Chapter 2: Trial of the the Tyrant
The infirmary walls were pale stone, the kind that held cold even when fire warmed the room. Thalen blinked slowly, the soft clink of metal and whispered voices washing over him. His body felt hollow, as if something had been torn out and something new, something vast, had been put in its place.
"You’re awake."
He turned his head to see Nara sitting on a nearby stool, her cloak draped over her knees. She looked uninjured, but quiet too quiet.
"How long was I out?" he croaked.
"Two days."
"Did I... pass?"
She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she handed him a bowl of warm broth. He sipped slowly, and as the heat settled in his chest, so did her words.
"You did more than pass. You survived what no one has in twenty years."
The memories returned in pieces. The void. The reflection. The blade that shattered. And that final whisper:
Rise, Tyrant.
"I felt it," Thalen murmured. "Something awakened."