The Warning of the Keeper
Clad in ragged, charcoal garments that appeared to blend into the surrounding darkness, the person stepped out of the shadows. Its face was hidden by a hood, and where eyes could have been, there was just a dim gleam of pale light. As it got closer, the temperature dropped, and Zara's palm shook around the crystal.
"Kael..." Zara's body was motionless as her voice faltered.
Kael responded, "I see it," and moved ahead of her while brandishing his weapon. "Who are you?"
A few yards distant, the figure came to a halt, its presence pressing down on them like an unseen weight with an odd, heavy intensity. Zara felt her spine tingle as it spoke in a chorus of dozens of overlapping tones.
It said, "You have the shard." "The light that ought not to exist."
Kael's posture strained, he gripped his blade tighter. "We wish to avoid trouble. We are merely transiting.
As though thinking about what he had s
