The sun hung low over the craggy horizon as Kael emerged from the depths of the ruined chamber. Dust clung to his coat and hair, the taste of ancient air still lingering on his tongue. In his hand, the Echoheart pulsed faintly—less a beat now, more like a quiet breath. As if resting.
Tovan stood a short distance away, arms crossed, his expression unreadable. "You were gone a while."
Kael nodded, still trying to steady his thoughts. "There was something down there. A vision. And the relic—it reacted."
Tovan's eyes flicked to the Echoheart. "You sure it's safe to carry that thing around? You've seen what some relics do to people."
"I don't think it's just a relic," Kael said. "It feels... aware. And it showed me things."
Tovan snorted. "Yeah? Mine just shows me how bad my back hurts. Let's hope yours is the good kind."
They started walking, their path weaving through the ruins of an old residential sector. Time had turned it into a graveyard of metal and stone. As they passed a broken window, Kael caught his reflection—dust-covered, eyes rimmed with fatigue, but something in his gaze had changed. A flicker of purpose.
As the sun dipped further, shadows stretched long, and memories stirred.
Years ago...
The world had not yet crumbled completely, though the cracks had begun to show. Kael sat beside his sister, Elira, beneath a leaning tree outside the settlement walls. The sky was the color of old copper.
Elira's laughter had always sounded like windchimes—soft, fleeting, unforgettable. She was older, sharper, and always seemed to see things he couldn't.
"Do you think the stories are true?" Kael had asked, fidgeting with a cracked stone in his palm.
Elira looked up. "Which ones?"
"The Relicbearers. The Echoes. That the old world left behind weapons that can reshape everything."
She leaned back, thoughtful. "I don't know if they're weapons. Maybe they're more like questions. Tests."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
She reached over and tapped his chest. "Maybe they don't give you power. Maybe they ask what you'll do with it."
He'd never forgotten that.
The memory faded, leaving Kael in silence.
By nightfall, they reached the outer edge of the forest—what locals once called Shardgrove. Jagged stone spires jutted from the ground like bones of the earth, shimmering faintly with residual magic.
"This where we camp?" Tovan asked.
Kael nodded. "We'll enter at first light."
They set up a modest camp beneath a rock overhang. Fire crackled quietly, pushing back the cold. Tovan muttered to himself as he calibrated a scanner, while Kael sat apart, holding the Echoheart in his hands.
It pulsed once, twice—then stilled.
What do you want from me? he thought.
The relic gave no answer. But deep in Kael's heart, he knew the journey had only begun—and whatever lay ahead would challenge everything he thought he knew.
Somewhere in the darkness beyond, something waited. Watching. Remembering.