The chamber shattered.
Not in the way stone crumbles or ceilings cave in - but as if reality itself fractured around them. The air rippled with a deafening, unseen force, the walls bending and distorting as though pulled between two opposing realms.
Kaelen barely had time to react. The moment the entity fully emerged from the monolith, the entire space twisted. The floor sank beneath them like water, and then, in a single violent motion - everything snapped back into place.
The chamber was gone.
Kaelen hit the ground hard, the breath knocked from his lungs as he rolled across damp earth. The impact sent sharp pain rattling through his ribs, but his instincts pushed the sensation aside. He scrambled up, sword already drawn, scanning his surroundings.
This was not the underground chamber anymore.
The sky above was wrong - a vast, swirling expanse of dark violet and streaks of silver, shifting like living ink spilled across an endless canvas. Jagged spires of black stone jutted from the ground, pulsing faintly with an eerie glow. A chilling wind howled through the unnatural landscape, carrying whispers that faded before they could form words.
Beside him, Rina groaned, pushing herself up from the ground. She clutched her head, her breaths shallow. "Where… what the hell just happened?"
Kaelen turned, his eyes locking onto the figure standing before them.
The entity from the monolith.
Now fully formed, its body flickered between solid and ethereal, like a shadow that couldn't decide whether it should exist. Its ember-like eyes burned with a knowing amusement, as though it had seen this play out before.
"Welcome," it rumbled, its voice laced with something older than time itself.
Kaelen didn't lower his blade. "Where are we?"
The entity took a slow step forward, its form stretching unnaturally with the movement. "You stand within the Rift, a realm beyond your mortal understanding. A place between what was… and what could be."
Rina let out a sharp breath. "That doesn't exactly clear things up."
The entity chuckled - a hollow, echoing sound. "No, I suppose it does not."
A sudden tremor ran through the ground beneath them, sending cracks splintering through the rock. Something else was here. Something worse.
Kaelen's grip on his sword tightened. "Why bring us here?"
The entity tilted its head, as if considering the question. Then, with an unsettling stillness, it answered. "Because the Rift does not take - it tests."
Before Kaelen could demand further explanation, the ground cracked open beneath them.
Darkness surged from below, a force unlike anything he had ever felt. It was not mere shadow - it was hunger, a presence that sought to consume.
Kaelen barely had time to react before tendrils of writhing void lashed toward him. He moved - his blade flashing in the dim light, slicing through the darkness. The severed tendrils recoiled, but more took their place, snaking toward them with relentless purpose.
Rina cursed, dodging a tendril as it lashed at her. She flicked her dagger, sending a glowing arc of magic slicing through the air, but it barely made a dent. "Yeah, I think it's safe to say we failed whatever this test is!"
The entity watched, unbothered, its ember-like gaze unblinking.
Kaelen growled under his breath. If this thing wasn't going to help them, then...
His thoughts cut short as the Rift pulsed.
A wave of unseen force slammed into him, knocking him back. A vision, no, a memory, not his own, seared into his mind.
A figure, wreathed in silver fire, standing at the edge of creation. A blade that gleamed like a dying star. A voice...
"…Find it. Before the Rift takes all."
Kaelen gasped, the vision vanishing as abruptly as it had come. His heart pounded against his ribs.
Something buried within the Rift was calling to him.
And he had no choice but to find it before the Rift swallowed them whole.