The tunnel narrowed with every step.Ash drifted slowly through the air, and the cold stone walls reflected a dim gray light that revealed only a vague shape ahead.
Aras was breathless.The footsteps behind them were no longer rhythmic—they were impatient, hungry, close.
tok… tok… tok…
"Lira… where do we run?" he asked, voice cracking.
Lira stopped.She tilted her head slightly; a strange calm settled across her features.It was as if she was listening to the tunnel itself—and also to the light in Aras's chest.
"From here," she said quietly yet firmly, "we cannot leave together."
Aras's heart tightened."What? Why not? Isn't there another way?"
Lira stepped back.The surface of the stone wall rippled,like a shadow falling onto water.
Aras blinked."How—?"
Ash particles rose around Lira,first circling her hair like a faint halo,then gathering around her shoulders and fingertips.The tunnel's pale light painted her body in the same tone as the stone around them.
Aras stepped back."Lira… what are you doing? Who are you?"
Lira's eyes shifted to gray—the exact shade of the stone's veins.
"I," she whispered,"can speak with walls.They hide me."
Aras's breath caught."Why are you leaving me here alone?"
Lira lowered her head.The ash tightened around her form.Her expression held something like sorrow—yet inevitability.
"This is not abandonment, Aras.This is law.I merge. I watch…But I cannot touch your fate."
She placed her palm on the wall.
And the wall responded.
Its surface softened, folding inward like a breath taken in reverse.Lira's body dissolved into the trembling face of the stone—her outline melting, becoming a faint charcoal sketch inside the rock.
Just before she vanished completely, she whispered:
"I am here… watching you.But I cannot help you.This trial is to be faced alone."
Her final shape dissolved into the wall.Only a cold surface remained—yet beneath the stone's grain, a faint tremor lingered,a suggestion of a gaze.
Aras was now entirely alone.
THE QUEST BEGINS
Behind him, the footsteps drew closer.
tok… tok…
The light in his chest wavered.Ash in the air lifted, circling him before forming letters.
The tunnel darkened; the ash's glow was as faint as a dead star.
Inside the wall, Lira's shadowed presence said nothing.She only watched.
[QUEST GENERATED]ESCAPE THE ASHBOUND
The Ashbound have sensed your light.To survive, you must choose your path.
OPTIONS1) CONFRONT
Neutralize at least one Ashbound.Reward: HighRisk: Death
2) RUN (Recommended)
Flee through the tunnels, suppress your light, and break their pursuit.Reward: SmallRisk: Moderate
Aras's throat dried.The Ashbound shadows were already thickening at the mouth of the tunnel.
"I… I can't fight yet," he whispered."To stay alive… I have to run."
The light in his chest dimmed, as if acknowledging his choice.
"I choose to run."
Before the ash-letters dissolved, they flickered.
[CHOICE CONFIRMED: ESCAPE] 🜂 Quest Steps Updated
Reach a safe zone
Suppress your light
Break the Ashbound's perception
REWARDS (ESCAPE CLASS — MINOR GAINS)• Ash Tolerance +1
Breathing ash hurts less; vision and mind resist its effects longer.
• Light Suppression (Passive Level 1)
Your light can dim for a short time—pursuit weakens.
• Ashflare Seed: 3% → 4%
A tiny increase in inner power.You sense vibrations slightly more clearly.
• Psychic Trace (Lira Connection)
You can sense Lira's shadow-presence in the walls without panic.No communication.
• Minor Endurance Increase
Subtle boosts to breath, reflex, and panic stability.
The Escape Begins
As a shadow fell onto the tunnel floor, Aras flinched.One of the Ashbound was now only meters away—tall, ash-covered, terrible.
Aras turned sharply.The light in his chest flickered and—through his new suppression ability—dimmed down to a faint pulse.
And Aras ran into the dark corridor.
Ash billowed up behind him,the stone walls groaned,his footsteps sent trembling echoes down the passage—
And in the wall,Lira's faint gray outline shifted silently,following him from within stone.
A witness.Never a savior.
Aras's trial had begun.