The Invisible String Theory

Chapter 8 - Tethered Silence

I stared at him, betrayal swimming in my vision. The temple spun around, and the tether– what was left of it– shivered like a ghost in my chest.

And just like that, he was gone.

He left.

He didn't even look back.

I stood frozen, breath caught in my throat, the fading echo of the bond like a severed string vibrating in the pit of my chest. I felt... empty. Like something had been scooped out of me. I felt the tears welling in my eyes.

I didn't know how long I stood there before my legs moved on their own. The ruins stretched around me like bones of a forgotten beast, and I let them swallow me.

Step by step, I wandered through what once was Elyndor– my home, my bloodline. The streets were cracked with time and loss, but in the quiet corners, I saw it all again.

The plaza where I first touched the relic. The temple stairs where I'd stood talking with the elders. The garden path where I once ran laughing through a storm of silverbloom petals... and the broken arch where he and I first argued. We made the deal that day, tried to unravel me with words, but I'd seen through it. I always did.

And now– now he'd made that decision for both of us.

The memories weren't just pieces of my past anymore. They were haunted now, tangled in everything that had bloomed between us. Everything that had died.

I found myself pacing, over and over again, the same circular path between two fallen pillars, as if trying to make sense of the storm in my chest. I wasn't angry– not truly. I was shattered. Hurt in places I didn't know could break.

How dare he.

How dare he pretend it didn't matter.

He thought pushing me away would protect us both. That if he cut the tether, he could outrun the truth of what this bond had become. But he hadn't just broken magic– he'd broken me.

I just sat there, heart pounding in silence, the ghost of him still clinging to my ribs like a bruise that wouldn't fade. I could still feel the echo, faint and frayed but it was there. Yet, I was alone again.

The silence was louder now.

A day had passed– maybe two. It was hard to tell in the broken ruins of Elyndor, where time felt warped by grief and lingering magic. I grabbed my cloak tighter, as if mere fabric could hold myself together. It was almost laughable.

Then I felt it.

The relic.

I pulled it from my pockets. There was no pull. No warmth. Only the faintest echo– like a memory still curling around my ribs. I didn't know if it was mine or his. I can't even tell if it was real or an illusion my aching heart crafted. It flickered slightly, reminding me of the moment our hands touched for the first time.

My breath hitched. And then– I threw it.

I found myself leaning against a cracked column, chest rising and falling with a breath that didn't want to be steady. Every second stretched long. The power I held onto inside was quiet now, almost cautious, like it had been hurt in the split. But something else was stirring– something colder. Wrong.

A whisper

I jerked my head back to where the rock had landed. A monstrous shadow twisted and flourished.

And then I felt it– the Hollow.

It emerged like smoke from the stone, eyes like dying stars. It moved like it knew me. Like it had always known. The moment froze, and then everything cracked.