The ruins were silent. Not the kind of peaceful silence that came with rest, but an unsettling stillness that made the air feel thick—unnatural.
Kael sat on the cold stone, his back against a crumbling pillar, staring at the red chain mark burned into his wrist. His fingers traced the rough, scorched skin, his mind replaying the vision. The warrior before him—the battle, the fall.
The whispers had spoken of a cycle.
Kael didn't want to believe it. Didn't want to accept that his fate had been written long before he ever picked up a sword.
But deep down…
He feared it might be true.
Liora shifted beside him, her wounds partially healed but her exhaustion evident. Her fingers trembled slightly as she reached for her satchel, pulling out a small vial of healing essence.
She noticed his silence. "Kael… what happened back there?"
He exhaled, gripping his wrist tighter. "Something tried to warn me."
Her expression darkened. "The whispers?"
He nodded. "They spoke of a fate I can't escape. A battle I've already lost." He clenched his jaw, his frustration boiling beneath the surface. "But I refuse to accept that."
Liora studied him for a moment before sighing, pressing the vial into his hand. "Drink this first. You're burning up."
Kael hesitated, then downed the liquid in a single gulp. A cold sensation spread through his veins, numbing the pain but not the unease twisting inside him.
He hated this. He hated feeling like a pawn.
For so long, he had fought for control—over his life, over his power. But now, the universe was telling him it had already decided his ending.
No.
Kael had never followed the rules. He had never bowed to fate.
And he wasn't about to start now.
He pushed himself up, ignoring the lingering ache in his limbs. "We need to move."
Liora frowned. "You just collapsed. We need time to—"
"We don't have time." Kael cut her off, his voice sharper than intended. "Whatever that thing was, it won't stop at warnings. Next time, it'll come for real."
Liora flinched slightly but didn't argue. She knew he was right.
They weren't safe here.
She tightened her cloak, glancing toward the temple ruins. "Then where do we go?"
Kael turned his gaze toward the distant mountain range, where the first hints of dawn began to creep over the horizon.
North.
To the Forgotten Sanctum.
The place where the Heart's history began.
The place where he might finally find answers.
Kael exhaled, his determination solidifying.
"We head north."
---
The Journey – Three Days Later
The road was rough. The cold bit at their skin, the wind howling through the trees as they traveled across the frozen valley. The further north they went, the harsher the terrain became.
Kael barely spoke. His mind was too focused, too restless. The visions, the whispers—they wouldn't leave him.
Liora tried to keep the mood light, but even she could feel the weight pressing down on them.
They were being followed.
She felt it in the shifts of the wind. The unnatural stillness between the trees. The presence just beyond their sight.
Kael felt it too.
The enemy hadn't given up.
They kept moving, pushing forward through the icy landscape, until finally—
They saw it.
A lone tower, rising from the mountain's peak, half-buried in snow.
The Forgotten Sanctum.
The place where it all began.
And possibly, where it would all end.