The path past the obelisk seemed calmer than it had any right to be.
It was wide, smooth, almost inviting—polished dark stone flecked with tiny glints of gold that caught the faint ambient glow like tiny stars. Hollowfang padded ahead, wary but not bristling. Despair Maw moved with an odd grace, its immense body flowing without the usual cautious tension. Ember Vow kept her hand in Raen's, her thumb brushing along his knuckles as if reassuring herself he was still there.
It felt too easy.And that, more than any lurking monster, made Raen's skin crawl.
Memoryweaver pulsed inside his chest in tiny uneven beats, like it was sniffing the air for something it couldn't yet find.
They walked until the path simply ended.
No walls. No sudden abyss. Just a clearing — vast, round, ringed by towering pillars of glass that reached into the endless dark above. Each pillar was hollow, filled with faint swirling light that moved like trapped souls. At the center of the clearing stood a throne.
Not a grotesque living seat like before. This was elegant, carved from stone so black it reflected nothing. Fine etchings of beasts and crowns wound along its arms and back. A single cloth — deep crimson, beautifully embroidered — lay draped across it, as though waiting for a king who'd merely stepped away for a moment.
Raen stopped several paces short.So did Hollowfang, tail stiff, a faint whine rumbling in its throat. Despair Maw loomed behind them, breath coming slower, nostrils flaring wide.
Ember Vow's grip on his hand tightened. "It's bait. Obvious, clumsy even."
"Yes," Raen said quietly. "But that's what worries me. The Abyss doesn't usually show its teeth this early."
She glanced at him, brow creasing. "Early? We're how many trials deep by now?"
Raen shook his head. Memoryweaver was fluttering, threads tugging at old scars inside him. "Not by its standards. I think we're still only scratching the outer shell of what it keeps hidden."
He stepped forward.
The instant his boot crossed an invisible line, the pillars of glass flared.Light poured out — not harsh, but warm, almost gentle. It swept over them in a slow wave.
And suddenly Raen stood alone.
He was in a great hall.
Vaulted ceilings soared overhead, banners of black and gold hanging between slender columns. Rows of beasts stood along the walls — Hollowfangs by the dozen, jaws bloody and eyes flat with mindless devotion. At the foot of each beast knelt people — humans, elves, creatures he didn't even recognize — all bound by thick chains that looped around their throats.
Despair Maw lay coiled across a dais at the far end, mouth stretched in a wide, lazy grin. Its eyes were dim, unfocused, as if drunk on some feast of agony.
And on a throne above it all sat Raen.
He looked younger somehow. The scars along his throat were gone. His eyes were bright — almost too bright, feverish with triumph. A crown of twisted black metal rested on his brow, its points slick with something dark.
Beside him knelt Ember Vow. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders, her runes dimmed to faint scars on her skin. A collar of delicate silver wrapped her throat, its chain ending in Raen's hand. She leaned against his leg with a soft, vacant smile.
Raen recoiled — but found he couldn't move. His feet were planted, as if fused to the floor.
The other him on the throne tilted his head, lips curling in a slow, cold grin.
"Why so disturbed?" that voice purred. His voice, twisted slightly, sweetened with poison. "Is this not what you've always wanted? Dominion. Worship. A throne no one could tear from you."
"This isn't me," Raen rasped. His throat felt thick, words sticking painfully.
"Oh, but it is." The crowned Raen leaned forward, eyes sparkling. "This is the shape of you when you finally stop pretending compassion matters. When you let Memoryweaver be what it was born to be: a cage for every soul you touch. A net to pull the Abyss around your feet."
He gave the chain a little tug. Ember Vow — his Ember, broken and smiling — let out a soft gasp and pressed closer.
Raen's stomach twisted. Rage clawed up, nearly choking him. "I would never do that to her."
The crowned Raen laughed. It was a hollow sound, echoing strangely in the great hall. "Wouldn't you? Or are you just too weak to admit it's easier this way? No more worries she might leave, or betray, or be taken. No more fragile trust. Just certainty. Ownership."
[System Notice: Adaptive Illusion — Desire Variant]
[Resist or Assimilate]
Raen's hands curled into fists. Memoryweaver strained against something inside him, pulling at old griefs. He saw flashes — Hollowfang bloodied from their first meeting, Despair Maw's near-despair when Raen didn't at first reach out. Ember Vow circling him like a snake, ready to consume.
It would be easy to make sure none ever left.To simply hold them in a perfect prison of loyalty.
He felt his knees want to buckle. A moment's weakness. A single dark breath of longing.
Then Memoryweaver snapped tight, sending a lance of cold through his chest. He remembered Ember Vow's laugh — real, biting, rebellious. Hollowfang curling up to him not because it was forced, but because it wanted to. Despair Maw's silent acceptance that only came after Raen offered it something it didn't dare hope for.
Raen forced his gaze up to the twisted version of himself. "No. I didn't crawl through every nightmare this pit threw at me to end up ruling ashes and puppets."
The crowned Raen's smile vanished. For the first time, anger sparked there — a thin, ugly light.
"You will," it hissed. "Or the Abyss will take them from you piece by piece until you beg to lock them down yourself."
"Then I'll tear the Abyss apart first."
The hall convulsed.
Pillars shattered inward. Chains writhed like dying serpents. Ember Vow's broken smile twisted into something terrified, reaching for him even as she dissolved. The crowned Raen lunged, hand outstretched, eyes wide with sudden panic—
Raen roared. Memoryweaver burst from him in a flood of white fire, searing through every image. The throne cracked, the dais split, the entire vision collapsed into swirling dust that screamed as it faded.
When it cleared, he was back on the Abyssal path.
Ember Vow knelt in front of him, hands cupping his face. Her eyes were wild, worried, her breath coming in shallow gulps.
"You were gone," she whispered. "Standing there, eyes blank, shaking. I couldn't reach you."
Raen sank into her touch. His own hands trembled as they covered hers. "It tried to show me a future where you were just another chained beast. Where I was a king of corpses."
Her expression softened. She pressed her forehead to his. "Then you chose better."
"Always," he rasped.
Hollowfang let out a low whuff, pressing close enough to bump them both. Despair Maw lowered its massive head until it could nudge Raen's shoulder. They were all still here — no chains, no crowns, no vacant eyes.
The path beyond still waited. The Abyss was angry now. Desperate. But it was learning something it had never wanted to know:
Raen Tiberis could not be bought. Not with thrones. Not with promises. Not even with the guarantee of love that could never leave.