The light from the star shards on Ethan's desk pulsed like a heartbeat, and his quarters were a prison of flickering shadows. The journal was lying open, and he could not stop thinking about the most recent decoded line: "The void whispers to the weak." Marcus was still haunted by the dream of his betrayal and the void-pulse of the cloaked figure, whose voice sounded a lot like that of Valthor Drayce, the Council elder whose cunning seemed to permeate every hint. Serathys had warned, "Beware the shadow," and Lirien's poor scouting and avoidance of the star shard now make her appear to be a possible traitor. The rune of starlight throbbed on Ethan's shoulder, reminding him of the voice saying, "Find the tenth gate." However, the tenth gate, the gate tainted by void, and the Council's fear were knots in a rope that was getting tighter around his neck.
A slight but distinct tremor shook the room in the distance, reminiscent of the void-tremors that had welcomed him to Marcus Reed's body. With his satchel tightly gripped, Ethan froze. A hum reverberated through the crystalline walls of Aetherion as the star shard flared, its light jagged. With the realm-bleeds hanging over him from yesterday's Voidspawn battle and Lirien's rumor, he wondered if there would be another one.
Outside, footsteps clattered. With her starlight blade already drawn and her fiery braid swinging, Sylra Veyne bounded through the door. "Marcus, move! Gate three's flickering—void-energy. Torren is present, but you are needed."
Ethan's pulse twitched. "Void-energy? Similar to Lirien's rumor?"
Grimness was in Sylra's green eyes. "More detrimental. It is no longer merely a rumor. Hurry up!"
Taking his satchel with the journal and shard inside, he followed her into the hallway. Another tremor rolled through, and the starlight dimmed on the rune-etched walls, which pulsed erratically. It seemed as though the city itself was faltering as the spires of Aetherion loomed beyond the quartz windows, their glow muted. Serathys had stated that the seal on the gate frayed. Was it the void-tainted gate Lirien had whispered about, or was this the tenth gate stirring?
"Where is Lirien now?" With a tight voice, Ethan asked as they ran down the sloping hallway.
Sylra's mouth tightened. Presumed to be surveying the outer rim. However, after yesterday… Despite not finishing, she shared Ethan's suspicion. Lirien was obviously dishonest based on her hazy scouting, her avoidance of the shard, and her snipped reports.
The gate-chamber for gate three was a huge dome with a tall quartz arch dominating the floor and a mosaic of starlit constellations on the ceiling. Black veins of void-energy writhed across the gate's surface like ink spreading through water, but the gate itself shimmered, a portal of liquid starlight. In order to stabilize the gate, Torren etched a bind rune while standing in front of it, his scarred face set and his blade glowing. Although the void-energy pulsed more strongly and the air buzzed with a low, irritating hum, a dozen gatekeepers, acolytes and wardens, worked in pairs, their runes flaring.
"Marcus!" Torren snarled without raising his gaze. "Come on over here. We urgently need stabilization runes."
Marcus's recollections of gate stabilization runes and intricate patterns to secure a gate's starlight against void incursions flickered as Ethan's heartbeat accelerated. Bind runes were something he had practiced, but this was something new, complex, and like threading a needle in a storm. With a steady voice despite his inexperience, he stepped to Torren's side and asked, "What do I do?"
Torren glanced at him, his eyes piercing but not accusatory. "Follow my lead. Let your starlight shine through and etch the rune I show you. Concentrate, or we risk losing the gate."
With her surge rune, a flash of unadulterated starlight, Sylra positioned herself close by, repelling a void-energy tendril that swung out from the gate. "Marcus, hurry! This isn't a drill."
Ethan's rune shoulder was glowing as he knelt. A gate stabilization rune with lines that curved like a lattice and each arc pulsing with starlight intent was the pattern Torren traced in the air. Starlight poured from his rune, creating a glowing lattice, and Ethan imitated it, his fingers shaking. The hum from the gate grew louder, and the void-energy flinched but did not flee. Recollections of a gate collapsing and the words, "The tenth gate breaks us all," flooded Marcus's mind. Ethan gritted his teeth and forced the memory away.
Hold on! Torren snarled, his own rune becoming more vivid. "Connect yours with mine."
With his lattice blending with Torren's and the starlight creating a net over the gate, Ethan concentrated. Just like the void-resistance meditation, the void-energy writhed, a whisper creeping into his mind, "Weak, so weak…." The whisper subsided as his rune steadied, and he pictured the quartz gate in his mind, tightly sealed.
The flicker of the gate slowed, and the starlight grew brighter. Another tendril was blasted by Sylra's surge, and the runes of the other gatekeepers joined the lattice, creating a chorus of light against the darkness. As the gate stabilized and its hum subsided to a faint pulse, the black veins withdrew.
Torren let out a breath, his rune disappearing. "Well done, Marcus. You're picking things up quickly."
Ethan wiped sweat from his brow, his hand still burning. "That was… intense. Is it over?"
With a somber expression, Sylra sheathed her blade. "For the time being. However, void-energy does not simply materialize. Like the rumor from Lirien, this gate is tainted. She cast a glance at the door of the room, where Lirien had just entered, her dagger tightly gripped and her pale hair rumpled.
