The darkness slowly released them.
Rin landed on one knee, still holding Eryndor's arm. Silver fragments drifted around them, each carrying a fleeting image of the garden they had just left. A flowering tree. A narrow stream. A young man dressed in white.
Then the fragments vanished.
"Eryndor? Can you hear me?"
Eryndor stirred beside him. "Yes. Unfortunately."
Rin let out a breath of relief. "You're not hurt?"
"I don't think so." Eryndor examined his hands before looking around. "Where are we now?"
They stood inside a circular chamber surrounded by seven enormous pillars. Six glowed with pale light, while the seventh had been broken near its base. At the center of the room rested a stone basin containing a single black thread.
Rin recognized it from the first covenant.
The thread rose slowly into the air, twisting until it formed a circle.
A memory appeared inside it.
