Kael didn't remember how long he had been running.
The rain had become a constant roar in his ears, blending with the pounding of his own heartbeat. The narrow streets twisted endlessly, as if the city itself wanted to confuse him. Water splashed around his boots with every desperate step.
When he finally stopped, it wasn't because he was safe. It was because his lungs gave up before his fear did.
He leaned against a crumbling wall, gasping, feeling the stone cold against his forehead. His fingers ached from clutching the parchment. The faint glow beneath his cloak had dimmed, but not disappeared.
"Where... where are you taking me?" he whispered, though he didn't expect an answer.
The parchment had led him this far—through alleys he didn't recognize, past walls marked with strange symbols he'd never seen before. And now, he stood at a dead end.
A blank wall. No doors. No windows. Just damp, moss-covered stone.
For a moment, he laughed bitterly. "Perfect. Led by magic paper to a brick wall. Wonderful. "
He turned, ready to run again—but the parchment pulsed. Hard. Once. Twice. The air around him seemed to tremble.
A faint hum filled the alley, low and deep, like the growl of something ancient waking up. Kael froze. The stones before him began to shift, not crumble—but move, sliding against each other with a grinding sound that drowned the rain.
Within seconds, what was once a wall opened into darkness. A narrow passage, faintly lit by an eerie blue light.
Kael's pulse raced. His instincts screamed not to go in. But his curiosity whispered otherwise.
He stepped forward.
The air inside was thick, colder than the storm outside. The passage twisted downwards, narrow enough that he could feel the walls brushing against his shoulders. Strange markings glowed faintly across the stone, the same as those on the parchment.
The deeper he went, the louder the whispers grew. Not voices he could understand—just fragments, echoing like memories trapped in the walls.
And then he saw it.
The corridor opened into a wide chamber, half-buried beneath the city. Pillars lined the edges, carved with faces long eroded by time. At the center stood a pedestal, and upon it... a stone box, cracked and ancient.
Kael approached cautiously. Every step echoed. The box looked fragile, as if a touch could turn it to dust.
Still, his hands moved on their own. The moment his fingers brushed the lid, the whispers stopped. The chamber fell silent—completely, unnaturally silent. Even the rain outside was gone.
Then, the lid shifted open with a soft groan.
Inside was a ring.
Simple. Silver. The same shade as his eyes.
The glow from the parchment returned, brighter now, wrapping around his wrist like a living thread. The ring lifted itself slowly from the box and hovered before him.
Kael stepped back, startled.
"What—what is this?" he asked.
The ring stopped in front of him, turned once in the air before sliding gently onto his finger.
It fit perfectly.
The glow faded. The silence broke. The sound of rain returned - but faintly, as though it were miles away.
Kael looked at his hand. The ring shimmered for a heartbeat and then vanished, leaving only a faint warmth behind.
He didn't know what it meant, but he knew one thing: his life had just changed forever.
Behind him, from the mouth of the passage, came the sound of boots.
They had found him.