The chamber trembled as the being in the sarcophagus rose, its glowing crimson eyes locking onto Kaelen. A suffocating aura pressed against him, heavy with the weight of history itself. Rina gripped her blade tighter, her usual snarky confidence wavering against the sheer presence of the thing before them. Even Eryndor, ever the composed scholar, took a measured step back, his golden eyes narrowing in calculation.
The skeletal figure, wrapped in ancient armour wreathed in flickering shadowflames, exhaled a sound that was somewhere between a breath and a hollow echo. Dust and embers stirred in the air, caught in unseen currents of energy that radiated from the being.
Kaelen swallowed hard, forcing his voice to remain steady. "Who… are you?"
The being tilted its head, its gaze weighing him like a judge assessing a criminal. Then, in a voice that seemed to carry the whispers of countless pasts, it spoke.
"I am what remains. A fragment of the one who came before. The Harbinger of a forgotten age."
A ripple of raw energy pulsed outward, shaking the very foundation of the tomb. The runes along the chamber walls flared to life, illuminating the murals that depicted celestial warriors and abyssal horrors locked in eternal battle. Kaelen's chest tightened as the resonance within him grew stronger, demanding acknowledgment.
Eryndor cleared his throat, clearly uneasy but unwilling to remain silent. "You said the cycle repeats. That the Harbinger is never just one, but many."
The figure's burning gaze flickered toward him. "Correct. You stand upon the precipice of your truth, and yet, you hesitate."
Kaelen clenched his fists. He had been thrown into this path without warning, shackled to a name that wasn't his but somehow belonged to him all the same. He had no idea what fate demanded of him, only that he was tired of being told what he was meant to be without a choice.
His jaw tightened. "If I'm supposed to be this 'Harbinger,' then prove it. Show me why."
A silence stretched through the chamber, thick and expectant.
Then, the figure's skeletal jaw curled into something that could almost be called a grin.
"Then let the trial begin."
A force unseen slammed into Kaelen, sending him hurtling backward. He barely managed to twist mid-air before landing hard on the stone floor, rolling to absorb the impact. Before he could even catch his breath, the shadows writhed violently, splitting apart as spectral warriors emerged, figures clad in armour from a bygone era, their faces obscured by veils of darkness.
Rina drew her blade, her usual humour replaced by razor-sharp focus. "Well, this is new."
Eryndor reached into his cloak, producing a talisman that shimmered with golden inscriptions. "Do not take them lightly. They are echoes of the past, but they can still cut."
The spectral warriors wasted no time. The first lunged at Kaelen with unnatural speed, its blade descending in a lethal arc. Kaelen barely managed to sidestep, the edge grazing his cheek as he countered with a slash of his own. His dagger passed through the figure's body, but instead of dissipating, it solidified around the wound, grasping his wrist with cold, unyielding fingers.
Kaelen cursed, twisting free just in time to dodge another attack. The warriors fought like extensions of the shadows themselves, relentless, unfeeling, and terrifyingly precise.
Rina, ever the opportunist, ducked under a swing and drove her blade upward, severing one of the warrior's arms. "Hah! Not so tough now, are y..."
The severed arm dissolved into mist, reforming almost instantly. The warrior turned its faceless gaze toward her, seemingly unimpressed.
Rina's smirk faltered. "Oh, come on."
Eryndor moved with measured efficiency, weaving between the strikes of his opponents as golden runes ignited around his hands. He slammed his palm against one of the warriors, and for a brief moment, its form shuddered before collapsing into dust. But even as one fell, another took its place.
Kaelen gritted his teeth. They were playing by rules he didn't understand. Every strike, every counter, felt like testing the waters of an ocean that could drown them at any moment.
Then he felt it, a pulse deep within his core, the same pull that had guided him to this tomb. He didn't fully understand it, but he knew it. It was the same sensation he had felt back in the Astral Veil when he had chosen the path between light and shadow.
Instinct took over.
Kaelen exhaled, shutting out everything else. He moved, not just with speed, but with intention. His next attack wasn't just a strike, it was a command, an assertion of his presence. As his blade met the spectral warrior's form, the shadows recoiled, not reforming, but breaking apart.
Rina caught the shift immediately. "Oh great, now he's learning on the fly again. What is it this time?"
Kaelen didn't answer. He stepped forward, flowing between the warriors like water through cracked stone. Each strike wasn't just a cut, it was a declaration of existence, forcing the echoes of the past to recognize him not as an observer, but as their equal. As their successor.
The spectral figures faltered.
The being in the sarcophagus watched, its expression unreadable. "Yes… That is the path you must walk. Not light. Not shadow. But the void between."
The last warrior fell, dissipating into wisps of darkness. Kaelen stood at the centre of the chamber, his breath heavy but his stance unwavering. The trial had ended.
The ancient figure stepped forward, the flames around its form dimming. "You have taken the first step. But there is still much to learn."
Kaelen wiped the sweat from his brow. "Then tell me what's next."
The figure studied him for a moment before extending its hand. In its skeletal grasp, a single object took shape—an obsidian medallion, inscribed with runes that pulsed between deep violet and gold.
"Take this, and seek the others."
Kaelen hesitated before reaching out. The moment his fingers touched the medallion, a surge of energy coursed through him, igniting something deep within his soul. He knew, without a doubt, that his journey had only just begun. And the past was no longer just an echo. It was now a part of him.