The mist thickened as I stepped forward, leaving the presence of the hooded figures behind. Their final cryptic words echoed in my head like a curse etched into my soul.
"Only then will the truth whisper its name."
Right, I thought, gripping my cloak tighter around me. Follow the road of echoes, embrace weird advice from mysterious hooded figures, and somehow prove my worth. Totally not insane.
Each step took me further away from the crumbling obelisk and into a forest of twisted, blackened trees. Their leafless branches clawed at the sky like the desperate hands of the forgotten. The air had changed here—denser, humming with a low vibration that prickled my skin.
The path beneath my feet was narrow and winding, scattered with cracked stones and roots that threatened to trip me every few meters. I stumbled more than once, muttering curses under my breath. If someone was watching me from the shadows, they were probably having a good laugh.
The silence was absolute—no birds, no wind, just the crunch of my boots and the faint pulse in the air. Occasionally, I'd hear something: a whisper too quiet to understand, a sigh carried by nothing. I wasn't sure if it was the magic of this place or just my nerves playing tricks.
A broken signpost lay half-buried near a crooked tree. I wiped the moss away and read what little remained: "Sanctum of...___th Shadows." Great. The kind of name you want when you're looking for hope and guidance.
As I pushed deeper into the woods, the terrain began to change. Faint ruins appeared between the trees—fragments of old walls, stone steps that led nowhere, and crumbled statues whose features had been worn smooth by time. Some part of me felt like I'd been here before, like a faint whisper of memory trying to surface.
That's when I noticed the carvings. Faint symbols etched into the stone, barely visible. My hand brushed one as I passed. A chill ran down my spine. Not fear—recognition. The symbol pulsed faintly with energy the moment I touched it.
I froze.
Then came the whisper, just like before. But this time, it came from inside me.
"Do you remember now, Rael?"
I jerked my hand back, heart thundering in my chest. "Who said that?" I whispered, turning in place.
No one. Nothing. Just mist.
I shook my head and kept moving. I was here to prove my worth, and apparently, that involved being gaslit by ancient rocks.
Eventually, the forest opened to a small clearing. In the center stood a narrow archway made of obsidian stone. Unlike the ruins, this structure looked untouched by time. I stepped closer. Carvings lined its surface—similar to the one I'd touched.
A new notification appeared in the corner of my vision:
[Quest Update: Prove Your Worth – Path of Echoes Activated]
[Memory Fragment Detected – 1/7]
"Fragments…?" I muttered. So that's it. I'm piecing together my past?
I approached the arch. The moment I passed beneath it, everything changed.
The world warped. Trees became shadows. The sky, a dull gray canvas. My own body felt lighter, as if I'd stepped through a dream.
But I was awake. Wide awake.