Chapter 3: The Echo of Power

The winking flames of the candles played macabre shadows against walls of stone as Kael remained bracing himself against the biting, cold dampness of the air. Reika's voice echoed through his mind as a refrain that refused to fade. The Core. To say even the name of it was to curse, an ancient and great one, far greater than any Kael had ever battled against.

He shoved his hand through his hair with one, his head reeling in bewilderment. He'd believed he was done when he'd murdered the Hollowborn all those years ago. Night upon night of murder and blood, the pain, the dead — they'd broken him. He'd attempted to shut them all away, leave them all behind. And yet he'd been pulled into this hell which he'd fought so desperately to leave.

"Kael," Reika's voice intruded into his mind, soft but insistent. She leaned forward, elbows on the table, eyes on the ancient book burning with intensity that made him shiver. "We have to get to the Core first."

Kael's heart skipped a beat. "Who are 'they'?"

She would not even look at him. "The ones that have been tormenting the Hollowborn. They also want the Core. And they are more powerful than the beasts themselves."

Kael leaned his back, his fear creeping into his ribcage. He walked towards the table and noticed a book Reika was reading from. The hieroglyphs on the pages had his mind spinning just to read them.

"Who are they?" Kael insisted. His brain was racing, attempting to put together the scattered facts Reika had shared with him into some form of comprehension. Hollowborn. Core. Seeded power. "What do they need from the Core?"

Reika stopped, took a deep breath before speaking. "Power. Power. The Core is a power of an ancient magic that can transform the world -- for better or worse. Whoever he is wielding it will have power over reality itself. He can shape the future with whatever he wishes.".

Kael felt a cold sweat trickle down his spine. This was bigger than anything he had imagined. The Hollowborn were terrifying, yes, but this Core, this ancient magic—it was something he couldn't fully comprehend.

"So we're just supposed to stop them?" Kael asked, his voice sharp with disbelief. "How?"

Reika turned to him then, her eyes dark and steady. "By finding it first. The Core is hidden, and only its rightful protectors can find its strength. I've searched for years, pouring over the ancient maps, the rumors. But the closer I come, the more danger there is. There are those who would murder for it to belong to them. And you… She caught herself from speaking the words, her gaze flicking to Kael for a fraction of a moment too long.

".You are the key."

Kael's heart tightened. "What am I hearing?"

She set the book down on the table, not moving her face. "The warriors' blood who have fought the Hollowborn can draw on the strength of the Core. You've fought them, Kael. You've been attacked by them. Your blood contains something inside it that nobody else does.".

The words sting Kael like a blow. He had always thought he was a curse, an accident, born alive. He had never wanted to be tainted by the beasts. He had never wanted to be a beast-warrior. But in Reika's eyes, now, there is something more—something that makes him feel more than a survivor.

For the first time in years, he knew why. A reason that sickened him. "I don't know if I can do this," Kael growled, moving back from the table. "I almost died last time. And now you're saying that I have to kill an old power? A power that would change the world?"

Reika's face relaxed. "You don't need to go through this alone. I'll go with you, step for step. And together we shall find the Core."

Kael seethed, still griping with disbelief in his mind. "And what if you get defeated?"

Reika stood, her voice firm and unyielding. "And then the world will be black. The Hollowborn will come by score and conqueror, and those who will go for the Core will reshape all, burning to ash what remains of Emberhold and more. You have no other option, Kael. You must do this."

Her words loomed over him suspended like an albatross hung on his person. She was right — he could not abandon this one to leave walking away. Not now, not when this was carved on all of it.

He rose to his feet and faced her, his face hardening into resolve. "I don't know how to stop them, Reika. But if you're right, if this Core can do all the things you said it could. then I'll do whatever I have to see that it doesn't fall into the hands of people who would misuse it."

Reika's smile was fleeting and understated, but unmistakable. "Good. We leave at dawn."

Kael didn't have to be reminded where. The path ahead of him was illuminated. Prepared or not, his fight had already begun.

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