The doors groaned as they swung open, revealing a corridor of ancient stone, lined with flickering torches that shouldn't have been burning.
Kael stepped inside first, his grip firm on his sword. Liora followed, hesitant but resolute.
The air was thick with magic—not the wild, untamed kind, but something far older, something woven into the very foundations of the Forgotten Sanctum.
Kael exhaled, his breath visible in the dim light. "This place… it's been waiting."
Liora nodded, rubbing her arms as if trying to shake off the unease. "Waiting for what?"
Kael's eyes swept the corridor. For us.
---
The Chamber of Echoes
They moved cautiously, their footsteps echoing down the long stone path. The deeper they went, the heavier the air became, as if something unseen was watching.
At the end of the corridor, an arched doorway led into a vast circular chamber.
The walls were covered in intricate carvings— depictions of warriors, beasts, and a burning symbol at the center of it all:
A black sun with chains wrapped around it.
Liora touched the carvings. "These are stories."
Kael frowned. "Stories of what?"
A voice whispered in the chamber.
Not from a person—from the walls themselves.
A deep, echoing murmur. A voice from the past.
"The Fallen One shall return, forged in flame, bound by fate…"
Kael's blood ran cold.
Before he could speak, the chamber shook.
The ground beneath them split open.
And a vision swallowed them whole.
---
The Truth Revealed
Kael gasped as the world around him changed.
He wasn't in the Sanctum anymore.
He was standing in the midst of a battlefield.
Flames consumed the sky. Armies clashed, swords shattering, blood soaking the earth.
And at the center of it all—
A warrior stood.
Tall, imposing, clad in blackened armor, wielding a blade wreathed in fire.
Kael's heart pounded. He knew this warrior.
Because he had seen him before.
In his visions.
In his nightmares.
The warrior turned—his face hidden beneath a cracked helmet.
But as Kael watched, the helmet crumbled away.
And he saw—
His own face.