Following Ethan Cole's arduous trials, the runes of the Starlit Sanctum dimmed, and the training halls of the Crystal Spire reverberated with waning starlight. The surge rune's stuttering toll caused a dull ache in his chest, and his acolyte tunic clung to his sweat-soaked skin. The simulated Voidspawn had caused wounds on his arm, chest, and back that throbbed beneath bandages. His rune's collapse was the source of Sylra's doubt, and her words, "You're not you," and her eroding trust pierced deeper than claws. Marcus remembered seeing Valthor's shadow growing larger, and the ichor-stained hands of a Council elder suggested void-taint. The final clue in the journal, "The traitor walks among us," was a warning connected to Lirien's anxious tenth gate theory: Zorathys, sealed in Nullvox. The journal was hidden in his quarters and contained secrets that needed to be deciphered.
As Ethan made his way to the gate chambers, his boots scraped the obsidian floor. Torren Kade had called him to the Ashen Veil, a portal to the Emberfall Arch that was made of ash and starlight. Nullvox's whisper, which has grown colder since the Ninth Gate's swarm, demanded that gatekeepers stabilize the gates after a tremor at the Verdant Threshold rattled days ago, caused by void-energy spikes. The invisible watcher's presence became more acute as Ethan clutched his starlight blade, which was at his neck.
A shimmering curtain of ember dust and starlight hung in the Ashen Veil's chamber, which was a circular vault with runes pulsing along its edges that were connected to the fire of the Emberfall Arch. Torren stood by an altar, his weathered face etched with iron resolve, starlight blade sheathed. His eyes were piercing as he growled, "You look half-dead, stranger." "Portals are not patient." Ethan nodded, Marcus's recollection of an elder tainted by void gnawing as the pain flared. Aetherion's heart was in danger due to Zorathys's stirring, and the tremor at the Verdant Threshold screamed sabotage.
Torren gestured toward the Veil, whose runes were fluttering. Your lesson is to navigate—to cross gates and mend rifts. The Second Gate is connected to the Ashen Veil, which is connected to the Fourth, Seventh, and Ninth Gates; however, Nullvox complicates matters. His tone became stern. Last season, one of the gatekeepers died here. Stay alert. With the hum of the gate reminding him of the Dawn War, when Serathys created the Ninegates to contain Zorathys's chaos and Nullvox a prison for the essence of the Betrayed God, Ethan's heart raced. The Ashen Veil, a remnant of divine craftsmanship, served as a conduit for the Second Gate's flaming lattice, directing starlight to its interconnected realms.
Torren yelled, "Move," and followed a navigation rune on the altar that had four arcs and a central star. The arch rippled, a portal formed, and the starlight flared. Ethan mimicked him, his fingers shaky due to the intricate pattern of the rune. His wounds were pierced by pain as the starlight surged, scorching his sigil. Marcus remembered suddenly: "A traitor in the Council, void-tainted." A dimly lit hall, gatekeepers huddled, voices low. Marcus's entreaty: "We have to expose them." The rune faltered, the portal flickered, and Ethan staggered. His hand steadied him, and Torren's voice was rough. "You will be gutted by memories, stranger. Concentrate. Sweat streaming down his face, Ethan nodded, the memory's warning obvious: Prior to his downfall, Marcus discovered a traitor and a covert meeting that the Council had concealed.
Ethan followed the rune back, the portal solidifying, the starlight stabilizing, and an iridescent veil to the Emberfall Arch. With his blade out, Torren entered, and Ethan trailed behind, the energy of the gate tearing at his spirit. With its lattice connected to the waves of the Fourth Gate, the deathly cold of the Seventh Gate, and the emptiness of the Ninth Gate, the Emberfall Bastion chamber appeared, a cavern of crimson runes smoldering, and air heavy with ash. Torren gestured toward a rift altar where black rivers of void-ichor were oozing. "Marcus, seal it." Overlay navigation and surge rune As the starlight flooded him, Ethan knelt and traced both runes, feeling like a furnace. Ichor retreated as the rift hummed, but Nullvox's icy whisper and the echo of a Voidspawn, stout and shard-limbed, flickered in the altar's light. His chest burned even though Ethan's runes held and the rift was sealed, and Marcus's memory persisted. "The Council has concealed the tenth gate, which is real," said a hooded gatekeeper.
Torren nodded abruptly. Stranger, you were rough, but you didn't break. Gates will either demand blood or give it. The hum of the chamber calmed Ethan as they made their way back through the Veil. His uneasiness was noticed by Torren's narrowed eyes. "Marcus, what's going through your mind? Out with it." Ethan paused as Lirien's theory and Valthor's shadow clashed, then shared the fragment of the memory: "Gatekeepers, meeting in secret, talking of a Council traitor." Torren clenched his jaw and flexed his blade hand. "That hornet's nest was kicked by Marcus, who paid for it. Tread lightly, stranger." The traitor's blade was getting closer, Marcus's fall was tied to the tenth gate, and Ethan's stomach turned.
Ethan went to his quarters and took the journal out of its hiding spot, its leather worn and the faint glow of the starlight runes. The tremor of the Third Gate, its strained relays, loomed, but attention was required for the journal's next clue. His sigil burned as he followed its coded runes, the starlight glimmering. Before the runes were solved, hours of excruciating pain were endured: The shrine has answers. The shrine was probably connected to the High Gods—Serathys, Lumara, and Vyrathys—who imprisoned Zorathys during the Dawn War, which made Ethan gasp. Was there a deeper secret in Nullvox, or was it a Serathys temple in Aetherion? "The traitor walks among us" was the journal's previous clue that led to the Council; Marcus's recollection of a covert meeting now serves as a guide. Ethan vowed to pursue the truths concealed in the shrine regarding the tenth gate, Zorathys's prison, or the traitor's scheme.
The echo of the surge rune blended with the toll of the navigation rune as his wounds pulsed. The label of "stranger" and Sylra's skepticism hurt, and Torren's impostor status was a thin veil. Marcus's recollection, Nullvox's murmur, and the Ashen Veil's shuddering made the noose tighter and the invisible watcher's presence more icy. The promise of the shrine burned, a promise to master the trials of the gates and reveal the traitor, whether it be Lirien, Valthor, or someone else. Ethan's determination blazed, the journal's secrets a barrier against the void's hunger, while the starlight of the Crystal Spire faltered.