Page 296 of Of Empires and Dust

“Get out of my head,” Arden whispered, clenching his fingers into fists. He dragged his gaze from the pit. It was as though the entire chamber was submerged in the Taint itself.

“You hear it too?” Brother Kevan grabbed Arden’s wrist. “Shut it out.”

“What do you think I’m doing?” Arden snapped, yanking his hand away. He turned towards the far edges of the chamber. Water glistened in the red light, streaming from small passages in the rock into pools carved into the ground. He could still hear the Shaman choking, Kallinvar’s voice harsh and cold.

“Don’t be an idiot.”

“What did you say?” Arden whipped his head around and stared at Brother Kevan.

“I didn’t speak, Brother Arden.”

“He thinks you a fool,”the voice whispered.

Arden clenched his jaw and turned away from Kevan. He looked towards the rock pools. They lined the entire left wall, stretching onwards to the depths of the chamber’s far end.

As he stepped closer, the Shaman’s screams echoed, harsh and guttural.

“Tell me where it is!” Kallinvar’s voice boomed.

Arden looked down into the nearest rock pool to see the water ran pink, tarnished by blood.

“What is it?” Sister-Captain Olyria asked, moving to Arden’s side.

“I don’t know…” Arden trailed off as his stare moved to a mound on the far side of the pool. The closer he got, the clearer it became. Bodies piled atop each other, tiny and fragile, the birth cords still attached to their navels. “That can’t be…” He swallowed, his heart quickening. “That’s not what I think it is.”

“Don’t go closer,bastard,” Olyria said, resting a hand on Arden’s chest.

“What did you call me?”

“I didn’t.” Olyria’s helmet receded, her eyes narrowing in confusion. “I told you not to go closer.”

“I…” Arden recalled his helmet and pressed a hand to his temple.

Olyria’s expression softened. “Don’t go closer. The sight is not one you want etched into your memories. Trust me.”

Arden nodded vacantly, still staring at the mound of tiny bodies. They were so frail, their skin grey, eyes empty and white.

A shriek let Arden know that the Shaman had drawn his last breaths. He looked back just as Kallinvar roared and threw the broken corpse to the rock.

The Grandmaster stood over the dead Shaman, his Soulblade ignited, the crimson light of the gemstones glinting on his Sentinel armour.

“The Heart is not here,” Kallinvar declared, staring down at the body. “They tried to create a crossing without it.” He gestured towards the pit in the centre of the chamber.

“And sacrificed the lives of their young to do so…” Sister-Captain Airdaine of The Ninth whispered, just loud enough for Arden to hear. The realisation in Airdaine’s voice sent a shiver through him, and he looked back towards the bodies.

He had known the Bloodspawn harvested Essence from those they slaughtered to give life to their young – a need birthed by a curse that befell them long ago. Though the Watchers and the priests said it was a curse set by Efialtír himself.

“Lies, lies, lies!”the voice screeched in Arden’s mind.

Arden pushed it back, focusing on the bodies. He had known why they harvested, but… something felt wrong. Those bodies were not Uraks, not the beasts he knew. They were babies, innocent and gentle… betrayed.

A blinding crimson light filled the air as Kallinvar swept his Soulblade through the gemstones in the pit, shattering them with each swing. More knights joined and made short work of it until it was nothing but a hole filled with broken shards.

With the gemstones destroyed and the Essence released, the Taint all but evaporated from the air and the voice scratching at Arden’s mind vanished.

“We return to the temple,” Kallinvar called out, the Rift opening before him. “We will find new Sigil bearers, and we will strike again. Efialtír does not rest, and so neither will we.”

“Pain is the path to strength,” a voice answered, others joining.

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