The corridor seemed to stretch longer and longer like it has no end even more than it had before, it's like the palace itself didn't want to let Layla reach her destination. Her sandals brushed over the polished stone, each step echoing like a whisper behind her. The scroll from the vault—sealed and glowing faintly—was pressed against her chest, its heat moving to her tunic like a living heartbeat.
She passed by towering statues of forgotten queens, their carved eyes felt like they were trailing her with solemn approval—or was it warning! She really didn't know anything.The deeper she went, the colder the air became, until a foggy chill clung to her skin like droplets of cold chilly water.
At the end of the hall, a narrow staircase was directed downward into a chamber that very few people in the palace had ever seen.
Only the High Scriptweavers and the Royal Librarians had access to The Whispering Wall.
Layla descended with the most respect, the torchlights was flickering against walls filled with floating ancient symbols and magic that refused to stay still. The symbols shined with a soft light and rotated midair, whispering ancient names and forgotten truths.
When she reached the bottom, the chamber opened before her: a dome which is empty from inside with a single curved wall covered with gold script, stretching from floor to ceiling.
This was the Whispering Wall, the oldest part of the palace.
The moment she stepped into the chamber, the sealed scroll began to vibrate.
She removed the coverings from the scroll with trembling fingers.
As the ribbon came loose, the paper opened on its own—pages folding back like petals blooming in reverse. A magical warm wind rotated around her, although the chamber had no windows. The golden symbols on the wall began to move slightly.
Then she heard it.
A voice. Or rather, hundreds of voices. Some Whispering. Some Chanting.some Crying.and some Laughing.
The Words were not spoken and she did not hear with her ear, it was planted directly into her mind.
"Daughter of the scroll... Listener of the past... We have waited."
Layla lost her balance and nearly felt back,her heart was racing.
The scroll glowed with a golden light like it was alive.
"Who are you?" layla asked her voice trembling.
but no answer came—but the symbols shined brighter and rearranged to a name she did not recognize: Menet-Ka.
"Menet-Ka…" she repeated. This name felt both foreign and familiar, like a forgotten dream.
Suddenly, tge golden wall moved slightly and a figure emerged—not in body, but in light. A tall woman dressed in silver, her face was covered with a veil and her voice deep but soft and domineering .
"You opened the scroll," the figure said, eyes glowing through the veil. "You have awakened the first seal."
Layla's knees nearly bend and her body almost collapsed from the pressure.
She said in a low pitiful voice
"I didn't mean to—"l
The finger interrupted
"You were chosen the moment you were born."
The figure raised a hand, and the Whispering Wall began to unravel like a scroll itself, showing scenes of memory—battles in sandstorms, men with cloaks and magicians speaking to wild frightening snakes, and an obsidian throne suspended in the air over a cursed desert where shadows looked alive corrupting the sand
"You must carry the knowledge," the woman said, stepping forward. "But knowledge comes with a price."
Layla's throat tightened and she said in a low voice. "What price?"
The woman removed her veil.
And Layla saw…
Herself.
Or like Older and Hardened version of herself, her eyes was filled with pain, layla didn't know who the woman was or what she is going through right now so she opened her mouth to ask but the woman interrupted
"You must become who I could not," the older Layla said. "You must finish the story."
And just like that, the chamber suddenly disappeared like it was never there .
Layla found herself on the cold stone floor, the scroll still in her hands—sealed again, as if it had never been opened.
But the name still repeating in her mind.
Menet-Ka.
She stood up slowly, her heart beat racing. This was not an ordinary relic. This was not ordinary task, a task that she didn't grasp fully.
She had just seen a vision of herself… a future she didn't understand.
And somewhere deep in the shadows of the palace, someone had just felt the seal break.