Kael could not remember the last time he had felt warmth.Even the air around him seemed to hum with cold energy as he followed the dim tunnel. The light from the glowing mark on his hand was fading, pulsing slower than before, like a dying heartbeat. Every now and then, he stopped, half-expecting the voice to speak again — but it remained silent.
He wondered if it had left him.A strange emptiness filled his chest at that thought. As much as he hated to admit it, the voice had been the only thing keeping him company in this endless underground maze. Without it, the silence pressed harder, thick and heavy.
He eventually came upon a split in the tunnel — two paths. One narrow and steep, leading deeper underground, and another that curved upward, faintly glowing with light. Kael hesitated. His body wanted the light, but something in him whispered that answers were below.
He took a breath. "You better be right about this," he muttered to no one and stepped into the dark.
The descent felt longer than it should have. The walls here were smoother, carved deliberately. The symbols that had once been rough drawings now looked refined, precise. As Kael's hand brushed the surface, his vision blurred again — just for a moment — and he saw flashes of people walking here. Warriors. Scholars. A place alive with purpose.
Then it was gone.
At the end of the tunnel, he found a chamber — round, quiet, and cold. A stone pedestal stood at its center, and above it floated a small crystal, pulsing faintly blue. The same color as the ring's mark.
Kael stepped closer. "What are you?" he whispered.
The air around the crystal stirred. Then the voice returned — softer this time, almost tired.You are not ready.
Kael flinched. "Not ready? I have been running, fighting, almost dying for days — and now you say I am not ready?" His voice cracked with frustration.
Understanding comes with memory. You fear what you are meant to become.
He shook his head. "I do not even know what that means!"
The crystal flickered brighter, and for an instant, Kael saw his reflection not as himself, but as someone older — wearing the same ring, eyes silver and calm. The same man from the vision.
His stomach tightened. "That is impossible…"
All things return to where they began. So will you.
Before Kael could respond, the crystal dimmed. The light on his palm vanished completely, leaving him in total darkness.
"Wait—do not go!" he shouted, but the echo was his only answer.
And then, faintly, from somewhere far behind him — the sound of boots. The Enforcers again.He had no choice now.
Kael turned and began to run, guided only by the memory of that faint blue light — and the promise that somewhere ahead, the truth waited for him.