The sky above the red hills turned a deep, unnatural gray.
Wind circled the fracture in violent spirals. Dust and small stones lifted into the air as if gravity itself had weakened.
Arjun and the Seeker stood on opposite sides of the cracked earth.
But neither of them moved.
From the darkness below, something shifted.
Slow.
Patient.
Watching.
The Seeker spoke first.
"This wasn't supposed to happen."
Arjun's voice was sharp. "You said the Seal was a prison."
"It is," the Seeker replied. "But not for what you think."
Another tremor shook the hill.
The red glow deep below flickered weakly now, like a fading heartbeat.
"The Seal doesn't trap evil," the Seeker continued. "It traps balance."
Arjun frowned. "That makes no sense."
The Seeker stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"Long ago, there were two forces beneath these hills. One fed on desire. The other fed on destruction. They were enemies."
Arjun remembered the chains he saw in the vision.
Not holding something in.
Holding something out.
"The guardians sealed one force to prevent chaos," the Seeker said. "But sealing it created weakness. The second force has been waiting for centuries."
"The Devourer," Arjun whispered.
The Seeker nodded slowly.
"Yes."
A sudden wave of cold air rushed upward from the fracture.
Not heat.
Cold.
Sharp and empty.
The red light dimmed further.
From below came a low, hollow sound—like distant breathing through a cavern.
Arjun felt the mark on his palm change.
It no longer burned.
It throbbed slowly.
As if confused.
"You wanted power," Arjun said. "You said it yourself."
The Seeker looked at him, and for the first time, his expression showed regret.
"I wanted knowledge," he corrected. "I wanted to understand the force the guardians feared."
He looked toward the fracture.
"I didn't know the Seal had weakened this much."
The ground cracked again.
This time spreading down the slope of the hill toward the village.
Arjun's chest tightened.
8
"If it reaches the village—
"It won't just destroy it," the Seeker said. "It will consume it."
A shadow rose briefly from the fracture.
Not large.
Not massive.
But wrong.
Its shape bent unnaturally, stretching and twisting without form.
It did not roar.
It did not speak.
It simply existed.
And its presence made the air feel empty.
Arjun staggered backward as a wave of dizziness hit him.
The Seeker grabbed his arm to steady him.
"The Devourer feeds on fractures," he said urgently. "Cracks in stone. Cracks in reality."
The shadow flickered and vanished again.
"But it cannot fully enter unless the Seal collapses," the Seeker added.
Arjun's eyes widened.
"So we fix it."
The Seeker hesitated.
"It's not that simple."
The mark on Arjun's palm glowed faint blue for the first time.
Blue.
Not red.
From deep below, the earlier voice—the chained force—whispered again.
"Restore the Core."
Arjun gasped.
"You heard that?" he asked.
The Seeker shook his head.
"Heard what?"
The voice spoke again, softer.
"The Core beneath the Chamber. The true lock."
Arjun understood.
"The door wasn't the real Seal," he said slowly.
The Seeker's eyes sharpened.
"What are you talking about?"
"The Seal has a core," Arjun continued. "Deeper than the chamber."
A new tremor hit—stronger than before.
The fracture widened further.
The cold presence below grew stronger.
The Devourer was pushing through.
The Seeker looked at Arjun seriously.
"If there is a Core, we must reach it now."
Arjun swallowed.
"Together?"
The Seeker extended his hand.
"For now."
Another dark shadow flickered beneath the earth.
Closer this time.
The hills would not survive much longer.
Arjun looked at the spreading cracks.
Then at the Seeker's hand.
This was no longer about trust.
It was about survival.
He took the Seeker's hand.
Above them, the sky darkened completely.
And beneath them—
Something ancient smiled in the dark.