The ruins trembled beneath Alina's feet as the power of the talisman pulsed through her veins. The night sky had darkened unnaturally, the stars swallowed by an unseen force. Adrian, still struggling to steady himself after the battle, took a hesitant step toward her. His breath was ragged, his body trembling from the aftereffects of his transformation.
"Alina…" His voice was hoarse, uncertain.
She turned to him, her eyes no longer their usual stormy gray but an unnatural, swirling shade of silver. The talisman's glow surrounded her like an aura, flickering with an energy that felt both ancient and terrifying.
The shadowed figure at the edge of the ruins watched in silence. His crimson eyes gleamed with knowing.
"What have you done?" Adrian's words were barely above a whisper.
Alina clenched her fists, as if trying to contain the energy coursing through her. "I took what we came for. We needed the talisman. Now we have it."
But the world around them disagreed. The wind howled through the ruins, carrying whispers that were not human. The stones groaned, fractures splitting along their weathered surfaces. The very air thickened, pressing down on them with an unseen force.
Then, from the darkness beyond the ruins, something stirred.
A presence.
A force that had been waiting.
Adrian felt it before he saw it. A deep, bone-chilling cold seeped into his skin, more oppressive than anything he had ever known. Alina stumbled back, clutching the talisman to her chest, her breath hitching.
From the shadows beyond the ruins, they emerged.
Figures—humanoid, yet wrong in every possible way. Their skin was ashen, their eyes hollow voids that devoured the light. They moved with unnatural grace, their limbs twisting in ways that defied logic. And at their center, something larger lurked. Something unseen but felt, an entity that did not belong to this world.
Adrian's instincts screamed at him to run. But he didn't.
He reached for Alina, his fingers brushing against her arm. "We need to go. Now."
The shadowed figure stepped forward, his voice carrying a weight that seemed to shake the very foundations of the ruins. "You have awakened the Forgotten. And now, they will take what is theirs."
Alina tightened her grip on the talisman, her lips pressing into a thin line. "We won't let them."
A twisted, hollow laughter echoed from the depths of the darkness. The ashen figures advanced, moving as one, their hollow eyes locked onto Alina. The talisman pulsed violently in her grasp, as if recognizing the danger.
Adrian's body tensed. He could still feel the beast within him, lurking beneath his skin, waiting to be unleashed again. But shifting so soon would drain him completely.
Instead, he drew his dagger.
The first of the creatures lunged. Adrian barely managed to parry the attack, his blade slicing through something that should have been flesh but felt more like smoke. The creature recoiled but did not fall. It had no blood, no real body—only form.
Alina stepped forward, raising the talisman. The moment she did, the creatures halted, their heads snapping toward her in eerie unison. The larger force lurking beyond the ruins let out a sound—a deep, reverberating growl that sent ice down Adrian's spine.
Then, the world fractured.
The ground beneath them split open, a void stretching endlessly below. The ruins crumbled as shadows poured from the abyss, reaching for them like grasping hands. The sky cracked, and for a brief moment, Adrian saw something on the other side—something vast, something watching.
Alina screamed, her body lifting slightly off the ground as the talisman's power surged. The light from it clashed against the darkness, a battle of forces beyond human comprehension.
Adrian didn't think. He acted. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him. "We have to break the connection! Drop it!"
She hesitated.
The talisman pulsed once more, its glow flickering between light and darkness. The creatures shrieked, their movements becoming erratic. The entity beyond the ruins roared, and suddenly, everything snapped back into place.
The void vanished.
The ruins stopped trembling.
The creatures dissolved into mist.
Alina gasped, collapsing into Adrian's arms, the talisman still clutched tightly in her hand. Its glow had faded to nothing more than a dim ember.
The shadowed figure let out a slow exhale. "You have delayed the inevitable. But you have not stopped it."
Adrian held Alina close, his gaze hard. "Then tell us how we do."
The figure tilted his head, considering them for a long moment. Then, he turned, his crimson eyes gleaming. "You must find the Keeper before the abyss awakens again."
And with that, he stepped into the shadows and disappeared, leaving only the echo of his warning behind.
The ruins, now silent once more, stood as eerie reminders of the battle that had just unfolded. Adrian tightened his hold on Alina as she trembled against him.
The night was far from over.
And the worst was yet to come.