was that—or lose all the youths.
The Awakening could not be sacrificed.
Then, the sky exploded in sound. A colossal roar echoed throughout Inhevaen. It was the Dome. The tolling of a cosmic bell. The ensuing vibration crushed the elders to the ground. Many vomited blood. Youths who had already awakened fell unconscious. The pressure was total—as if a titanic hand pressed them from the firmament.
Inside the now-ruined shield, the youths in the process of awakening were hit full force. The vibrations penetrated their bodies and minds like living blades. Those destined to awaken only one gift began to manifest others... and more. Some fainted upon reaching the second. Others the third. Two reached the fourth. A young woman awakened five gifts.
When all succumbed, only Karel remained. Writhing on the ground, his mind and body consumed by energy. He did not know, but six gifts vibrated in his essence—and above them, a seventh force pulsed in harmony.
Pain exploded within him. But instead of yielding, something blossomed. His vision sharpened. He perceived the flows around him, domal sparks dancing in the air. When he looked at the Dome... the Dome looked back. His mind twisted in agony. His body and mind gave in.
His body rose and looked to the sky. And beyond — toward the Dome's vaulted ceiling. Golden eyes. His gifts activated one by one, resonating through the newly awakened body.
It was Karel's body. But in that moment, something else inhabited it. The golden eyes shifted from the sky to the black fissure, where something lurked on the other side.
— "Your interference will not be tolerated, child of Chaos", Karel said, his voice rough and resonant.
With a single gesture, all the vibrations emitted by the Dome responded to his call. The energy surged like guided missiles, striking the Children of Silence one by one. Each hit vaporized the void's essence. Only flesh and stone remained—falling lifeless to the ground.
When the final abomination fell, Karel's eyes, still locked on the fissure, gleamed. All the mountain's energy converged there, a furious wave of ancient vibrations.
The fissure resisted, crackling black energy against the currents of air. The standoff lasted only moments. The clashing forces sparked lightning and static all around. A deafening sound echoed—as if reality itself was about to fracture.
Finally, whatever lurked on the other side relented. A sharp, hissing howl of rage rang out—the last sound before silence. The fissure closed. Yet a scar remained in the air.
Karel gasped. Now awakened. Whatever had taken his body was gone. The heat still crackling around him was merely an echo of what he had felt moments before. The Dome's energy—alive, pulsing like a massive heart—had surged through his body like a caged thunderstorm. Now, the silence was almost unnatural, broken only by the sound of the winds returning.
At his feet, the other initiates lay motionless, unconscious — but alive. Their faces were pale, their eyes closed, as if they slept too deeply to be stirred. Some muttered incoherent words, touched by the same power that had brought them down. Karel watched them, stunned, chest heaving — feeling at once guilty... and terrified.
Around them, the ground still trembled faintly. As if the earth itself had gained awareness and whispered ancient secrets.
Karel tried to move, but his body, drained, did not respond. Every cell screamed. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the crystal obelisks, still vibrating softly.
And then, the darkness embraced him.
Somewhere beyond the borders of Olkaris…
The dry lands of Velh'Ciriand lay silent beneath a moon shrouded in mist. A low, deep sound — like the call of an ancient drum — reverberated beneath the earth.
Around a forgotten crater, hooded figures encircled an altar made of bone and twisted roots. At its center, a black crystal pulsed with a dull light.
A woman—tall, slender, with silver hair and eyes black as coal — approached the crystal. Her garments were woven from living fibers, moving like serpents. She touched the crystal with the tip of her fingers.
— "He has awakened", she said, her voice echoing as if spoken by many. "The Bearer is among us."
One of the hooded figures recoiled, trembling.
— "Should we act? He is still young…"
The woman smiled, without warmth.
— Precisely because of that. Before he learns what he is. Before the Dome teaches him to remember. The time for waiting is over.