The heavy silence inside the Sanctum was almost worse than the howling Wastes outside.
Finn and I pressed forward cautiously, each footstep stirring ancient dust that seemed to resent our presence.
Light from my relic-sword cast long, flickering shadows across cracked murals and broken columns.
Everywhere around us were images of glory long since crumbled: Wardens standing triumphant against monstrous foes, Wardens kneeling beneath a radiant sun, Wardens forging weapons in rivers of silver fire.
But no voices.
No breathing.
Only emptiness.
Finn muttered under his breath, "Feels like walking through a graveyard where the corpses are still listening."
I said nothing.
I felt it too.
A tension just beyond hearing, like a harp string stretched too tight, ready to snap.
We moved deeper.
Corridors branched off like veins, most collapsed or sealed by age.
Once, this had been a stronghold — a citadel of knowledge and power.
Now, it was barely holding itself together.
Ahead, a wide set of stone stairs descended into darkness.
Finn looked at me questioningly.
I nodded grimly.
Where else could we go?
We descended.
The air grew colder.
Thicker.
The relic-sword's light dimmed, struggling against some unseen force.
At the bottom, the stairs opened into a vast circular chamber.
And in its center stood a pool.
A shallow basin of still, black water, surrounded by shattered statues and crumbling inscriptions.
The walls were carved with ancient runes, spiraling inward toward the pool.
Something pulsed at the center of it.
A memory.
A fragment of a forgotten promise.
The relic-sword in my hand vibrated slightly, resonating with the unseen energy.
Finn kept his distance, eyeing the pool like it might bite.
"You're not seriously thinking of touching that, are you?"
I didn't answer.
I stepped forward.
As I approached, the water stirred without any breeze.
Shapes shimmered within — not reflections, but images.
Visions of the past.
I saw the Wardens of old, gathered in solemn assembly.
I saw them raise their blades high, swearing oaths to guard the Pillars until the end of days.
I saw their betrayal — not by an enemy, but by themselves.
Some corrupted, others despairing, a few simply walking away.
The Fall had not been sudden.
It had been a long, slow death.
The light within the Wardens had faltered long before the Herald's corruption took hold.
I clenched my jaw, fists tightening.
So this was the truth.
We had failed long before the enemy ever struck.
Finn stepped closer, uneasy.
"What... what is this place?"
I tore my eyes away from the water.
"A Remembrancer Pool," I said hoarsely.
"Old Wardens used it to bind their oaths. To remember who they were. What they fought for."
He whistled low.
"Looks like they forgot anyway."
I couldn't deny it.
The truth tasted bitter.
Still, something called to me from within the pool — not a voice, but a sensation.
A choice.
Renew the Oath, or Abandon It.
There was no middle ground.
I knelt beside the water, feeling its cold breath on my skin.
The relic-sword gleamed, brighter now.
It recognized this place.
Recognized the choice.
Finn shifted nervously behind me.
"Are you sure about this? You don't even know what it'll do."
I looked back at him.
"If I don't stand for something... then I'm just another corpse waiting to happen."
He hesitated, then nodded grimly.
"Then I'll stand with you. Even if I don't really get it."
Gratitude burned behind my ribs.
But I turned back to the pool.
I drove the relic-sword point-down into the stone beside the basin.
Blood welled from my palm as I pressed it against the blade, an offering of will.
"I am Caelan Veyne," I said aloud, voice echoing strangely.
"Last of the Wardens.
I swear to restore the Pillars.
I swear to drive back the corruption.
I swear to rekindle the light that was lost."
The water boiled.
Light burst from the pool, enveloping me.
The world spun.
I was no longer in the Sanctum.
I stood atop a high mountain beneath a blackened sky.
The stars above twisted into monstrous shapes.
The earth below crawled with darkness.
Before me stood twelve Pillars, each one a beacon against the night.
But eleven were dim.
Only one — the one I had just purified — still burned bright.
And in the shadows between the Pillars, I saw them.
The Herald's true lieutenants.
Twisted reflections of the Wardens who had fallen — now monsters clad in broken oaths.
They turned their hollow gazes toward me.
And smiled.
I gasped and staggered back into my body.
The light from the pool died away.
The relic-sword thrummed in my grip, heavier now.
Changed.
I could feel something inside me, something ancient and burning.
A sliver of the Wardens' original power — restored.
Not enough to win yet.
But enough to fight.
Finn caught me as I nearly collapsed.
"You good?" he asked roughly.
I nodded, wiping blood from my palm.
"We have our path now," I said.
I looked past him, into the corridors beyond.
The Sanctum still had more secrets to yield.
And beyond these walls, the world still rotted.
But the first step had been taken.
I was no longer just a survivor.
I was a Warden once more.
And this time, I would not fail.