"Report," Sylra yelled, confidently approaching her. "Where were you?"
After a quick glance at the gate, Lirien's gaze shifted to Ethan's satchel, which held the star shard. "Outer perimeter," she uttered in a wavering voice. "I arrived as quickly as I could after noticing the flicker. It's—isn't it, like, the forbidden shrine?"
The room became quiet as the gatekeepers looked at one another. As the history of the High Gods flashed through his mind, Ethan's breath caught. A forbidden shrine? Nothing came to mind in Marcus's memory, but Serathys's caution, "Trust only the light," seemed more pertinent now.
Sylra's gaze grew strained. "Forbidden shrine? What are you talking about, Lirien?"
Lirien's fingers tightened on her dagger as she went pale. "I… I meant the old tales. Following the Dawn War, the shrines that were connected to the High Gods were sealed. I reasoned, —"
"You thought?" Sylra interrupted, taking a step toward her. "Lirien, you've been avoiding us. The scouting, the shard, and now this. Spill it."
Torren took a step beside her, holding a hammer in his left hand. Ethan remained near the gate, his rune-hand at the ready, the words from the journal resounding: "The void whispers to the weak." Was Lirien being untrustworthy, and was her reference to the shrine a sign of Zorathys's influence?
Lirien's eyes briefly shifted to the gate before returning to Sylra. Although her voice cracked, she stated, "I'm not hiding anything." "The shrine is merely a story. I learned about a location where the gods were touched by the void from an acolyte."
Sylra placed her hand on the hilt of her blade. "A story? Perhaps you've seen something? Lirien, your behavior isn't that of a gatekeeper."
Valthor Drayce's silver robes glinting and his blade-sharp smile shattered the tension as he entered the room. His voice was commanding but smooth as he said, "Enough." "Your efforts have made the gate stable. Report back to the Council, Lirien. Your tardiness will be discussed."
With her shoulders hunched, Lirien nodded and went out after Valthor. Ethan felt sick to his stomach as the dream flashed, showing the cloaked figure and Valthor saying, "You should have stayed silent." "Was Lirien being silenced, or was Valthor shielding her?"
The midday sun didn't do much to relieve Ethan's coldness back at the training grounds. The flickering gate, Lirien's slip, and Valthor's prompt arrival all combined to create a web from which he was unable to break free. The plaza was deserted except for a few acolytes drilling close by, and Sylra and Torren stood with him in a rune-circle, their faces grim.
"We're not going to let this go," Sylra stated quietly. "That 'forbidden shrine' is more than just a story, and Lirien is concealing something." "You have the journal, Marcus. Do you have any information regarding shrines?"
Even though the journal's most recent line, "The void whispers to the weak," seemed connected to Lirien's remarks, Ethan shook his head. "Not yet." "Nevertheless, Marcus claims that the tenth gate is a prison. Perhaps there is a connection to the shrine."
With his hammer resting on his shoulder, Torren let out a grunt. Following the Dawn War, when Zorathys was imprisoned, shrines were sealed. We underestimated Lirien's involvement in this, if she knows one.
Sylra nodded. "We train harder, Marcus. Your attention is now on gate stabilization runes. If additional gates flicker, we need you to be prepared."
With the hum of the gate still reverberating in his ears, Ethan swallowed. "Show me."
Torren guided him to a training dummy with fake gate runes engraved on its surface. "Binds are similar to stabilization runes, but they go deeper. You are anchoring the gate's core, not merely holding it. Etch this." He followed the lines of a pattern that spiraled inward like a collapsing star.
With his starlight creating the spiral, Ethan practiced, but his concentration faltered as Serathys's warning and Lirien's words, "forbidden shrine," clashed. Torren let out a sigh as the rune flickered. "Once more. Your doubts are irrelevant to the void."
Ethan's runes got better over the course of the hours, getting tighter and more stable with each spiral. Sylra drilled with her surge runes, her blasts accurate, and Torren softened his harsh tone while correcting Ethan's form. "You're getting it, Marcus. Marcus was always skilled with gates."
Ethan felt his chest constrict. Sylra's faith and Torren's trust kept him going, even though he wanted to say, "I'm not him." Whether he was transmigrated or not, the flickering gate, the shrine, and the emptiness were now his battleground.
The journal was open, and the star shard was glowing as Ethan sat in his quarters that evening. His quill trembling, he decoded another line: "The key is in the shrine." His breath caught as he realized that Lirien's slip was now a damning hint. A shrine tied to the tenth gate? To Zorathys's prison? Or to the void-tainted gate?
A fainter version of Serathys's voice whispered, "The gate's seal frays," as the star shard pulsed. Ethan gripped it, the flicker of the gate playing back in his mind, the hum of the void, the black veins. Did the journal forewarn that Lirien would be drawn to the shrine, that the void would take advantage of her weakness? Or was Valthor, with his silver smile, the shadow pulling her strings?
An urgent knock came. Torren's face was white as he stood there. "Sylra is going to go talk to Lirien, Marcus. Alone. We must go."
Ethan's heart stopped. "Where?"
"Council archives. Lirien was seen there, digging into old shrine records. Sylra believes she is pursuing something."
With his blade at his hip, Ethan reached for his satchel, which contained the journal and the shard.
"Let's go!"