Maxwell paused, his black eyes amused. “It’s been so very long since anyone has visited me. I’ve been… bored. So very bored. There are only so many bones one can count before they become tedious.”

  Kael didn’t move. He didn’t respond. The weight of those eyes made his skin itch.

  The chains binding Maxwell gave a faint rattle as he shifted slightly.

  “I forget myself,” Maxwell continued. “You must be exhausted. That passage through the Sea of Souls is… unkind to newcomers.”

  Kael’s eyes narrowed. “What was it?”

  “The ocean?” Maxwell tilted his head, acting surprised. “Oh, just a basin of old stories. Echoes of those who came before you.”

  Maxwell leaned forward, excitement bleeding in his voice. “But tell me, Kael, did you enjoy them? The memories? The joy, the pain, the fear? They’re quite intoxicating, aren’t they?”

  Kael’s hands clenched into fists. “You’re a monster.”

  Maxwell chuckled, the sound cold and hollow. “Monster? No, Kael. I just have good taste. I’m a connoisseur.”

  Maxwell smiled as he shifted back onto the throne, the chains rattling in response. “So many lose their way in the ocean and forget. But not you. You held on. That makes you… interesting.”

  Kael said nothing.

  “You don’t agree?” Maxwell sighed as if genuinely wounded. “Pity. I do love being interesting.”

  “Do you know what I find so delightful about memories?” Maxwell said softly. “It’s not just what they show you. It’s what they hide. How one little pull can unravel a man like a ribbon and reveal everything.”

  “Tell me… which one was it for you? The girl and her dog? Or the boy with the wooden sword? Or maybe you enjoyed the leather strap hitting your back?”

  Kael took a step back. “They weren’t mine.”

  “But you felt them, didn’t you?” Maxwell whispered. “They weren’t yours, but they might as well have been. That’s the beauty of it.”

  He licked his lips, slow and deliberate, as if trying to prove a point. “And you, Kael… you… you taste like potential.”

  “You see, memories here are treated like currency. Stories, moments, and identities are traded like coins. The more vivid, painful, or true they are, the higher their value. Some memories are truly priceless.”

  Kael didn’t speak. He didn’t trust himself to.

  Maxwell looked up. “How about another taste?”

  Kael’s mouth was dry as he asked, “What do you mean?”

  Maxwell kept drawing small circles on the armrests with his finger. “You want to know how to fight like that old soldier of a man upstairs? To lead armies like the warlord I tasted last cycle? You want confidence, charm, power? I collected quite a few over the years.”

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  Kael’s voice wavered. “And what do you want in return?”

  “One memory. It could be anything. What you ate for breakfast this morning, a day when you folded laundry. Something small. You wouldn’t even notice it was gone. That’s all I ask.”

  Maxwell’s voice dropped to a whisper, scared that his excitement would leak out. “A fair trade. More than fair. You give me something small, and I’ll give you power. I’ll give you… greatness."

  “What do you say, Kael?”

  Kael seriously considered it. A single memory. Just one. How bad could that be?

  Without lifting a hand, Maxwell materialized five jars filled with a single shard in front of him. They appeared soundless, weightless, like they were there all along.

  Maxwell’s predatory smile widened. “Go on, Kael. Pick your gift. You deserve it.”

  Kael didn’t know what they were, only how they looked. One glowed dull copper. The other shimmered with faint blue lights, like lightning. The rest flickered with a plethora of colors. Each jar was labeled with words from a language he couldn’t understand. Just symbols: a spiral, a tooth, and an open eye.

  “Not what you’re looking for?” Maxwell teased as he asked. “That’s fine.”

  The jars vanished. Five new ones replaced them. They were different colors. They had different symbols.

  Another blink, and another set appeared.

  “Tell me what you want,” Maxwell said, his voice silky and thick. “And I’ll deliver it.”

  Kael reached out.

  Then he stopped and lowered his hand.

  This is too easy.

  Nothing in the Spine thus far has been this easy. Not the beasts, not the Captain, not the sea.

  Nothing came without a cost.

  Kael’s eyes narrowed. “What’s the catch?”

  Maxwell laughed, almost fondly, like he was speaking to a long-time friend. “I already told you, Kael. I like the taste of your potential.”

  He leaned forward just enough to let the chains groan.

  “I think you’ll do great things. The story you’ll give me. Give us—will be delicious. Think of this as an investment.”

  “She’s still alive, isn’t she?” Maxwell said, his voice smoky. He pointed upward. "The girl. The one you jumped for.”

  Kael didn’t speak.

  “So, I’ll ask again, what is it that you want?” Maxwell’s voice echoed across the empty palace.

  Kael stared back, dumbfounded by the question.

  He was silent for a moment before finally responding.

  “...Strength. I want to protect.”

  Maxwell leaned forward. “Ah. There it is. Something noble, something raw. That. That I can work with.”

  Maxwell's smile brightened. “You want strength. Not for glory. For protection. You want the power to never be the boy dragged from the fire again. To never see someone else scream your name and be unable to do anything."

  The jars flickered out, disappearing. Only one returned.

  Inside was a shard. It didn’t glow like the others. No flickering lights. No swirl of color. It just sat there, dull and with many cracks across its surface.

  Maxwell tilted his head.

  “That old thing? Really?” he murmured, almost to himself. “No, that can’t be right.”

  His fingers snapped. The shard remained.

  Maxwell raised an eyebrow, amused. “Hm. Curious. Quiet. Not the sort that makes heroes.”

  He studied Kael like he was trying to see through him. Down to his very soul.

  Then he exhaled a soft laugh. "Still, I suppose the shard disagrees. I don’t choose it, but this shard really seems to want you.”

  Kael stepped closer.

  The shard didn’t glow. It just sat there, still. Waiting.

  Maxwell said nothing. He just watched.

  Kael reached out and stopped. He looked at Maxwell and then back to the jar. If this gave him even a chance to not feel helpless. To be able to do something, to protect. So be it.

  He closed his eyes. And reached forward to the shard.

  And then the world vanished.