The Obsidian Weaver, their masked gaze unsettling, remained silent for a long moment, their hidden eyes seemingly assessing the three Soul Wardens.
The staff in their hand pulsed with a soft, rhythmic blue light, a stark contrast to the jagged crimson energy that permeated the Obsidian Scar.
Lyra, her white lightblade still held defensively, projected a cautious query.
"Who are you? Your actions aided us against the Shard Walker, but your presence here is… unexpected."
The Weaver's whispered voice echoed, carrying an ancient resonance.
"I am a guardian of sorts. A witness to the ebb and flow of energies within this Scar. The Void… it leaves deep wounds, and this land remembers."
Zephyr, ever the more direct one, piped up.
"Guardian of what, exactly? And what's with the whispers? You some kind of whisper-bender?"
The Weaver turned their masked head slightly towards Zephyr.
"The whispers are the echoes of fractured spirits, the remnants of past conflicts. They cling to the obsidian, forever reliving their pain. I… guide them, sometimes. Prevent them from being wholly consumed by the encroaching darkness."
Einar, still sensing the unique energy signature of the Weaver – neither purely Radiant Flow nor raw Void – projected his own curiosity.
"Your power… it feels different. What are you?"
The Weaver inclined their head. "I am… bound to this place. The Obsidian Scar is a nexus, a point where the veil has been torn and mended many times".
I" draw my strength from its memories, from the lingering energies of both creation and destruction. Some call me the Obsidian Weaver."
Lyra's gaze narrowed. "And you observed Gorok's influence here? The Void signatures we detected?"
"They grow stronger," the Weaver confirmed, their blue eye-lines dimming slightly as if in concern.
"The whispers speak of a deeper intrusion, a drawing of power from a source yet undisturbed within the Scar. Gorok seeks something… ancient, something that slumbers beneath the obsidian."
A sense of unease settled over Einar. An ancient source of power within this already volatile region… it sounded incredibly dangerous.
"What kind of power?" Einar asked, his Void sense instinctively probing the depths beneath the obsidian ground.
He could feel faint echoes, a deep resonance that felt both powerful and strangely… dormant.
The Obsidian Weaver slowly raised their staff, the blue light intensifying.
"This Scar was not always barren. Before the great tear, a vibrant energy flowed here, a connection to realms beyond even the Soul Society and the Mortal Veil."
"Fragments of that energy remain, dormant but potent. Gorok seeks to awaken and corrupt it, to twist it into a weapon that could shatter the Grand Cycle entirely."
A chilling realization dawned on Lyra.
"That's why the Void signatures are so fractured… it's interacting with this other energy source."
Suddenly, the ground beneath them trembled more violently. Cracks of crimson energy widened, and from the depths of a newly formed fissure, more Shard Walkers began to emerge, their grating screeches echoing through the crimson sky.
Their eyes burned with an even more intense malevolent red light.
"The stirring of the ancient power attracts them," the Obsidian Weaver whispered, their tone urgent.
"The veil weakens further. You must be swift. Gorok's influence is not the only danger here."
The Obsidian Scar was revealing its layers of threat, and their mission had just become significantly more complex.