The pact held for forty years. When Kael died of old age, the Wyrm left the rift one last time—not to raid, but to lay a single polished limestone tablet on his grave. Carved on it: ven-nith . The space before the rock breaks. The moment when everything could shatter… but didn’t.
The Wyrm’s eye flared.
The Wyrm laughed—a sound like grinding millstones. **“First word: krak-tor . It means ‘breath given freely.’ Second: ven-nith . ‘The space before the rock breaks.’ You now owe me one secret in return.”