Rhenu did not know where he was.
A grin appeared above him, a face that he could not recognize.
The figure was breaking the chain of the pillar.
What's happening
Panic spiked through him as he felt his chest beat faster.
There was another figure, shrouded in shadow. No matter how much he squinted, he could not see the mans face.
Who is he? Why does he feel so familiar?
The shadowed figure turned. "What a shame. Maybe the rest will see how futile it is," he said, his voice echoing off the stone.
What does he mean by that?
A sharp pain tightened within his chest. His breath becoming ragged as he looked down—blood was slipping through his trembling fingers, pooling steadily onto the ground. Fear and confusion overwhelmed him as his strength faded fast.
"It hurts!"
"Somebody help me! What's going on?!"
Pain echoed through him as if the wounded man's agony was his own, yet the figure above him remained disturbingly calm.
"One of you…" the man gasped, on the brink of collapse. Barely able to speak, his voice strained and desperate, "One of you… must stop him… as the day nears for all of us."
The chains cried out, a piercing, metallic shriek, and shattered violently. Dust exploded outward, swallowing the pillar whole.
Darkness consumed everything.
And then, slowly, a milky white world emerged, silent and surreal.
"Where am I now?"
Rhenu stood up from the floor, stumbling to his feet. The world was empty, except for a single pillar in the center, its chain still intact. A man stood beside it, faceless, his hand gliding over trembling links.
"One will come. I promise," the man whispered.
The weeping faded.
The world dissolved.
Then, through the emptiness, came rapid visions he couldn't recognize. Languages and scenery he could not understand, yet he felt the importance of it all.
A voice thundered through it:
"Do they not ponder?
Do they choose to ignore?
Can they not see behind the weeping of chains?
The truth lies there, hidden behind murky water.
Wake up before it's too late."
He woke with a scream, heart pounding violently against his chest. For a long moment, he just lay there, chest heaving, sweat cold against his skin, eyes wide as terror lingered from the rapidly fading dream. The dream, the terror already slipping away, details fading into darkness.
"What… was that?"
The only thing he could remember was a voice, warning him to wake up before it was too late.
He forced himself out of bed and stumbled to the window. Peeking out, he could just make out the silhouette of the Pillar at the center of the city, chains still wrapped tight around its base. It was still there.
His next breath came out shaky though he was not sure why. The sight of the Pillar, solid and unchanged, gave him comfort he couldn't quite explain. There, in the heart of Ierlyan, it still stood unchanged and enduring.