Kael woke slowly. The first sensation was the cold, damp stone beneath the blankets. Then, the low, persistent thrumming that seemed to vibrate not just through the walls, but through his very bones. It was The Void, reacting.
He was in the storage room. The single lamp cast long, dancing shadows. He tried to sit up, but a wave of exhaustion washed over him, coupled with the chilling, gaping wound in his soul left by the Bedel.
Joy. The memory of the word was there, but the feeling... it was gone. A flat, empty void where warmth and lightness should be. He tried to recall Elara's laugh, his mother's smile, the simple pleasure of sun on his skin. He could picture the moments, but the feeling was absent. It was like looking at a vibrant colour but only seeing grey.
It was worse than just losing memories. It was losing the capacity for the emotions tied to them. A cold, terrifying realization settled over him.
He wasn't alone. Elara sat huddled in a corner of the small room, watching him with wide, concerned eyes.
She scrambled over to him. "Kael? You're awake. How do you feel?" Her voice was soft, filled with a worry that was a balm against the cold emptiness inside him.
He wanted to tell her about the Bedel, about the missing feeling. He opened his mouth, but the words caught. "Feel... empty..." he whispered, a raspy sound. He touched his chest, where the void was deepest.
Elara watched his struggle, her brow furrowed with concern. She reached out, her hand hovering for a moment before gently resting on his. She didn't fully understand, but she saw the depth of his suffering, the profound loss etched on his small face.
She stayed with him, bringing him a cup of water, urging him to drink. She talked to him quietly, telling him about the dim light outside, about the sounds she could hear from the main chamber – muffled voices, hurried footsteps. Simple things, anchors in the storm of his internal Bedel.
As the hours passed, the low thrumming from outside intensified. It wasn't just a vibration now; it felt like a pulse, slow and heavy, pushing against the sanctuary walls. The lamp in the room flickered with its rhythm.
Sounds from the main chamber grew louder, more frantic. Shouts, the clang of metal, heavy footsteps running. They were preparing. Or fighting. The external threat, drawn by Kael's power, was becoming a reality.
Elara jumped up, going to the heavy door, pressing her ear against it. Her face was pale when she turned back. "They're fighting," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Something is attacking." Fear, raw and potent, bloomed in her eyes.
Kael felt a flicker of that same fear, a distant echo of what he should be feeling. But the Bedel had dulled it. He felt concern for Elara, for the people outside, but the sharp edge of terror was missing. It was a horrifying realization – the Bedel didn't just take, it changed him.
Muffled voices filtered under the door. He heard Gus's voice, loud and angry, then Captain's, firm but strained. Snippets of words made it through: "...child... curse... drew them here..." "...have to hold... can't break..."
They were talking about him. Blaming him. The knowledge was a cold weight in his gut.
Despite the Bedel and the isolation, Kael felt Vispera's presence, weak but persistent. A fragile warmth against the cold void within. And through her, he felt... the thrumming's meaning. It wasn't just aggression. It was... hunger. And awareness. His light, his power, had made The Void aware of the sanctuary.
He couldn't use his power. Not like this. The Bedel was too great. He was locked away, useless, while people fought and potentially died because of him.
The sounds outside the room escalated. A loud CRASH echoed from somewhere deeper within the sanctuary, shaking the walls of their small room. Screams followed, sharp and brief. The thrumming intensified, vibrating through the floor.
Elara cried out, stumbling back from the door, her eyes wide with terror. The reality of the attack, the brutal danger, was upon them even in their isolation.
They were trapped. Useless. While The Void attacked, perhaps because of the power Kael carried, the power he couldn't use without destroying himself further.
In the dim, shaking room, surrounded by the sounds of the escalating battle outside, Kael and Elara looked at each other, two small figures huddled in the face of overwhelming, terrifying chaos. They were safe from the immediate fight, but utterly vulnerable to its outcome. Their shared isolation became their shared, desperate bond.
The chapter ends with the sounds of battle raging outside the door, The Void's thrumming constant, and Kael and Elara confined, their fates tied to the fight they couldn't join.