The first sound was a heartbeat.
Not Kael's.
Not Lyra's.
It echoed from below the ground, deep and slow, like something ancient trying to remember how to wake up.
Then came the second sound—a scraping. Metal against stone. Claws against bone.
Kael's system whispered.
[ Entity Proximity: HOSTILE – Non-Human Signature ]
[ Classification: EATER – Type I (Scavenger Breed) ]
[ Combat Profile: Unstable. Non-linear movement. No known pain response. ]
He turned to Lyra.
"They're here."
She was already drawing her weapon—a blade forged from obsidian tech, glowing faintly violet. Her eyes had changed too. Brighter. Sharper.
"You ever fought one?" Kael asked.
Lyra nodded once. "Three. Killed one."
"What happened to the other two?"
She looked at him. "They're still coming."
The creature emerged from the fractured rock like a nightmare peeling itself out of stone.
It was tall, bipedal, but wrong—its limbs too long, its spine arching backward like it had once been human, then forgotten how. Its head was featureless. No eyes. No mouth. Only a mass of writhing sensory tendrils that pulsed with hunger.
Kael raised his hand.
[ SYSTEM ACTIVE – ENGAGING ECHO MODE ]
[ Sub-Path Triggered: Shadow Rift Strike ]
He blinked forward, struck.
The blade of kinetic force tore through the creature's chest—
—but it didn't fall.
It split.
Two halves twisted, regrew, merged.
[ WARNING: Regenerative properties exceed baseline. Adjust tactics. ]
Kael leapt back. "It heals."
Lyra moved in. Her blade hummed.
She didn't strike at the body.
She stabbed straight into the ground—into its shadow.
The creature screamed.
A sound with no sound. A feeling that ripped across Kael's skin like knives of memory.
The Eater convulsed and dissolved into black dust.
Kael stared at her. "How did you—"
"It's not alive," Lyra said. "It's anchored. You kill the anchor, not the form."
"Thanks for the heads up."
"You didn't ask."
Kael shook his head, heart pounding.
But it wasn't over.
The heartbeat returned.
Louder.
Closer.
[ Additional Signatures Detected: 3… 6… 9… ]
[ Threat Escalation: Terminal ]
[ SYSTEM RECOMMENDATION: Retreat ]
Kael and Lyra turned and ran.
The Godscar twisted around them, the terrain shifting like a maze remembering its own death. What had been a straight path became a spiral. Stone bled. Time blinked. Voices whispered names that didn't exist.
Still, they moved.
One wrong step could mean unraveling.
And then… the path ended.
A wall.
Not of stone.
Of memory.
And etched into it—
Kael's name.
KAEL ASHMARK – ❖ DECEASED
He froze.
His breath caught.
Lyra stepped beside him, silent.
[ SYSTEM STATUS: CRITICAL EVENT TRIGGERED ]
[ Reality Node Overlap Detected. ]
[ You have entered the location of your alternate death. ]
Kael stared at the wall.
At his name.
At the word beneath it: DECEASED.
And a date. One that hadn't happened. One that couldn't have.
[ Memory Paradox Detected ]
[ Alternate Timeline Marker Confirmed ]
[ System State: UNSTABLE ]
[ You have entered a location where you died in a parallel path. ]
Kael backed away slowly.
"Is this real?" he whispered.
Lyra didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
The world answered for her.
The wall rippled. Not crumbled—breathed. Like it had lungs. The letters twisted. The air grew cold.
[ Warning: Host Memory Layer Compromised. ]
[ Involuntary Recall Initiated… ]
Kael blinked—and the ground vanished.
He was standing somewhere else.
Some when else.
The sky above him was red, not black. The Empire was whole, not broken. Banners flew, voices chanted, and at the center of it all…
Him.
Bound.
Kneeling.
Bleeding.
Surrounded by Inquisitors in ceremonial armor, their weapons raised.
And Malrek.
No mask.
Only a hand raised in judgment.
"You were warned," Malrek said. "But you would not obey."
Kael screamed—but only in memory.
The swords fell.
The world shattered.
He snapped back, falling hard to the ground.
Lyra was beside him, her hand on his chest.
"You were convulsing," she said. "Your system collapsed for 43 seconds."
Kael coughed. "I saw them. I saw me. I died. They killed me."
She nodded. "In another path."
"But I remember it now."
"That's how the Echo works. When timelines bleed, the walls thin."
Kael sat up slowly.
His skin felt tight. His bones heavy. But his vision was sharp—too sharp.
Everything shimmered.
[ System Reboot: Complete. ]
[ Adaptive Layer Installed: TIMELINE RESONANCE ]
[ Passive Trait Acquired: Death Memory – Gain insight from alternate failures. ]
He exhaled.
Then he stood.
Behind them, the Eaters howled.
Ahead, the Godscar pulsed.
Kael turned toward the path that didn't exist until he stepped onto it.
And took one more step.