MASTERS OF THE ETERNITY
CHAPTER 5: WHISPERS OF DUSKREACH
The silence after the battle was heavier than any roar Izek had ever heard.
The once peaceful village of Muraei now lay half-shrouded in ash and fear. Blood stained the cobblestone near the well where the Hollowkind had emerged — its twisted remains now cold, crumpled like wet cloth under rubble. Smoke still drifted faintly from where Raian had scorched the creature's back during the final blow. Villagers peeked from behind shuttered windows, some crying, some just staring.
Izek stood beside the well, shirt torn, fists trembling from aftershock. Faint silver steam still coiled around his arms — remnants of his newly awakened ability.
He had felt something rip inside him when Raian nearly died.
Gravity itself had twisted under his palms. His fists had become like meteors.
> "What the hell… am I?" he whispered.
Raian limped beside him, a rough cloth pressed to his side where he had taken a slash. Despite the blood, he smirked weakly.
> "Whatever you are now… you saved us."
They didn't celebrate. They didn't even speak much. There was nothing to say — only truth left behind in the corpse of that Hollowkind and the fear in the villagers' eyes.
---
Later that night...
They were given a small hut to rest in. The air smelled of dust and smoke. Izek sat in silence, staring at his hands. Raian leaned against a wall, watching him.
> "You hesitated," Raian said suddenly. "When it charged me… you froze."
Izek clenched his jaw.
> "I thought you were going to die."
> "So did I," Raian replied.
There was no accusation in his voice. Just honesty. The kind that hurt more than yelling ever could.
> "That fear…" Izek muttered. "It cracked something open in me. I didn't think. I just… moved."
Raian nodded.
> "Whatever it was, that power… it wasn't normal Resonance."
Izek agreed. It felt like gravity itself bent to his will. Each punch had slammed like a thousand bricks. But it wasn't just force — it was intent. The creature had felt his rage. His fear. His refusal to let Raian die.
He hadn't just attacked — he crushed the Hollowkind like the weight of the sky.
---
A knock came at the door.
An old man entered, his beard long, his skin cracked like tree bark. He walked with a limp, dragging a staff behind him.
> "You boys aren't ordinary travelers," he rasped. "You stirred something foul from beneath this land."
Raian stood cautiously.
> "And who are you?"
> "Just a man who's lived long enough to remember what the Hollowkind used to be." He sat down, breathing heavily. "They weren't always monsters."
Izek leaned in.
> "What do you mean?"
> "Long ago, Resonant warriors tried to push their Flow past its limits. Tried to become something greater. What you saw… was the result of one who failed. They're called Hollowkind — corrupted remnants of those who couldn't control what they awakened."
> "So Izek could—"
> "No," the man cut in. "His power didn't break. It emerged. That's different. But you must be careful. Because others will have seen it."
> "Who?" Izek asked.
The old man looked to the window.
> "The Order."
---
Outside, on a distant rooftop...
Two masked figures watched from the shadows. Their cloaks shimmered faintly, designed to reflect no light.
> "He awakened with gravity. Unstable, but raw."
"The Blade will respond to him," one murmured.
"We must watch. And when he crosses the path… test him."
They vanished.
---
The Next Day
Before the sun rose, Izek and Raian packed up. The villagers didn't stop them. In fact, some wouldn't even look at them. Fear had taken root — not just of Hollowkind… but of the power Izek had shown.
A girl approached them as they were leaving.
She was about their age. Raven hair tied back with a crimson band, and deep eyes like stone in winter. She didn't smile. Just held out a torn scroll.
> "You're not safe here," she said. "They'll come for you."
Raian raised an eyebrow.
> "Who are you?"
> "No one important," she said. "But I know where your path leads. Follow the western riverbank until the trees thin. You'll find a place called Duskreach."
> "What's there?" Izek asked.
She paused.
> "The place where Resonance was born… and where it began to die."
She turned and vanished into the mist, leaving only the scroll in Izek's hand. On it was a symbol they didn't recognize: two interlocking circles — one whole, one shattered.
---
As they walked toward the edge of the forest…
> "We're being drawn into something big," Raian muttered.
> "Yeah," Izek replied. "But we don't turn back now."
> "You think that scroll means something?"
> "It has to."
Raian looked ahead, fists clenched.
> "Then let's find Duskreach. And if anyone else tries to stand in our way…"
> "We crush them," Izek said, his green eyes glowing faintly.
The two stepped into the fog beyond Muraei — toward the land where the first Resonant warriors fell… and where their pasts would soon catch up to them.
TO BE CONTINUED