Guardianship was not heroic.
It was repetition. Vigilance. Endless awareness.
Kael felt every tremor against the seal every pressure, every whisper of what lay beyond. The thing the gods had sealed stirred occasionally, testing, probing. Never fully awake.
The hunger remained with him, quieter now, disciplined, but eternal.
It fed on what little energy leaked through the seal. Enough to sustain him. Never enough to satisfy.
He could not sleep as mortals did.
Could not dream without seeing the void.
And yet....he held on.
Because if he did not, everything would end.