The black heart dissolved into dust.
For a moment, there was silence. The green light in the chamber flickered, dimmed, then steadied. The creature that had attacked Kaelen collapsed to its knees, its form beginning to dissolve like the heart it had protected.
But something was wrong.
The ground beneath Kaelen's feet began to tremble. The walls of the chamber cracked, green light spilling through the fissures like blood from a wound. A pressure built in the air, immense and suffocating, pressing against his chest like the weight of an ocean.
Then the cracks spread beyond the chamber. Beyond the tower. Across the Scarlands.
Kaelen felt it. A rupture in the fabric of the world, a wound that was opening wider with every passing second.
And then he began to cough.
The sound tore from his throat, harsh and wet. His body convulsed, doubling over as something clawed its way up from his lungs. He tasted blood, bitter and metallic.
He looked at his hands.
