The sealed vault beneath the Academy hadn't been opened in over a century. Locked behind a labyrinth of soul wards, curses, and ancient runes, it was where the Soul Council kept things too dangerous to destroy — artifacts of forgotten wars and sealed fragments of sentient monsters.
Now, something had awakened.
The crystal pulsed with a faint red light, breathing like a living thing.
A whisper echoed in the chamber — soft at first, like wind dragging over bone.
Then louder.
"Asher… Reeeeed…"
Above, in the quiet of his chamber, Asher jolted awake.
His heart pounded like a war drum, skin cold, breath shallow. Elira hovered nearby, her translucent form flickering. She had felt it too.
"Did you hear that?" he whispered.
"I did," she said. "It wasn't a dream."
"It said my name."
"It's calling your soul."
That sent a chill through him. He stood, grabbing his blade and cloak.
"We need to speak to Valenira."
Elira hesitated. "You trust her?"
"No. But she's the only one who knows what lies under this Academy."
Emilia had trouble sleeping.
The corrupted soul energy from the forest had left a mark on her. Not just the burns — but inside. Like something had opened within her and hadn't closed since.
She kept dreaming of a gate of shadows, a figure of bone wrapped in silver flames.
She heard laughter, and sometimes… sobbing.
When she finally wandered the halls in search of air, she found Liaen kneeling before the Soulspire.
The glowing monolith pulsed gently, steady like a heartbeat. Liaen didn't notice her at first.
"Do you always pray at night?" she asked.
He opened his eyes. "Not prayer. Listening."
"To what?"
"To the souls buried beneath this place. They whisper when the veil is thin."
Emilia sat beside him. "Do they ever stop?"
He gave a sad smile. "No. That's the point."
At dawn, Asher and Elira arrived at Valenira's private study — a dark room filled with soul maps, arcane relics, and scrolls written in forgotten tongues.
She didn't look surprised to see them.
"You felt it too," she said.
Asher narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"
"A soul crystal. Locked beneath this very building. It belonged to a creature we once defeated, but couldn't destroy. The Soul Council sealed it — thought it dormant."
"It's not," Elira said. "It's calling."
Valenira nodded. "Then it knows Asher is here."
"Why me?" he asked.
"You've touched death. Repeatedly. Souls like that don't forget."
She handed him a sealed document — a map of the vault's inner ring.
"You're going to need to go down there," she said.
"Alone?" Asher asked.
"No," she replied. "Take Emilia. And Liaen. They're both… resonating with it."
Elira bristled. "That's dangerous."
Valenira looked her in the eyes. "So is everything that matters."
The descent into the vault was like falling into the bones of the earth.
Stone steps spiraled downward into darkness, torches igniting with pale blue flame as they passed. Elira drifted beside them like a wraith — silent, tense.
Emilia's dagger glowed faintly at her side, its soul threads humming louder the deeper they went.
When they reached the final gate, Asher placed his hand on the seal.
The rune flared — then shattered.
Beyond the gate… was a massive chamber carved into the roots of the Soulspire.
And in its center hovered a jagged red crystal, larger than a man, suspended in black chains of soul energy.
Asher stepped forward — but the whispers hit them all at once.
A thousand voices.
Screaming. Crying. Laughing.
Emilia clutched her ears, staggering.
Liaen fell to one knee, eyes wide, mouth open in a silent scream.
Only Asher stood tall — blood running from his nose.
Then a voice emerged from the storm of whispers, louder than the rest.
"Hello, Reaper."
"It's been a while."