Eryndra

Intro Veilrend 22 – The Shard’s Whisper Part 1 The Chamber of Echoes was cold with more than stone. Beneath the layers of rune-etched walls, something deeper stirred—a listening silence that seemed to breathe behind each footstep. Ashren stood waiting, the mask he wore etched with flickering sigils. He greeted Vael and Rhen not with words, but scrutiny. His gaze drifted immediately to the wrapped object at Vael’s side. “So this is what you brought into my sanctum,” he muttered. “It radiates like a wound.” His voice was pinched, brittle with impatience. Vael remained steady. “We were told the Wardens might be able to decipher it. We’ve come far.” He didn’t look at her. “You’ve brought something beyond deciphering.” Behind him, Eryndra, his assistant, lingered in the shadows, scrolls and ward-lanterns in hand. She had felt it the moment they entered—something tethered to the man at the woman’s side. Her skin crawled with its weight, a hum in her bones. “Master Ashren,” she said hesitantly, “there’s… something else. With them. I think it’s watching.” Ashren turned sharply, robes rustling. “You’ll speak when I ask, Eryndra. We’re not hunting phantoms of your imagination.” She lowered her eyes, but the feeling remained. Her attention flicked again to Rhen—he looked normal, bookish even. But around him hung the scent of something vast and inhuman… something like her.