They had left the roads behind.
No more villages, no more paths, no more signs of the old world.
Only endless grey hills and a sky without shape.
The wind blew harder here.
Free.
Empty.
Asveri walked ahead.
No longer skipping.
No longer speaking.
He had been quiet all day.
Not Anor'ven's usual silence.
His own.
Something pressed down on him.
By the second day in those wild lands, he stopped suddenly.
His eyes flickered, confused.
He turned his head slowly.
— "Huh…?"
Anor'ven passed him, then stopped, watching silently.
Asveri shook his head.
— "I… thought I heard something."
But there was nothing.
Only wind.
They resumed walking.
Yet it wasn't over.
The sounds came back.
Not voices.
Not words.
Fragments.
"Bring them inside."
"Where is the light?"
"Hurry… hurry…"
Asveri froze.
He looked around nervously.
No one.
And yet, he could hear them.
Over and over.
Whispers.
Crying.
Prayers.
Screams.
They layered together, crashing inside his head.
— "No… no, that's not real…"
He sped up, trying to outrun the echoes.
But the voices only grew louder.
Every step stirred up more fragments.
Pieces of thoughts.
Pieces of the world.
Suddenly, he stumbled.
His hands clutched his head, fingers digging into his hair.
— "Stop… shut up… I don't want to hear this!"
Pain flared, sharp and ruthless.
It felt like his skull would split open.
He dropped to his knees, gasping.
Anor'ven stood before him.
Unmoving.
Observing.
His eyes showed no pity.
Only cold recognition.
He had seen that look before.
The moment when someone begins to hear what should remain unheard.
Asveri groaned, his body shaking.
— "I haven't heard this… in so long…"
The murmurs intensified.
Cries.
Laughter.
Faint prayers.
Commands.
Everything, all at once.
Everywhere, nowhere.
He doubled over, clutching his temples tighter.
— "Make it stop… please…"
But it didn't.
It only broke when it chose to.
Without warning, the storm faded.
Not gone.
Just pushed back.
Lingering in the background.
Alive.
Waiting.
Asveri slowly raised his head.
His blurred eyes met Anor'ven's steady gaze.
They stared at each other for a long moment.
Finally, Anor'ven spoke.
His voice was dry.
Detached.
But heavy.
— "So… the noise has reached you too."
Asveri didn't fully understand.
But he understood enough.
It was inside him.
Not a dream.
Not madness.
Real.
He collapsed backward, staring at the dull sky.
The voices still swirled.
Subtle.
Unrelenting.
He closed his eyes.
He already knew.
He would have to endure this.
Learn to live with it.
Or be consumed.
There would be no escape.
Not from this.
Not from omnipresence.