Jasmine gasped stepping away from the hearthstone, her eyes wide. No, no, no, she hadn't touched it, she wasn't close to it.
Even Micah knows too well than to touch it, what suddenly went wrong. Did their presence crack it? They were in trouble a deep one.
Suddenly—
THUD
The outer gates of the Archives open and heavy boots hit the marble floor fast and hard.
Emperor Thornegrave walked in like a full-blown storm. His eyes dark as midnight, burned with pure fury. His cloak whipped behind him like it had a mind of its own, or maybe it was just reacting to the anger rolling off him. His whole face looked like it had been carved from rage itself.
Right behind him, the elite guards came in fast silent, sharp, shadows with ammos pointed at them like criminals. They didn't say a word, but the tension in the air was thick enough to choke on. His eyes landed on them Jasmine and Micah.
And they froze.
They were trembling. Micah's hand twitched like maybe he wanted to explain, or run, or both. Jasmine just stared, heart punching her ribs. It looked like the guards were gonna open fire right then and there. They were about two seconds from being thrown across reality's bridge straight into the afterlife.
Then off to the side four guards who were supposed to be watching the chamber Standing stiff, weapons out, but their faces… panicked, stunned.
"You let them in?" the Emperor's voice cracked through the room like stone breaking. "You stood out here the whole time, and they children got through?"
No one answered. Not yet. Not with that voice still hanging in the air like a blade.
The guard in charge tried to speak, his voice shaky. "Your Majesty, the wards were intact until—"
"You had one job!" the Emperor snapped. "Keep intruders out. Make sure no one got in here. And now look at this."
The air around him shimmered, like it couldn't handle the weight of his anger. It felt hot and heavy wrong. The kind of fear that didn't come from yelling, but from knowing what someone like him could do with just a word. He was a Will Reaper. He could tear someone apart just by speaking.
Micah swallowed hard. Jasmine's heart thudded so loud she was sure everyone could hear it. She didn't even try to talk. Something was wrong. Really wrong. This wasn't just about them sneaking into a room they weren't supposed to be in. It was deeper darker.
And then—
Footsteps. Another set, lighter, but fast. Coming in from the side hallway.
Gasps followed. A voice calling a name like it couldn't believe it.
"Jasmine?"
Lord Grey and Lady Morrigan rushed into the room, their faces pale as they took in the scene.
Lady Morrigan froze at the sight of her children, eyes wide with horror. Her hands flew to her lips.
Lord Grey's face went pale. "What have you both done …"
Micah turned toward them. "We didn't touch it, I promise we just wanted to see—"
The father's voice cracked, "You shouldn't have even stepped into the archive, what are you bot_" he choked unable to complete his words, he suddenly looked tired too tired to speak.
The Emperor turned his gaze toward them. "Then perhaps you would like to explain, Grey, how your children bypassed the guards, unlocked the seal, and entered the archive."
Jasmine and Micah shrank beneath the pressure of so many eyes. They didn't know what went wrong but they hadn't done anything.
Lady Maevera Dravik chief of Dynara stepped forward to address the issue.
" Your Majesty, we can't decide just yet what went wrong. I am partly responsible for not keeping my people in check, but whatever had unraveled isn't what these two helpless kids could have done," she tried reasoning with him.
Matriarch Ven Thrym stepped forward to support her claim. Call it stupid, but what they had seen outside the hall was utter evil from the pit of hell, something that shouldn't have been drawn to the world. "This is no mere coincidence and I won't say the kids are innocent. But something feels wrong utterly wrong, I fear a darkness greater than us is clamping down on us" his voice seemed hollow it felt hollow and it made fear grip Jasmine. Just between the door was the emperor's son, his dark eyes calculating.
She couldn't explain it, but something about him put her on edge. Just standing near the him made her skin prickle. Maybe it was that eerie calm he carried like still water right before a storm. Or maybe it was his eyes. Cold. Empty. Like nothing in the world could touch him.
She looked away just as the doors opened.
A guard burst in, breathing hard, eyes wide like he'd seen a ghost.
"Your Majesty....there's....uh....it's_" He tripped over his own words, panting and waving his hands like that would help.
The Emperor didn't move, but his voice cracked through the room like a whip.
"Speak. Clearly."
The guard snapped upright like a puppet yanked by strings. "There's chaos, sir! Outside the realm! People.....there's a flood of them....coming through the portal. All at once."
Before anyone could react, a second figure entered. A woman who seems to be apart of the elite troupe. She didn't waste time on bows or titles.
She walked straight to the Emperor.
"It's worse than that," she said, voice like flint.
"Your Majesty, you have to see this."
She shoved a tablet into his hands. He grabbed it fast, not even blinking.
Jasmine heard the screams before she even looked. The sound blared from the device pure panic. People were yelling, things crashing, a child crying in the background. Her stomach dropped.
