That night, Ethan dreamed. At least, he thought it was a dream. Darkness surrounded him vast, endless, suffocating. He floated in the void, weightless, his body adrift in nothingness. There was no ground, no sky, no air to breathe, yet he felt no pain, no hunger, no exhaustion. Just silence.
Then, something stirred. A presence. At first, it was only a shadow in the distance, an outline barely distinguishable from the surrounding blackness. But as Ethan stared, it took shape a towering figure with no discernible features, its form shifting like smoke, like a living void.
A voice spoke, deep and resounding, yet quiet as a whisper. "A traveler has arrived."
The words echoed in his mind rather than his ears. Ethan tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond.
"Who… who are you?" His voice sounded distant, like it didn't belong to him.
The shadowy figure seemed to study him. It had no eyes, yet Ethan could feel its gaze piercing through him, unraveling his thoughts, his memories, his very being.
"I am known by many names. To some, I am a god. To others, I am the beginning and the end."
Ethan swallowed hard. "What do you want from me?"
The figure didn't answer immediately. Instead, the darkness around them pulsed, and for a brief moment, Ethan saw flashes of something images that flickered in and out of existence. A great city crumbling into ruin. A warrior standing before an army. A throne, empty yet waiting.
Then, the voice spoke again. "You are not of this world, yet you stand upon it."
Ethan's breath hitched. "I didn't come here on purpose. I—I fell. I should have died, but…"
"Yet you live."
Silence stretched between them. Ethan's mind raced. Was this thing responsible for bringing him here? Was it some kind of god? If so, why him?
Before he could ask, the shadowy figure raised a hand a long, shifting limb that wasn't entirely solid.
"You lack understanding. Let me grant you a gift."
A sharp pain exploded in Ethan's head. He gasped, clutching his skull as an unbearable pressure filled his mind. Words thousands, millions of them poured into him, overwhelming his senses. Strange symbols and sounds twisted in his thoughts, rearranging themselves into meaning, into language.
He screamed.
And then- He woke up.
His eyes shot open, his body drenched in sweat. His breath came in ragged gasps as he sat up in the small hut, his heart pounding like a drum.
It was still night. A single candle flickered on a nearby table, casting soft shadows against the walls. For a moment, he could still feel the presence of the figure, lingering in his mind like an afterimage.
His head ached, but something was… different. There was clarity.
Footsteps approached. The curtain was pulled aside, and Lyra entered. She looked at him, her expression unreadable.
She spoke.
And for the first time— Ethan understood her.
"…Are you alright?" she asked, cautious but concerned.
His heart nearly stopped.
The words were unfamiliar, yet he understood them perfectly. It was as if they were being translated in his mind, flowing seamlessly into meaning.
Ethan stared at her, his mind struggling to process what had happened. The dream. The figure. The voice.
"You lack understanding. Let me grant you a gift."
It wasn't just a dream.
The god whoever, whatever it was had changed something inside him.
He could understand every word Lyra spoke.
He could understand any language.
Lyra frowned at his stunned silence. "Can you hear me?"
Ethan swallowed hard, forcing himself to respond. "I… yeah. I can hear you."
She took a step closer, tilting her head. "You didn't understand me before. How…?"
Ethan hesitated. What was he supposed to say? That some kind of god had gifted him with the ability to understand all languages? That he had spoken to a being beyond comprehension?
It sounded insane.
"I… don't know," he admitted. "Something happened while I was asleep. I just… I woke up, and now I can understand you."
Lyra studied him, skepticism flashing across her face. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Yeah, well, nothing about this makes sense." He rubbed his temples, still feeling the remnants of the pain in his skull. "I don't even know where I am."
Lyra sighed. "You're in Ashen. A small village under Lord Varkos's rule."
Ethan narrowed his eyes. "Lord Varkos?"
Her expression darkened. "The noble who controls these lands. He demands heavy taxes, and if we can't pay… people disappear."
Ethan frowned. He didn't like the sound of that. "And no one stands up to him?"
Lyra scoffed. "Of course not. His soldiers would kill us all if we tried."
Ethan was silent. His thoughts churned. A tyrant ruling over helpless villagers. He had seen that kind of story before except this time, he wasn't just a bystander.
And now, he had a choice.
He could stay out of it. Try to figure out how to get back to Earth. Or…
His mind flashed back to the dream. The god's voice. "A traveler has arrived."
Had it been a warning? A challenge?
Either way, Ethan wasn't just some lost stranger anymore. He had a gift, whether he wanted it or not. And if he could understand the people of this world, maybe, just maybe he could help them.
He took a deep breath.
One thing was certain.
His journey in Avalon was just beginning.