"Tsk…"
Kael pressed his hand against his wound.
He had been walking for hours now, only to be met with the same endless stretch of river again and again.
"I'm almost starting to believe it's endless."
The terrain around him looked no different than it had hours before, which only made the journey feel more dreadful. The ache in his leg was a constant reminder of his limits, each step pulling him back to the present.
The water's flow had grown stronger, the sound rising to a low roar that drowned out everything else.
After another hour had passed, something new finally came into view.
A mountain wall, stretching high into the darkness above.
Kael paused for a moment, taking in the sight before quickening his pace. The closer he got, the heavier the air became, mist clinging to his skin until he was completely soaked.
'So it's a waterfall…'
He watched as torrents of water poured from the mountain wall, crashing into the river below and sending a constant spray into the air. The noise was overwhelming.
Kael snapped his fingers, summoning the golden rod, and let it carry him upward along the waterfall's edge.
The opening was colossal, so vast it felt less like a new passage and more like a continuation of the hollow mountain itself.
He dismissed the mote and landed beside the river, glancing down.
'Almost a twenty-meter drop.'
He tilted his gaze upward toward the ceiling, then extended his hand to the side. Nothing happened.
He exhaled in relief and pulled the coat off his head.
"Finally able to move freely again."
He wrapped the coat around his shoulders and took a slow look around, studying the vast chamber ahead.
The space held the same pale trees and the same luminescent river, yet one notable difference stood out. The grass swayed in gentle waves, and the leaves danced softly as a light breeze drifted through the air.
Kael narrowed his eyes for a moment before stepping deeper inside.
Even though the environment was, in essence, unchanged, it felt undeniably more alive and welcoming.
'What's that?'
Kael raised an eyebrow.
Ahead of him, a man-made structure emerged from the shadows. Jagged corners and flat walls broke the natural lines of the cavern.
He drew closer. The building rose two stories high, supported by thick wooden beams drilled deep into the cave floor. There was no glass, only open holes where windows should have been, with faint streaks of light seeping through them.
Kael's gaze sharpened as he started up the creaking stairs. Each step groaned beneath his weight, protesting with every movement.
'This house can't be any younger than the cave itself.'
He brushed his fingers against the stair rail. The dry wood cracked beneath his touch, splinters breaking loose and falling soundlessly to the floor below.
Kael pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The floorboards were unevenly nailed in place, leaving small gaps that allowed faint gusts of wind to pass through.
The walls were lined with bookshelves and empty picture frames, their surfaces layered with dust.
Kael picked up a book and flipped it open.
'A language I've never seen before…'
Though Kael was fluent in three ancient tongues and familiar with countless others, he would have recognized them at a glance. But this was different. The letters were uneven, drawn in shapes and strokes he had never encountered.
He studied the page for another moment before closing the book and placing it back on the shelf. Then he continued his quiet exploration of the house.
He stepped into what he could only assume had once been a kitchen.
Stone bowls were scattered across the table, and decayed wooden utensils across the floor.
He moved on to the final room.
Kael paused in the doorway before stepping inside.
There was a bed, a small table at its foot, and to the far right, a desk.
He approached the desk and sat down, brushing a thin layer of dust from its surface. Kael reached for a jar on the desk
'Quartz?'
He turned it in his hand, inspecting it carefully.
'Perhaps they didn't have the technology to create glass.'
He brought the jar closer to his face. Inside, a faint light flickered. A small insect circled lazily within, its body glowing with a soft yellow light.
"A mote?"
Kael tensed. Whatever had once lived here must have known how to use motes.
He rose from the chair slowly, one hand slipping into his pocket, his fingers poised, ready to snap at a moment's notice.
He walked through the kitchen and stepped onto a small balcony overlooking what seemed to be a backyard.
Below, several patches of dirt broke through the otherwise smooth stone ground.
Kael descended the stairs and made his way toward them, crouching beside one of the patches. He brushed some of the dirt aside with his hand.
'Someone actually tried to grow something in here?'
A few days ago, he might have thought the idea absurd, but now he only stared at the soil with a flat expression.
Lately, he had started to doubt his own understanding of the world more than ever before.
Passing the dirt patches, Kael followed the river until the far edge of the cave came into view.
'The source of the water must be there.'
His eyes traced the river's path until it reached a cluster of trees, densely packed together to form a perfect circle.
Kael raised an eyebrow, his gaze narrowing on the circle's center.
From above, a thin stream of water fell in a steady, unbroken line, its surface glimmering as it met the pool below with a gentle sound.
