I. The Weight of the Road
The dirt path wound through sloping woodland, where pale shafts of sunlight pierced the branches like scattered blessings. Despite the gentle light and crisp air, the road felt heavier than it should have—as though the earth itself was burdened with memory.
Kai noticed it first.
Not in the trees or wind, but in his bones.
Every step he took forward felt like walking deeper into someone else's dream.
Or grave.
He had walked many paths in his life, but none so quiet as this one.
The orphanage was behind them now. He hadn't looked back since dawn, and he didn't plan to.
Ahead rose the lower hills of Mount Isalen—the mountain where the Academy of Echoes was carved into its heart. They would reach its foothills within the next day if they kept moving.
But the forest had turned… wary.
Lina held her staff tightly in both hands, thumb running over the glyphs etched near the grip like a prayer.
Aren walked ahead, every step deliberate, sword loosely sheathed at his side.
"We're being followed," Aren muttered for the third time that morning.
"Still?" Kai asked, though he already suspected the answer.
Aren gave a tight nod. "I've seen shadows behind shadows for the past half-hour. Nothing I can confirm. Yet."
II. Whispers Beneath the Leaves
They passed a broken relic-stone half-swallowed by ivy. It bore faint spiral patterns and a sigil that looked vaguely like a rising sun enclosed in runes.
Lina slowed to run her fingers over it.
"This is old," she murmured. "Older than the path. A marker of a divine boundary."
Kai paused beside her.
"From before the Shattering?"
She nodded. "The gods marked certain areas to contain echoes… or protect them."
"Is this one of those places?"
A faint breeze blew through the trees—no leaves stirred.
"I think," Lina said slowly, "this place remembers."
The silence of the woods had become thick.
Overbearing.
Like the moment before thunder cracks.
Kai glanced up at the trees. Some of the bark twisted in spiral formations—natural or carved, he couldn't tell. The birds had long gone quiet.
The road, once wide and open, had narrowed.
Forced them into a funnel.
"It's a trap," Kai whispered to himself.
And still… they pressed on.
III. The Man in the Clearing
It was Aren who saw the figure first—still and tall, waiting where the trees broke into a wide glade bathed in golden light.
He wore a faded traveling cloak, boots worn with miles, and a sword at his side.
His posture was relaxed.
Too relaxed.
Kai motioned for them to stop.
The man stepped forward slowly, raising both hands.
"Easy now. I don't mean trouble."
His voice was steady, low. Something in it rang honest… but heavy, like it carried a weight he didn't show.
His eyes lingered on Kai—just a moment too long.
Aren narrowed his gaze. "Name?"
"Corin."
"Destination?"
"Same as yours, I suspect. Academy."
Lina said nothing, but her grip on her staff didn't loosen.
Kai studied the man.
He looked tired.
Weather-beaten.
But not afraid.
And he wasn't lying.
Not exactly.
Before Kai could respond, the trees whispered again.
And another figure emerged.
IV. The Knife in the Shadows
A young woman stepped out from behind a crooked birch, light leather armor hugging her frame, a short blade at her thigh and a bandolier of throwing knives across her chest.
Her eyes were sharp and searching.
"Nice to see I wasn't the only one shadowing you," she said to Corin, though her eyes flicked to Kai.
She didn't smile.
"Name's Seren."
"And you're being hunted."
Aren drew his sword halfway from the sheath. "Explanations. Now."
"I used to walk with the Whispering One's people," Seren said calmly. "Until I saw what they really worship."
Her gaze settled on Kai.
"They're not just looking to stop you."
"They want to use you. Or break you."
Kai felt his shard pulse—light, faint and cold.
Lina's brows furrowed. "She's not lying."
Kai turned to Seren.
"Then why follow us?"
"Because I still owe something to the world," she said, tone suddenly quiet.
"And what's inside you… could either save it or finish what the gods started."
V. Beneath the Surface
The sun had begun its descent.
The shadows grew longer.
And the wind stilled.
"We can't camp here," Corin said suddenly. "The trees have eyes."
"Then where?" Aren asked.
Corin pointed ahead. "Old shrine clearing. Twenty minutes."
Kai exchanged a look with Lina.
"Wayrest?"
She nodded. "Aerius's shrine."
"Safe?"
"Was."
They followed Corin.
And behind them, Seren lingered in the shadows.
Like a ghost who wasn't sure she was welcome among the living.
VI. Into the Clearing
The road opened into a glade surrounded by crumbling columns and an overgrown altar.
A shrine long forgotten.
Above the dais, a broken sunwheel still hung on half a chain
A breeze passed.
The glyphs on the stone whispered back.
"This place is old," Lina whispered.
"And watched."
Kai's shard pulsed harder.
"They're close," he said.
No one asked who.
The silence broke.
From the trees, they emerged.
Figures cloaked in black and spiraled in ink and madness.
The cult had come.