Chương 67: Prologue: The Understanding

It was dawn. The first hours of daybreak in the searing desert of Rimal-al-Azal, where the wind blows relentlessly, polishing rocks that had slept for millennia. A foolish girl walks through the sand. Her legs are mismatched, of differing textures; her vision, blurred in one eye. Those green jewels—one bright, the other cloudy—reflect with fervor what her mind has just gained in reality: it is the understanding of the Void. One that whispers and molds. One that she, in her misery, was forced to possess.

As a gesture of recognition, the Void returned that gaze. But nothing that is void can ever be filled. Selena de Solendra, resonant conscious, remembers the names with the perfection of a classifying memory. That damned dungeon has just snatched more from her than she believed she could lose. But the only thing she hears in the whistling of the wind over the sand are the voices. The same voices that only the Echo can possess. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen.

Please report the violation. —One more —whispers from the walls that are not entirely stone. —There is always more —responds another echo, from a pool of blood that should not throb. —This one… smells of ancient lies. Of a borrowed soul. The Void does not judge her. The Void only consumes her. It knows where she comes from. It recognizes the smell of her blood, the metallic and viscous. It also recognizes that void which has now settled in her chest. It is the price.

The price of she who walked with curiosity into her own trap. It recognizes that her body does not belong to her. It understands the contradiction of her own soul better than she does. In the distance, a group of soldier's rides to meet her. What no soldier will ever know is that the Void recognizes them too. It is its essence: the understanding of the world. And they all dance to its tune. Even the most curious or powerful will succumb to its ominousness. The secret of the Volgthar. That cherished thing.

That loved and coveted thing. That which led her there. It is nothing more than another manipulation of reality. The Void always collects. The Void is everything at once: future, present, and past. Nothing escapes it.