"What the hell is going on?" the Emperor asked. His face had gone pale, and his fingers were gripping the tablet so hard it looked like it might snap in half.
The woman didn't look shaken, but her voice was tight. "People at the edge of the realm… they're being attacked."
"attacked by what?" someone asked.
Lady Jade stepped away from her husband, her eyes wide. "Wait. Unknown creatures? Are we talking parasites or monsters or—what even is this?"
No one answered right away.
And that silence?
It was way louder than the screams on the tablet.
"We're not sure yet, Lady Jade," the woman said, a hint of frustration slipping into her voice. "We sent a squad to check it out, but… we lost contact. No signal. And whatever this thing is, it's moving fast. Looks like it's spreading toward the other realms."
Jade's face went blank, like she was trying to process something that made zero sense. Her hands slowly curled into fists.
The Emperor didn't hesitate. "Shut down all portals. Every single one No one gets in or out until we know what the hell we're dealing with."
The elite troupe didn't even blink. They nodded and moved In seconds, they were gone, boots echoing down the hall as they left the archive behind.
The Emperor turned, his voice heavier now as he looked at the realm chiefs.
"Shut down any portal that leads to your lands. All of them."
They didn't argue. Didn't waste time asking questions. Just nodded and took off like fire had lit under their feet.
Whatever was coming, they all felt it.
Something was wrong.
Really, really wrong.
Lord Grey gestured the kids over Micah was quick to walk to his dad but before Jasmine could move the king turned on them again.
"Drag them away," he told his guards, who wasted no time in pulling Micah away from his mom and Jasmine.
"You Majesty please they are innocent" Lady Morrigan said pleadingly but the Emperor was in mood as he had other pressing matters.
Jasmine was pulled past Draven who didn't as much as glance at her as he proceeded into the archive room.
The rest of the people present walked out following the emperor.
Draven came to a stop in front of the hearthstone, his hand pausing as he tilted his head to see the hearthstone, which had now lost its touch of life, as if the energy had been suck out of it but not completely, the glow was still faint but barely enough.
"Interesting" The word brushed past his lips.
Roundabout the table in the meeting hall, the emperor sat at the further head of the table while the chiefs sat also, their lips pressed in a thin line as they watched the videos being played on the scream.
Screams and terror filled the hall, just by the scream they could feel the terror wash on their skin making the hair on their body stand. From one of the discarded tape that had fallen, someone picked it ghastly hand shrunken to the bone, it raised to look at the tape. It had possessed one of the citizens. It eyes an orbit of darkness as it looks into the tape as if seeing the people behind it.
"It's been a long time coming... I know you missed me, just like I missed you."
The voice that came through the recording was rough and cold, it sound like gravel scraping against metal. It had a sick crackle to it, it didn't sound human. Still, there was something thinking behind it. Something aware. Not just some random monster it knew what it was doing. And worse? It sounded happy to be back.
That alone made the chiefs shift in their seats. One of them actually flinched.
Then the video cut.
The room went dead silent.
Lady Jade pulled back like she'd just been slapped. "This is sickening," she whispered, barely getting the words out. Her husband reached for her hand, squeezing it gently, trying to calm her, even though he looked just as shaken.
Jexa, the elite who'd brought the report, stepped forward again. Her face was hard, but her voice was tight like she was holding something back.
"They're not just killing people," she said. "They take them. Possess them. Eat away at their essence. And it's spreading like wildfire. We tried to hold them back, but it's not easy. One touch is all it takes. Just one."
Nobody said a word after that.
Because what was there to say?
She held a tiny remote in her hand, which she used to control the screen.
"But that's… that's not even the scariest part," Jexa muttered, voice dropping. The edge she always carried it was gone now. Her eyes looked like they were somewhere else. Somewhere she didn't want to be.
Lord Raymond Raith leaned forward, brow furrowed, shadows under his eyes. "Then what is?"
She swallowed hard. "They can't be killed."
A few gasps slipped around the room.
"I mean… even if we destroy the body they're using… it doesn't matter. They just move on. Find another host. Like it's nothing."
The air felt heavy.
"And there's more," she added, like she hated even saying it. "We found something. A void. Like… a hole. No light, no sound. Just… nothing. And it's open. At the edge of Iskareth."
Raymond blinked, like he misheard. "Iskareth?" he repeated, but it came out like a curse.
"Why there?" Lady Jade snapped, her fingers gripping the armrest. "Of all the damn places... no, no, this isn't random. This isn't just some attack."
The Emperor still hadn't spoken.
He just leaned back in his seat, staring at the table like it held all the answers if he stared hard enough. His jaw clenched.
Then finally, he raised one hand, barely a flick of his wrist.
"Bring Elandra."
One of the guards bowed quickly and left, boots echoing down the hall.
Nobody said a word.
But it was clear whatever was coming, this was just the beginning.