'A waterfall within the cave?'
He reached out and let his hand touch the falling water.
'Such gentle warmth.'
Unlike the river below, which was ice cold, this stream carried the mild heat of a lake in summer.
Kael summoned the golden rod, letting it lift him along the curtain of water toward the cave's roof.
'What sound is that?'
He tilted his head upward.
The further he ascended, the clearer it became. What had started as a faint hum now took shape, a trembling, mournful cry.
Kael slowed the rod's ascent.
When he finally reached the cavern's peak, he stopped and stared in silence.
What greeted him was not a hole in the ceiling letting water through. It was something entirely different.
A single, weeping eye floated in the air before him. Its surface shimmered like liquid glass, veins of faint gold pulsing beneath it. From its lower rim, warm tears streamed downward, cascading into the pool below.
The eye quivered, darting restlessly as if searching for something in the dark. Its gaze held no awareness of Kael, only a hollow terror, as though trapped in an endless sorrow it could not escape.
Kael forced the growing unease to the back of his mind and began circling the eye, studying it carefully.
"Is it a mote?"
He had never seen anything like it before. Wild motes could sometimes be found, but they usually stayed hidden, dormant, and passive. This one, however, was different. It was constantly active, its tears falling in a steady stream without pause.
'Why would a mote just stay here though?'
He stopped in front of it, staring deeply into the shifting surface as his thoughts turned.
'I suppose it's possible for a mote to choose an environment and claim it as its own, but that seems unlikely.'
The cave's past was clear enough, someone had lived here once. The structure below proved that much. But how long ago, Kael couldn't even begin to guess. If the books inside the house had been written in a language he recognized, he might have used them to estimate a timeline, but his lack of knowledge made that impossible.
"Should I try to refine it, or should I wait?"
Kael murmured under his breath.
It was possible to replace the will of a mote with one's own, but doing so always came with a cost. And at the moment, he was already running low on Thoughts. Still, the temptation was strong.
The power within this thing was undeniable. Even though motes lacked reason, they were territorial by nature. For one to remain here, undisturbed for what Kael could only assume was centuries, it had to possess enough strength to drive all others away.
He thought for a moment before reaching out his left hand.
From his fingertips, thin streams of red smoke began to seep out, curling and twisting through the air like ribbons in slow motion.
With a single thought, Kael directed his Will forward, letting it drift toward the floating eye.
'Sadly, time is the one thing I don't have.'
The red mist crept closer, until it hovered only a hair's width away from the trembling surface.
The instant it touched, a deep chill shot through Kael's body. His breath caught.
"Huh?"
He halted his will, but it was too late.
The eye twitched once, and the steady flow of tears began to falter.
For the first time since he had seen it, the stream broke apart into droplets, then stopped entirely.
The sound of falling water ceased.
The cave fell silent.
Kael stared as the shimmering surface of the eye stilled. Its veins pulsed faintly beneath the translucent layer, then darkened to a dull crimson. The whole shape seemed to tremble, its edges rippling as if alive.
And then it moved.
The eye turned toward him with a slow motion, fixing its pupil on Kael. Its gaze was wide and unblinking, filled with something that could only be described as fear.
The silence pressed in around him, broken only by the faint sound of his own heartbeat.
Kael met its gaze and did not look away.
They looked at each other in silence for a long moment.
The stillness of the cave felt heavier than stone itself, as if the world was holding its breath.
Then, Kael's red Will surged outward like a storm unleashed. It tore through the air in violent waves, flooding the cavern and painting its walls in crimson light. The red smoke twisted and writhed like living flame, devouring the space between him and the eye.
The eye widened. Its golden veins pulsed bright for a single heartbeat before a piercing scream shattered the silence. A radiant burst of gold erupted from its surface, spreading outward in all directions.
The two forces met.
The collision cracked the air itself. Trees bent as if caught in a hurricane, leaves scattered in wild spirals, and the river below trembled violently, sending waves crashing against the rocks.
Kael gritted his teeth as the golden light pressed against his Will, forcing it back bit by bit. Each pulse of the opposing energy struck like a hammer against his Will.
He pushed harder. His red Will pulsed again, swirling and twisting into shapes like coiling serpents. The golden Will fought back, clashing with his in flashes of searing light that illuminated the cavern ceiling.
'It's resisting…'
Sweat rolled down Kael's temple. His arms trembled slightly, not from physical strain, but from the mental effort it took to hold his Will together. Every second felt like an eternity as his Will clashed against the other.
