But if the girl from his dream was truly tied to this place, then sleep might be the key.
"I better not wake up dead," he muttered, and closed his eyes.
The cold cave bled away.
###
The air was still—thick with silence and the weight of forgotten memory.
Kael stood alone in a grand hall, a castle room so vast it felt more dream than reality.
The vaulted ceiling disappeared into shadow, and a long obsidian table stretched before him. Around it, stone chairs sat in a perfect ring, untouched by dust or time.
At the far end of the hall, on the highest seat, she waited.
The girl from his dreams.
She didn't speak.
Kael glanced around, unsure if he was meant to sit, or approach, or run.
He swallowed the instinct to step back and instead offered a tentative,
"Hello… miss?"
Her voice answered, clear and ageless. "You may call me Yue."
Kael nodded slowly. Her presence made the room feel colder, like stepping into a cathedral carved from ice.
She wore a red gown that bled into the shadows at her feet, her pale skin untouched by light, and her eyes—those deep, crimson pupils—seemed to look through him, not at him.
She was beautiful, yes. But not in the way mortals were. There was no warmth. She was carved from myth and legend, a divine being suspended between reverence and sorrow.
"Who are you really?" Kael asked, the words echoing too loudly in the silence.
Yue stood with slow grace. Her movements were fluid, deliberate.
She walked down the length of the table, the hem of her dress whispering against the polished floor.
When she spoke again, her voice had shifted—quieter, but somehow more commanding.
"Oh, I am no one of consequence," she said. "Just a poor woman who wished to share her legacy with a new generation. One that might not repeat the mistakes of the last."
She stopped beside Kael. He hadn't heard her footsteps—only felt the subtle shift in the air around him.
Her voice slipped inside his mind, calm and compelling.
"My sword awaits you. With it, you can become a force beyond limits—unlimited power at your command."
Kael stared ahead. "Then how did you die?"
Yue's expression changed. A flicker of something too old for sadness—bitterness perhaps, or the silence that follows betrayal.
"I trusted them," she said softly. "I gave them everything. They turned on me."
Kael opened his mouth, about to ask who—who they were—but she raised a hand and placed a single finger against his lips.
Not touching.
Just enough to stop the question before it left.
She fixed her gaze on him, voice low and steady.
"Say this rune," she said.
" ᚨ ᛖ ᛚ ' ᚦ ᚨ ᚱ ᚢ ᚾ "
And the world collapsed into darkness.
Kael awoke—gasping in the cold cave.
Kael stood in front of the ancient door, rubbing his temples.
"What the heck… that was way too dramatic."
Still, he cleared his throat, planted his feet in front of the door, and chanted the rune with all the gravitas he could muster:
"" ᚨ ᛖ ᛚ ' ᚦ ᚨ ᚱ ᚢ ᚾ .....""
The door gave a pathetic little creak, like it was trying not to wake the neighbors.
The chains rattled... and then went silent.
Nothing else happened.
Kael stared.
"Really? That's it? I was expecting something more… explosive."
He sighed, shoved himself through the narrow crack.
Just as he stepped inside, the door slammed shut behind him.
"Hah, that's just as I expected. Good—no way that bastard's getting in here."
He turned—and froze.
This was not what he expected.
A sword rested on the altar, which itself hovered above a vast pool—not of water, but thick, dark blood.
A narrow bridge stretched from where Kael stood, leading directly to the altar.
Kael's eyes flicked to the pool beneath the altar. The surface wasn't still—it rippled, as if something massive stirred beneath the blood.
A faint, wet sloshing echoed through the chamber. Shadows writhed beneath the surface, shifting shapes that seemed almost… alive.
He swallowed hard, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.
He glanced around—nothing but that damn bridge. He sighed,
"No going back, I guess."
Stepping onto the bridge, it groaned and swayed under his weight.
"Great," Kael muttered
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and whispered,
"God… oh god, I'm coming."
The bridge creaked louder as if mocking him.
'Well, at least if I fall, I'll make one hell of a splash,' Kael thought, smirking despite himself.
Kael finally reached the altar. The sword lay there, glowing a deep, ominous red—exactly as Yue had said, a source of immense power.
Behind the altar, Yue stood, her eyes shining with expectant happiness.
"Claim your destiny, Kael. Wield it," she urged softly.
Kael nodded…
Then...
Then, ...with both hands, raised his middle fingers.
Yue's smile froze.
She blinked. "Is something wrong, Kael?"
He tilted his head. "Drop the act, bitch."
Her eyes narrowed. The warmth in her voice vanished.
"Mortal... how dare you speak to me like that?"
Kael gave a half-smile. "There we go. That's more like it."
Her lips curled.
"So you're not as dumb as you look. You figured out I'm deceiving you. Impressive… But it changes nothing. How will you leave this place without claiming my gift? Wield the sword, or rot here."
"I'm going out," Kael said, walking slowly around the altar. "And you're going to tell me how."
She laughed—cold, ancient, amused.
"You think threats matter here?" Her voice rang out like a bell forged from ice.
"You're a flicker. A breath in the wind. A pitiful soul clawing at the edge of eternity. I am Yue—sorceress of the Sixth Rank, breaker of kings, binder of demons. I've watched empires rise and turn to dust."
"So tell me, mortal—what can you possibly do to me?"
Kael didn't speak.
He just slowly lowered his hands toward his .....zipper, eyes locked on Yue.
Her expression cracked.
"W-What are you doing?" she stammered, a flicker of dread in her voice now—real, ancient dread, not the theatrical kind.
He shrugged casually.
"If you don't tell me how to get out of here… I'm going to mark your sword the most primal way known to man."
Her eyes widened. "You wouldn't."
"It's already happening," Kael said with a deadpan stare. "Five seconds."
Yue's composure shattered like glass.
"Okay! I'll tell! Just—step away from the altar!"
"You shameless creature!"