The silence beneath the surface was absolute.
Kael moved carefully, his boots sinking slightly into damp earth as he descended farther into the shrine's substructure. Echoes of their footsteps whispered against the stone corridor. The walls, etched with fading reliefs of unknown deities and forgotten wars, shimmered faintly in the blue light radiating from the Echoheart. Tovan followed close behind, weapon drawn, while Elira swept her lantern over crumbled frescoes and broken tiles.
"This place wasn't built just for worship," she murmured. "It's a vault."
Kael didn't answer. The weight of the relic at his chest had grown heavier with each step, its rhythmic pulse slowing—as if sensing something dormant yet immense. He passed a doorway half-collapsed by time and caught sight of skeletal remains. Some had crumbled into dust, but others retained the shape of soldiers, armor fossilized into place.
He knelt, brushing his fingers along the edge of a shattered helm. "They were guarding something."
Tovan grunted. "Or trying to keep something in."
They entered a round chamber lit by shafts of light from above. A dais rose at the center, cracked and covered in moss. Atop it stood a fractured obelisk wrapped in runes Kael couldn't decipher, their edges glowing faintly as he approached. The Echoheart pulsed harder now, syncing with the flickering runes.
Kael stepped forward, drawn by the relic's silent urging.
"Careful," Elira said, her voice taut. "That thing looks barely stable."
"I think it's more than stable," Kael replied. "It's waiting."
He placed his hand on the stone. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the chamber darkened. The light from Elira's lantern dimmed, consumed by the pulse of power flowing through the Echoheart and into the obelisk. Visions flared behind Kael's eyes.
Fire. Screaming. Towers toppling. A city swallowed by shadow. And in the center, a robed figure holding a relic aloft, commanding the elements themselves.
Kael gasped, stumbling back as the vision ended. He tasted ash on his tongue, though there was no fire in the air.
"What did you see?" Elira asked, catching his arm.
"Destruction. A warning. The relics were used before—and not just to protect." He looked at the obelisk again. "This one remembers."
Tovan frowned. "Can a rock remember?"
"It's more than that. It's an echo. A memory sealed in stone."
Kael stepped back as the runes dimmed. Then, a crack split the floor beside the dais, revealing a passage that sloped deeper. Faint light shimmered from below.
"We go deeper?" Tovan asked with clear irritation.
Kael nodded. "We have to."
The passage led to a narrow hall flanked by statues—some crumbled, others eerily intact. Each depicted figures wearing ancient armor, faces obscured by helm or hood. As they passed, Kael felt the weight of eyes watching, even though the statues had none.
At the end of the corridor, a chamber opened like the heart of the shrine. The air was cooler here, and the silence oppressive. A pedestal sat in the center, atop which rested a sealed scroll case wrapped in iron bands etched with familiar sigils. The Echoheart's glow intensified.
Kael approached. As his fingers touched the scroll case, a voice—ancient and layered—filled the chamber.
"To awaken is to remember. To remember is to choose."
Kael froze. The voice was not external—it spoke within him, deep and resonant. Images flickered again: the dead city, the fallen tower, the relic's wielder consumed by power.
"What did it say?" Elira asked.
Kael opened his eyes slowly. "It gave me a choice. But I don't understand it yet."
He took the scroll case. As he lifted it, the chamber trembled. Dust rained from the ceiling, and stone shifted overhead.
"Move!" Tovan barked. They bolted back the way they came, the tremors growing.
As they emerged into the upper corridor, the shrine began collapsing behind them. They didn't stop until they reached the surface, breathless and covered in grit.
Kael looked down at the scroll in his hand. The Echoheart was quiet again, its glow dimmed—but not gone.
"What did we just wake up?" Elira asked.
Kael didn't answer. He only stared toward the horizon, where storm clouds gathered in the distance.
Something had begun.