Episode 11 – Forest of Forgotten Names
"The most dangerous monsters are the ones that know your name."
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A curtain of silver fog blanketed the Gloomweald.
The forest—once a sprawling emerald wilderness where nature whispered in harmony—was now warped, twisted. Branches bent unnaturally. Leaves bled ink. The soil pulsed with an unsettling heartbeat, as if the land itself were alive… and afraid.
Zane stood at the tree line, hand on the hilt of his conjured obsidian blade, the sigil of Vel'Torak faintly glowing beneath his cloak. Kaela, Rhain, and three other elite students flanked him—each carrying grimoires blessed by the academy's High Archmancer.
The mission was clear: enter the heart of the forest, locate the source of the Sovereign Resonance, and sever the Second Seal before Al'Rhazak—the Dream-Eater—fully awakened.
But that was the official order.
The truth? No one had ever returned from the Gloomweald since the corruption began.
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As they stepped into the mist, time bent.
Kaela's wind spells flickered. Rhain's mana control staggered. Even the air felt like it resisted their very breath. Something was wrong with the flow of magic here—like it was being re-written, rerouted through a logic not of this world.
> "It's... like walking through someone else's dream," Kaela murmured. "Only the dream forgot how to end."
They followed a path only Zane could see—traced by his connection to Vel'Torak. The elder summoner's essence guided him through instinct, though with each step, he felt his memories fray—tiny threads pulled from his mind by unseen hands.
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Hours passed. Or maybe days.
Time made no promises here.
They stumbled across a clearing filled with statues—warriors frozen mid-battle, faces contorted in silent agony. Their armor bore ancient crests long erased from history.
Kaela's hand brushed one statue. The stone cracked—then screamed.
It didn't crumble.
It wailed.
> "Mercy! Please—I don't want to forget her name!"
Then silence.
Kaela stumbled back, pale. "Zane, these aren't statues. They're victims."
Rhain drew his twin arcblades. "This is a trap. We need to move—"
> Skrrrrkkhhh—
A sound like silk tearing through flesh echoed through the trees.
From the mist emerged a towering figure—ten feet tall, cloaked in layers of dream-flesh and drifting veils. Its face was a void, yet it wore dozens of stolen ones stitched into its torso like trophies.
Al'Rhazak, the Dream-Eater.
> "Name me... and you become mine," it whispered in a thousand voices.
The creature didn't attack.
It spoke—in Zane's voice.
> "You never belonged. You were a mistake—chosen not because of worth, but because of accident."
Zane froze.
> "Your mother's face—what was it? You've forgotten, haven't you? Let me help. I can erase the pain… for a price."
> "Zane!" Kaela's voice broke through. "Don't listen to it! That's its weapon—it feeds on memory and identity!"
But it was too late.
Al'Rhazak extended a tendril of violet mist. It touched Zane's temple.
And suddenly—
He was back in the orphanage.
A child again.
Alone.
The world blurry and cold.
His memories crumbled like ash in his fingers.
---
Within the dream, Zane wandered the halls of a place he no longer recognized.
A woman's voice called his name. He turned—only to see her face vanish, replaced by a featureless void.
He dropped to his knees, screaming. "WHO AM I?!"
A figure appeared behind him.
Vel'Torak.
But younger. Regal. Whole.
> "You are the Reclaimer. Do not forget. If you lose yourself, the seal will devour what's left."
> "Then help me!"
> "I already did," Vel'Torak said, plunging his hand into Zane's chest.
Black fire roared through Zane's soul.
---
In the real world, Zane's eyes snapped open.
He let out a guttural cry—and summoned a beast of pure memory flame. A phoenix wreathed in white fire and shadow erupted from his grimoire.
The Phoenix of Names Lost.
Al'Rhazak reeled, its veils burning away. The stolen faces screamed and peeled into ash.
> "You remember..." it hissed. "But that will not last…"
The seal ruptured above the forest—an ethereal lock shattering in the sky. A torrent of dreamlight exploded upward.
The Second Seal had broken.
But Al'Rhazak did not die.
It smiled with a face stolen from Zane.
> "You are no longer just Reclaimer. You are the Key."
Then it vanished into the mist, whispering fragments of dreams behind it.
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Hours later, the squad emerged from the Gloomweald—exhausted, scarred, and changed.
Zane sat silently on a hilltop, watching the skies ripple with broken mana patterns.
Kaela joined him, holding out a small pendant. "You dropped this."
He took it. A locket. Inside, a picture of a boy and a woman. Her face… was clear now.
"…My mother," Zane said. "I remember her name again."
Kaela smiled gently. "That's how you win. You keep remembering who you are… no matter what the darkness tries to steal."
Zane gripped the locket.
And somewhere, far across the realm, the Inheritor watched—and smiled.
> "Two seals down," he murmured. "Five remain. Let's see how long your mind holds, Reclaimer."