The air grew colder as Kael moved deeper into the tunnel. The faint blue glow around his hand flickered, dancing across the rough stone like the reflection of distant stars. Each step echoed softly, swallowed by the vast silence of the underground.
The voice had gone quiet. For the first time in what felt like hours, there was no whisper inside his head. Only the rhythm of his breathing and the occasional drip of water that fell from the ceiling.
Part of him wanted to call out to the voice, to demand answers. Another part feared that it would answer.
He remembered the man in the courtyard—the silver eyes, the calm expression that seemed to know him. The word remember still echoed faintly in his skull, carrying a weight he did not understand.
"Remember what?" he whispered to the empty air.
His voice came back distorted, stretched thin by the tunnel. He felt foolish talking to stone, but the silence after his words was heavier than before.
As he walked, the ground began to change. The floor that had once been rough stone became smooth, almost polished. Faint carvings ran along the walls—lines that curved and twisted like vines. He brushed his fingers across them. The texture was strange, warm, alive.
Then he saw it—light, faint and gold, seeping through the cracks of a metal door ahead.
Kael slowed his pace. The door stood half-buried in the rock, ancient and forgotten. Its surface was covered in symbols similar to those he had touched earlier. They pulsed softly as if they recognized him.
He hesitated for a long moment.
"Every time I touch something glowing, bad things happen," he said under his breath.
Still, curiosity won. It always did.
He placed his hand upon the door.
The glow spread under his palm, tracing each symbol with gentle light. The air shifted, carrying a low hum that seemed to come from the stone itself. Then the door cracked open, and Kael stepped inside.
The space beyond was vast. It did not look like a natural cave anymore. Smooth pillars lined the walls, carved with scenes of battles, crowns, and creatures with wings made of fire. A faint golden mist drifted across the floor.
At the center stood an altar, small but elegant, and above it floated a fragment of crystal—broken, jagged, yet still glowing with a cold light.
Kael approached slowly.
"Is this what you wanted me to find?" he asked.
Not yet.
The voice had returned. Softer this time, almost tired.
Kael froze. "Then what is this place?"
A memory of what was lost.
He stared at the floating crystal. Reflections danced across its surface, forming brief images—faces, towers, fire, a crown falling from someone's hand. Each image vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"You said 'ours' before," Kael said quietly. "What does that mean? Who are you?"
You will know when you are ready.
"I am tired of hearing that," he said, his voice breaking slightly. "You speak like you already know everything, but I am the one walking in the dark."
For a long moment, there was only silence. Then the crystal pulsed once, and a faint image appeared within it—a city burning beneath a crimson sky.
Kael took a step closer, heart pounding. "That city… I have seen it before. In the vision."
Because it was yours.
The words froze him. His chest tightened, breath catching as if the air itself had turned to stone.
"What do you mean mine?" he whispered.
The light inside the crystal dimmed. The voice did not answer.
A deep rumble echoed through the chamber. Dust fell from the ceiling. The pillars groaned as if something heavy had awakened beneath them.
Kael stepped back, eyes wide. "What did I do?"
The rumble grew louder. Cracks spread along the walls, and golden mist rose around him like smoke. From the floor, faint shapes began to form—figures of light and shadow, their outlines shifting between human and not.
Kael turned to run, but the door had already sealed itself.
"Wonderful," he muttered. "Absolutely wonderful."
One of the shadowed figures lifted its head. Its eyes glowed faint silver, almost like his own.
The past remembers you, Kael.
The chamber shuddered, and the light flared so bright he had to close his eyes.
Then everything went silent.