The eye shrieked again, the sound so sharp it cut through Kael's thoughts. Golden tendrils burst from its surface, clawing at the air as if trying to tear through him. The cavern walls lit up in gold and red, the two Wills weaving around each other like fire and sunlight caught in an endless struggle.
Kael closed his eyes, focusing his mind.
'Your resistance means nothing.'
His red Will condensed, gathering into a single, spiraling current that crashed forward with renewed force. The golden light faltered for a moment, and Kael seized the opportunity. He pushed harder, his entire being focused on one thought. To dominate.
The air screamed around him. Rocks cracked, dust fell from the cavern ceiling, and the water below began to boil from the sheer pressure radiating from their clash.
For a brief moment, the two Wills stood equal. Then Kael's surged forward once more, devouring the last flickers of gold that still lingered in the air.
The golden light dimmed. The eye convulsed, its iris expanding and contracting as if gasping for air. The fear that had filled it moments ago shifted, replaced by something raw and primal. Survival.
As the golden glow faded, the eye began to weep again. Thick streams poured from it, falling toward the pool below. But this time the tears no longer seemed confused or lost. They burned with something closer to awareness, glinting faintly in the red haze of Kael's fading Will.
Then, through the curtain of tears, the eye locked onto him.
For an instant, everything felt wrong. The air thickened. Kael's vision blurred.
'What is this?'
The thought barely formed before it struck.
Thread-thin tendrils burst from the surface of the eye, slicing through the air and piercing his fading Will as if it were smoke. Kael's head snapped back under the impact, his breath tearing from his lungs.
The red haze shattered. His Will vanished completely.
He flung up his hand just in time to catch the nearest tendril. Its surface was slick and warm, pulsing faintly under his grip. The moment his fingers closed, the tendril jerked, straining against him with terrifying strength.
Kael clenched harder, the tendril tightening like a rope around his wrist. It didn't stop.
With a sharp breath he released the golden rod and caught the other tendrils with both hands, wrestling against them as they writhed and coiled.
The sudden loss of lift pulled him downward.
Wind screamed past his ears as he plummeted.
Then the impact came.
Water erupted in every direction as his body hit the river below, the force cracking against his back like a whip. The cold struck a moment later, and he screamed through gritted teeth.
"AARGHH!"
Kael thrashed violently, yanking at the tendrils with all his strength. The muscles in his arms bulged as he pulled, tearing at them with desperate, furious effort.
But they did not break.
The tendrils stretched instead, growing thinner, sharper, their tips elongating until they resembled needles. They quivered once, then struck, driving deep into Kael's left eye.
His body convulsed. The world flashed white, then red.
The water around him rippled, stained faintly with color as his scream echoed through the hollow mountain.
Kael forced his right eye open.
Threads of translucent flesh peeled away from the weeping orb, stretching and twisting as the tendrils lengthened toward him.
'It's entering me.'
He released his grip with one hand and flicked his fingers downward.
The golden rod responded instantly.
It turned midair and shot down with such speed that it became a streak of yellow light.
The eye pulsed once, its surface distorting like liquid glass before splitting apart. A thousand thin tendrils erupted outward, writhing through the air in a frenzy. From within, Kael saw that the eye was not a single form at all, it was a mass of intertwined threads, countless cords of living tissue bound together, mimicking an eye's shape.
The golden rod sliced through the writhing mass, missing its center and slamming into the cavern floor. Water and grit burst upward, peppering Kael's face with heat and dust.
He barely had time to move before the mass struck back.
The tendrils lunged at him, wrapping around his arms and chest, dragging him closer to the writhing remains. Kael tried to flick his fingers again, but they were caught, bound tight enough that the joints cracked under the pressure.
A searing pain burst through his face. He felt the tendrils crawl beneath his eyelid, forcing their way deeper. His vision blurred as he felt them worm their way behind the socket, sliding along the nerves.
Then came the warmth. It spread quickly, crawling from his skull down his neck, threading through his veins like liquid fire.
He gasped sharply, his muscles locking as the tendrils spread beneath his skin. Each movement left thin trails that bulged beneath the surface, glowing a faint gold.
His chest tightened, breath coming in short bursts as he felt them move through his arms and down his spine. His body shuddered violently.
For a moment, everything went still. Then his vision fractured into alternating bands of crimson and gold, flickering violently before collapsing into black.
The last thing he saw was the cavern ceiling above, twisting and bending like a reflection in a broken mirror.
Then came the silence.