The forest had never been silent before.
Even when night fell and the stars blinked open across the heavens like sleepy eyes, the world usually hummed—crickets clicking in rhythm, wind rustling through trees, distant howls echoing in the distance. But now, as Sera and Kael stood in the clearing where the veil between worlds had thinned, the silence was absolute.
It was the kind of silence that felt alive.
Kael's hand hovered near the hilt of his dagger, his body coiled like a spring. Sera didn't need his words to know that he sensed it too—the shift in the air, the prickling along the spine, the tension that wrapped around them like an unseen rope.
"We're being watched," he whispered.
Sera didn't respond, but she reached inside her coat for the glowing crystal—the one that had activated the portal. When her fingers brushed against it, she felt a sharp sting—like a static shock. She gasped and jerked her hand back.
Kael turned sharply. "What happened?"
"It burned me. The crystal… it's reacting to something."
Kael narrowed his eyes, scanning the darkness. "Something's coming."
Suddenly, the trees on the far edge of the clearing shimmered. Not like leaves fluttering in the breeze—but shimmering, like heat waves bending the air. A figure emerged, cloaked in silver and black, its face hidden beneath a smooth obsidian mask.
Sera's breath caught in her throat.
The figure didn't walk—it glided. There were no footprints, no crunching leaves beneath it. Just a presence that made the air grow colder with every step.
Kael stepped in front of Sera instinctively, his dagger drawn.
"Who are you?" he barked. "Show yourself."
The masked figure paused at the edge of the firelight, and then, in a voice that seemed both male and female, ancient and young, it spoke.
"I am the Seeker of Shadows. Guardian of the Veil. You are trespassing."
Sera swallowed hard. "We didn't mean to. I—I found a portal. It pulled me in."
The Seeker tilted its head. "No one finds a portal unless the portal wishes to be found. And no portal opens without a cost."
Kael kept his blade steady. "If this is about the crystal, we'll give it back. Just let us go."
But the Seeker chuckled—a low, resonant sound that echoed unnaturally. "You think this is about a trinket? No. This is about her."
It raised an arm, and Sera's heart skipped a beat as the shadows behind the figure coalesced into eyes—hundreds of glowing, golden eyes blinking into existence in the darkness.
Kael moved closer to Sera. "Run. When I say now, you run. Got it?"
But Sera didn't answer. She was staring at the eyes—not in fear, but in something deeper. Recognition.
Because deep inside her, something ancient stirred.
The crystal in her pocket flared with sudden heat again, and this time, when she touched it, it didn't burn—it sang. A pure, high note that vibrated through her bones. Her vision blurred, and in the next moment, she wasn't in the forest anymore.
She was standing in a vast hall of mirrors.
Each mirror showed a different version of herself—some older, some younger, some cloaked in armor, others draped in gowns woven with stars. In one mirror, she saw herself with glowing marks on her arms, leading an army of beasts. In another, she stood alone atop a tower, eyes weeping silver tears as she watched a world burn.
A voice echoed all around her.
"You are the Echo. The one foretold. You carry the heart of two worlds. Choose."
"Choose what?" she called out.
But the mirrors began to crack, and one by one, they shattered—until only one remained.
In it, she saw her current self—but her eyes glowed faint gold, and behind her stood Kael, his expression unreadable, his sword dripping with dark ichor. There was a crown of thorns around her wrist, and the veil behind her was open—torn and bleeding light.
Then the voice whispered again.
"You must become what you were meant to be… or lose everything."
She gasped and stumbled back—and suddenly, she was back in the forest, Kael's arms steadying her.
"Sera? What just happened?"
The Seeker was still there, but the eyes had dimmed, watching now with eerie stillness.
"I—I don't know," she said breathlessly. "I saw… versions of me. A prophecy. Something about being an Echo."
The Seeker nodded slowly. "You have awakened."
Kael's brow furrowed. "Awakened? What does that mean?"
"It means she is no longer just a traveler between worlds. She is the Key."
Sera's legs trembled. "The Key to what?"
"To the unraveling… or the salvation. The balance has shifted. The Echo has returned, and the worlds will either merge or fall."
Kael gritted his teeth. "And if we don't want any of that? If we just want to go home?"
The Seeker turned its masked face toward him. "There is no home. Not anymore."
And with that, the figure dissolved—breaking apart into hundreds of raven-like feathers that scattered into the night wind, leaving only silence in its wake.
Kael and Sera stood there, rooted to the spot.
Sera finally looked at him, her eyes wide. "What do we do now?"
He sheathed his dagger with a sharp motion. "Now? We find answers. If you're this… Echo, or whatever they called you, we need to know what that means. And how to stop this 'unraveling'."
Sera glanced back toward the spot where the Seeker had vanished. "Do you believe any of this?"
Kael didn't answer right away.
Then he said, "I don't believe in fate. But I believe in danger. And right now, we're in the middle of something big. So yeah—I believe."
They turned and walked away from the clearing, back into the forest that was no longer silent, no longer familiar. The leaves whispered secrets. The stars watched.
And behind them, unseen, one of the golden eyes blinked again—still watching.
Still waiting.