Kael's lungs burned as he dragged in ragged breaths, his body pressed against the cold stone of the ruined temple wall. His fingers trembled from exhaustion, his sword still slick with his own blood. He was pushing his limits, but stopping meant death.
Liora was barely conscious, her wounds deep. Her breathing was uneven, and her magic was unstable, flickering faintly like a dying ember.
They needed shelter. They needed time to recover.
But there was no time.
Kael's instincts screamed at him—they were being watched.
He forced himself to move, ignoring the pain lancing through his ribs. His grip on Liora tightened as he pulled her up. "Come on, we need to keep moving."
Liora stirred weakly, her fingers barely clutching at his arm. "Kael… we won't make it."
He refused to believe that.
"We have to." His voice was harsh, but there was no other choice.
Every second wasted was a second closer to death.
The temple ruins stretched around them, ancient stone swallowed by creeping vines and crumbling pathways. Moonlight filtered through the cracks above, casting eerie shadows that seemed to shift and move.
Kael's pulse quickened. He turned sharply, his sword raising on instinct.
Nothing.
Only the sound of the wind whispering through the ruins.
No. Not the wind.
Whispers.
Faint, distant voices—echoes of something old, something watching.
Kael's grip on his sword tightened. He had heard these whispers before. They came when the Heart awakened. They came before death.
A chill crawled up his spine.
"Kael…" Liora's voice was hoarse, her fingers gripping his sleeve. She was staring past him, her wide eyes filled with dread.
He turned slowly.
At the edge of the ruins, standing in the shadows, was a figure.
Cloaked. Motionless. Unmoving.
But its eyes… they gleamed with a crimson light.
Kael's breath hitched. Not the same as before.
This was something else.
The whispers grew louder. The shadows stretched, curling toward them like living things.
And then the figure spoke.
"You are not ready."
The voice was layered—many voices speaking as one, deep and hollow, filled with ancient authority.
Kael's heart pounded. Who—no, what—was this thing?
He raised his sword, shifting in front of Liora. "Who are you?"
The figure took a step forward. The air trembled.
"A warning."
Before Kael could react, the shadows rushed forward.
A wave of darkness swallowed him whole, dragging him into the abyss.
---
Somewhere Beyond the Ruins
Kael gasped as he was thrown into a sea of nothingness. He was no longer in the ruins. The world around him was dark, infinite, stretching beyond his senses.
A void.
His feet touched something solid, yet invisible. He could move, but there was no sound. No air. No presence.
Except one.
The figure stood before him. No longer distant. No longer watching. It was here. And it spoke again.
"You walk a path doomed to fail."
Kael's fingers twitched, gripping his sword tightly. "I decide my own fate."
The figure was silent for a moment. Then, it lifted a single hand.
A searing red chain shot forward, wrapping around Kael's wrist. The pain was instant—his vision blurred, his breath caught in his throat.
The chain burned.
Not just his body.
His soul.
Flashes of something not his own flooded his mind.
A battle, long before his time. A warrior, wielding the Heart's power. The same fire, the same fury. A voice screaming. Blood. Betrayal. The chains tightening. A prophecy never fulfilled. A fate that always ended the same—death.
Kael collapsed to one knee, gasping.
The whispers screamed in his ears.
"The cycle cannot be broken."
"The Heart is a curse."
"You will fall."
Kael's chest heaved, his vision swimming. His body was weak. His soul—fractured.
But something inside him refused.
A fire, flickering deep within his being. A defiance that had always been there.
Kael gritted his teeth. His fingers clenched around the chain. "No."
The whispers shuddered.
The figure's crimson eyes narrowed.
Kael pulled.
The chain cracked. The burning pain flared, but he did not let go. He focused—on the fire, on the strength that had carried him this far.
He was not bound by the past.
He was not a prisoner to fate.
And with one final breath—he broke the chain.
Light erupted.
The void shattered.
---
Ruins – Reality
Kael gasped as he collapsed onto the cold stone, his vision spinning. He was back.
The whispers were gone.
The figure—vanished.
Liora was beside him, panic in her eyes as she held onto his arm. "Kael! What happened?"
He didn't answer immediately. His breathing was ragged, his body trembling.
He looked down at his wrist. The mark of the red chain was burned into his skin.
A reminder. A warning.
But Kael did not fear it.
He clenched his fist.
Whatever fate had planned for him—he would carve his own path.
He would break the cycle.
No matter the cost.