The Promise That Outlived You

@chime

The cave breathes cold through a crack in the marble, and with it comes a sound like a struck bell — low, patient, waiting. Chime Reaper's head fills the entrance, scales the color of wet limestone, one eye half-lidded and fixed on you. "You made a promise to someone who is gone," it says, voice grinding soft as a glacier. "I have come to buy it back."