The Sanctum of the Unspoken had no doors, no defenses—only the runes themselves. It was not a fortress built to withstand siege, but a sanctuary of memory carved before time.
And now it would become a battlefield.
The Seeker had entered the mountains.
They felt it before they saw him.
Ariya dropped her blade mid-polish. Seris gripped her chest, eyes wide as if her heart had skipped a beat. Even Kaelis faltered mid-sentence.
Then came the sound.
Not footsteps.
Not breath.
But absence—a rippling void swallowing wind, light, and thought itself. A sound like names being sucked from the lips of the dead.
Althar stood at the Sanctum's heart, sword drawn. The runes around him pulsed brighter now, as though they, too, recognized the ancient threat approaching.
"Positions," he commanded.
They obeyed.
Kaelis turned to the stone disc where their names had been etched. "Once he enters, this place won't protect us unless we complete the seal."
"We already carved our names," Ariya said, scowling. "What more do you want?"
Kaelis pointed to the lines above their carvings—etched in primordial glyphs.
"They're not just names. They're stories. We need to give them meaning—bind them in emotion. Otherwise, the Seeker can still unravel them."
Althar froze.
Emotion.
His great flaw. His great struggle.
The final requirement of the seal was the one thing he still barely understood.
The archway darkened.
Then the Seeker stepped through.
No footsteps. He floated, as though gravity could not claim him.
A skinless face. Limbs like shadow-forged glass. No eyes, but he saw them.
The runes on the walls flickered violently. Several dimmed and died. Names were erased with a soft whisper.
Seris groaned and fell to her knees. "He's trying to pull us apart…"
Kaelis screamed, "Start the seal!"
Ariya and Seris grasped the edge of the stone disk.
Kaelis stabbed her palm and pressed the blood over her carved name.
"KAELIS FLAMEBORN. Daughter. Traitor. Rebel. I bind my name in guilt… and in hope."
The rune blazed gold.
Ariya followed, bloodied fingers trembling.
"ARIYA FLINTSTRIKE. Loyal. Angry. Stubborn. I bind my name in vengeance… and trust."
Seris next.
"SERIS DUSKVEIL. Watcher. Dreamer. Survivor. I bind my name in fear… and courage."
The runes pulsed brighter with each confession.
Then it was Althar's turn.
The Seeker was within reach now, arm outstretched. With each second, Althar's image grew dim—his form starting to fray.
Memories of him flickered.
Ariya gasped. "Don't wait—do it now!"
Althar pressed the chisel to the stone.
"ALTHAR FLAMEBORN," he began, "once a King without heart. I bind my name…"
He hesitated.
The rune stuttered.
The Seeker reached forward.
"Say it!" Kaelis cried.
"I bind my name… in shame." His voice cracked.
The rune caught flame.
"…In rage."
It burned brighter.
"…And now—" Althar lifted his eyes to his companions, "—in love."
The Sanctum shook.
All four runes ignited like suns.
The Seeker screamed—a soundless vibration that made their bones ache.
From the disk, a beam of light erupted, etching the names into the air, into stone, into the very concept of memory.
Kaelis shouted, "NOW—BIND HIM!"
The four joined hands.
Blood met rune. Memory met name.
A fifth rune rose behind the Seeker, shaped from the ashes of erased names.
They gave it his title.
THE SEEKER OF UNMAKING.
They sealed him—not in death, but in permanence.
For a being of oblivion, existence was the cruelest prison.
He screamed as the name consumed him—burned into the walls of the Sanctum, burned into the minds of those who now remembered him forever.
Then he vanished—his void twisted, collapsed, and sealed into a single glyph.
The Sanctum stilled.
The runes quieted.
They stood in silence, breathing as if for the first time.
Seris wiped her eyes. "We stopped him."
"No," Kaelis said softly. "We trapped him. For now."
Althar stared at the rune that bound the Seeker. His hand trembled—not from fear.
From feeling.
Emotion had saved them.
And for the first time, he wasn't afraid of it.
Far to the east, in the depths of the Midnight Palace, the Empress's mirror cracked.
She rose from her throne, gaze narrowing.
"So," she whispered, "you've learned to remember."
Her smile twisted.
"Then I'll teach you how to forget again."