As the platform settled into place, Kael stood before Sera—his breath ragged, his soul scorched from the crucible trial. He could still feel fragments of his Echo-Double shivering inside his memory, like phantom limbs trying to crawl back into him.
Sera didn't speak right away. She merely observed.
Then, with a single motion, she reached into her cloak and drew forth a sliver of obsidian—thin as a needle, pulsing faintly with crimson light.
Kael tensed.
"Relax," she said. "This isn't for killing."
She stepped forward and placed the shard against his chest, just over his heart.
The pain was sudden—deep. It wasn't physical. It scraped across his Echo, burning symbols into something deeper than skin.
> You have been Marked by the Pact.
> Designation: Echo-Warden Candidate.
> Tier: Nullborne Initiate.
---
Kael staggered.
"What did you do?"
Sera lowered the shard. "Gave you access."
The glyph now etched into his skin pulsed once, then sank beneath the surface, vanishing.
"That mark means you're no longer rogue. It binds your Echo signature to our network. You'll have access to restricted nodes, safe zones, and more... importantly—guidance."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "And control?"
A faint smirk crossed her lips. "You're still free, Kael. But freedom is a tool. Not a weapon."
She gestured toward a large door now forming behind her—etched with lines of light that looked like veins of silver running through obsidian.
"Beyond that door is the Pact's first sanctum. Only marked Echo-Wardens may enter."
Kael looked toward the glowing threshold.
"What's inside?"
"A shard of the original Dream."
---
Kael stepped through.
Inside was silence.
Not the kind he summoned. Not the battle-born stillness of the Eye of Silence.
This was… ancient.
Awe-inspiring.
A cavern of crystalline structures stretched out before him, each pillar humming with resonance. Echo-energy moved between them like threads of light weaving an invisible tapestry.
At the center stood a single monolith, black and immense, shaped like a fang jutting from the earth. At its base was a small altar.
Kael approached.
Upon the altar—something waited.
A mask.
Smooth, metallic. Featureless, except for a single vertical slit where the eyes would be. As he touched it, information flooded his mind.
---
> [Echo Gear Acquired: Veil of Null]
Class: Adaptive Resonance Artifact
Tier: Nullborne
Primary Function: Mental shield / identity concealment / emotion dampener
Secondary Function: Echo-enhanced combat integration
Status: Linked to Initiate Kael Voss
---
The mask clung to his palm like it recognized him.
He slid it on.
And the world changed.
His senses sharpened. Every thread of Echo-energy pulsed more clearly. Sound became shapes. Intent became flavor. Time slowed—no, his mind accelerated.
Kael stumbled, overwhelmed.
But then… balance.
Control.
The mask fit not just his face, but his mind.
And for the first time since awakening his powers…
He felt whole.
---
Sera's voice echoed from behind.
"Every Warden wears one. It protects you. Hides you. Marks you."
Kael removed it slowly. "From what?"
"From the Watchers. From the Dominion. And from what's waking beneath the Dream's skin."
He turned to her. "You said I passed the first step. What's the next?"
Sera walked past him and touched the monolith. It pulsed, and a map unfolded in the air—floating, alive.
Dozens of zones, hundreds of lights. Some blinking. Some extinguished.
"There are fractures across the entire Dream Border. Rifts. Some natural. Most not. We think someone—or something—is opening them."
She pointed to a blinking red sector.
"Next trial. Zone 17-R. Dead Depths. One of our scouts went silent three days ago. A Warden. We need to know what happened."
Kael studied the map.
Zone 17-R was near the city's roots—deep underground. An old mining sector twisted by decades of unchecked Dream exposure.
"I go alone?"
Sera nodded. "Until you're more than a candidate, yes."
She turned toward the exit.
"One more thing."
Kael looked up.
"You survived the crucible. That means you can be strong. But remember… being strong and being in control are not the same thing."
---
As Kael left the sanctum, the air felt different.
Sharper. Clearer.
He walked through the Hollow's ruins like a ghost, wearing the mask now hanging at his hip.
He no longer felt like prey.
He no longer felt like he was running from the past.
He was running toward something now.
A new identity.
A new purpose.
And far below the Hollow, buried in darkness, something ancient stirred at his approach.
Something waiting.
Hungry.
And aware… that the Eye of Silence had awoken once more.
---
End of Chapter 10