The air had changed.
It wasn't just the weather or the landscape. It was the feeling. A kind of quiet weight, like the world itself was holding its breath.
Ren, Sora, and Hina stood at the edge of the village, looking toward the cliffs. The towering cliffs that no one dared to approach anymore. The cliffs that whispered of danger, of storms that never passed, and of a history no one wanted to remember.
They were different now. The wind blew harsher here. The air was colder. And the strange feeling in the pit of Ren's stomach had only grown stronger with each step they took toward the cliffs.
"This place," Sora murmured, her voice barely above a whisper, "It feels… wrong."
Ren nodded, feeling the same unease settle deep in his chest. Something about this place was off—something ancient, something forgotten. But the mark on his hand, the pull he felt inside him, told him this was where they needed to go.
"This is it," Hina said, her voice firm but laced with uncertainty. "The Third Step is here. But… we can't let it stop us."
Ren turned to look at her. "What's stopping us?"
She shook her head, eyes scanning the cliffs. "I don't know. But there's always a force here, something trying to keep people away. It's been like that for as long as anyone can remember."
Sora looked up at the cliffs, her brow furrowing. "How do we even get up there? It looks like the path is blocked."
She was right. The path they had been following—a narrow trail cut through the mountainside—was suddenly blocked by jagged rocks and thick vines that seemed to grow out of nowhere.
Hina stepped forward, her mark glowing faintly. "Leave this to me."
Before Ren or Sora could protest, she raised her hand toward the rock. Her mark flared brighter, and the air around them seemed to ripple with energy.
The rocks shifted.
The vines groaned as they pulled back, like they were alive, unwilling to give way.
But then they did. The path cleared.
Ren felt a cold shiver run through him as the air seemed to crack. But before he could say anything, Hina was already walking ahead.
"This way," she called back, her voice steady but tinged with an urgency that matched Ren's growing sense of dread.
They followed her up the path, feeling the weight of the world pressing in on them as they ascended.
The further they went, the more oppressive the air became. It felt like something was watching them—something old, something powerful.
Ren's mark burned slightly, as if reacting to the atmosphere. He clenched his fist, trying to ignore the pulsing sensation.
---
As they reached the halfway point up the cliffs, the ground beneath their feet trembled.
"Did you feel that?" Sora asked, her voice tense.
Before anyone could respond, the rocks shifted violently. The ground cracked open beneath them, sending dust and pebbles flying.
Ren grabbed Sora's arm, pulling her back just in time as a giant stone fist erupted from the ground, narrowly missing them. The fist retracted into the earth, and the tremors subsided, leaving only an eerie silence in its wake.
"What was that?!" Sora gasped, her eyes wide with fear.
Hina didn't flinch. Her eyes were locked onto the cliffs, her expression unreadable. "I warned you," she said. "There's something here, something guarding the path. It doesn't want us to reach the top."
Ren could feel it now. The presence. Something ancient, something that had been guarding the cliffs for longer than anyone could remember.
"We can't turn back now," Ren said, his voice firm. "We've come too far."
Sora hesitated, glancing at the cracked earth and the giant stone fist that had just tried to crush them. "Are you sure? What if we're not ready? What if—"
"There's no time to second-guess," Ren said, his eyes scanning the path ahead. "We need to keep moving. Whatever is trying to stop us, we have to face it. We have no choice."
Hina nodded. "Ren's right. It's here. And if we don't keep going, we'll never find the truth."
---
They pressed on, each step taking them closer to the top of the cliffs. The path was treacherous, the rocks unstable beneath their feet, but the three of them moved forward, driven by something they couldn't name.
But the danger wasn't over.
Another tremor. This one worse.
The cliffs themselves seemed to groan in protest. Stones fell, and the air shifted again.
And then the guard showed itself.
A shadow.
A giant figure, larger than anything Ren had ever seen, stepped out from behind the cliffs. It was humanoid, but its form was distorted—like a creature made of rock and earth, its body jagged and shifting.
It was the guardian of the cliffs. The thing that had been stopping anyone from reaching the Third Step for centuries.
Ren and Sora froze, eyes wide with shock. Hina didn't flinch. She stepped forward, her mark blazing bright.
The giant figure loomed over them, its eyes glowing with a fierce, ancient light. It spoke, its voice like the grinding of stones.
"Turn back."
Ren stood his ground. "We can't. We have to go through."
The creature didn't move. Its eyes narrowed, and its voice deepened. "You cannot pass. The Third Step is not meant for you."
Ren's hand twitched. The mark on his palm burned hotter, and suddenly, the weight of the world seemed to press down on him. But it was a different kind of weight—something that felt like it belonged to him.
He stepped forward, raising his hand. "We've come this far. We can't turn back now. We're going to the top."
The guardian paused, its eyes flickering with something like doubt. Then, without warning, it lunged forward.
But Ren was ready.
He focused. The mark flared.
And suddenly, time seemed to slow.
He moved like a shadow, ducking under the creature's massive hand and darting forward, Sora and Hina right behind him.
The guardian roared in fury, but it was too late. They reached the top.
The moment they did, everything stopped.
The cliff settled into an eerie silence. The giant figure halted, its form now still as stone.
The mark on Ren's hand flared one last time. And then the cliffs before them opened.
A doorway. Ancient, covered in moss and carvings.
The path forward was now clear.
Ren turned to Sora and Hina, his heart pounding. "This is it. The Third Step."
Hina nodded, her face pale but determined. "We've made it."
But as they stepped forward into the doorway, Ren couldn't shake the feeling that something darker still waited for them.
Something worse.
---
To be continued...