The Binder

Chapter Fourteen: Into the Depths

Chapter Fourteen: Into the Depths

The mask pulsed in Lin’s grip, its power vibrating through his bones. It was unlike any artifact he had encountered before—alive, aware, and thrumming with the weight of ages. He could feel it trying to connect with him, to reach into the recesses of his mind and awaken something long dormant. Yet he resisted, fearing what might happen if he let the mask fully in.

He continued down the path, the temple’s stone walls narrowing around him as he descended deeper. The air grew heavier, thick with the scent of earth and time, and the shadows danced along the edges of his vision. The temple seemed endless, as if it spiraled downward into a place beyond the physical world, and with every step, Lin could feel the distance between him and the surface widening.

In his mind, questions swirled, gnawing at him. The visions the mask had shown him lingered—his parents standing before a great council, faces lined with grim determination. Had they willingly bound themselves to the Lifebinders’ will? Or had they been forced into a role they couldn’t escape?

Lin clenched his fist around the mask. He had to know the truth, not just for himself, but to understand what his family had been drawn into. The Lifebinders’ war was his now, whether he wanted it or not.

The corridor eventually opened into another chamber, smaller than the one above but no less grand. The walls were covered in fresher carvings, as though the temple had been visited more recently than he had first thought. The symbols glowed faintly in the dark, whispering secrets that his mind could barely grasp.

In the center of the room stood a stone pedestal, atop which sat another object—a small box, ornately decorated with the same glyphs that marked the temple’s entrance. The moment Lin laid eyes on it, he knew it was important. The box hummed with the same energy as the mask, its presence drawing him in.

Slowly, Lin approached the pedestal. His senses were on high alert, and every instinct screamed that something was watching him. He stopped just short of the box, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rise. There was a presence here, lurking just beyond the veil of reality, waiting.

He hesitated for a moment, then carefully placed the mask on the pedestal beside the box. The instant the two artifacts were together, a low rumble echoed through the chamber. The glyphs on the walls brightened, casting strange, shifting light across the room.

And then the air stirred.

From the shadows, a figure emerged—tall, robed in dark fabric that seemed to move like smoke, its face obscured by a hood. Its very presence felt wrong, as though it existed in a place between worlds, neither fully alive nor dead. Lin’s hand twitched toward his talismans, but he held back, sensing this was no mere enemy to defeat with brute force.

The figure’s voice was a whisper in the air, hollow and distant. “The mask has found you, as it was destined to. You walk a path that cannot be undone.”

Lin straightened, steeling himself. “Who are you? Are you one of the Lifebinders?”

The figure stepped forward, its movement silent and fluid. “I am a guardian of their secrets. A keeper of the knowledge your bloodline has been bound to for generations.”

Lin’s chest tightened at the confirmation. “Then you know why my family was involved. What was their role? Did they serve the Lifebinders, or did they oppose them?”

The figure was silent for a moment, as though weighing the truth it would reveal. “Your family was both servant and rebel. They swore oaths to protect the balance, to act as intermediaries between the living and the dead. But in time, they saw the cracks in the Lifebinders’ order. They sought to free themselves from the bonds of duty, to carve their own fate.”

Lin’s mind reeled. His parents had been part of this secret world, not just as pawns but as