Chapter 41: Shadows Stir in the Forgotten City
The desert wind howled with a voice older than the earth itself.
Elias stood at the edge of a massive sand dune, staring down at the ruins barely visible through the golden haze. The city below was not just forgotten; it was entombed. Swallowed whole by the ages, only jagged stone towers and broken arches reached upward like the ribs of some long-dead beast.
The Mark on his arm pulsed with a low hum. It had grown silent after naming them the Keepers of the Echo, but now it flickered again, as if responding to the city's whispers.
"This is it," Elias said, his voice quiet. "The city of Alkaran."
Yuna stepped up beside him, her boots sinking slightly into the hot sand. "It feels like something's still alive down there. Like... like the city's waiting for us."
Kael brushed sweat from his brow and narrowed his eyes. "Waiting, or warning us?"
Liora didn't speak. She simply adjusted the grip on her staff and started walking down the dune.
---
They moved as a group, cautious and silent. Each step stirred up dust that glittered in the dying light of the sun. As they approached the main gate—an enormous arch partially buried in sand—the runes etched into the stone began to glow faintly.
Elias felt the Mark on his arm burn slightly. He stopped, clutching it.
FLASHBACK:
A voice from long ago—one he barely remembered—echoed in his mind:
"One day, when the stars return to the soil, the city will awaken. The Echo will choose. The name will be given, and the burdens will rise."
---
A loud creak broke the silence as the gate began to shift. They hadn't touched it.
"Did we do that?" Kael asked.
"No," Liora said. "The city knows us."
The gate opened enough for them to pass through single file. Inside, the air was cooler, but thick with the scent of ancient dust and forgotten magic. The streets were uneven, the buildings leaning as if tired of holding themselves up.
The city's layout resembled a spiral, winding toward a central tower that loomed above them all—black, jagged, and cracked with veins of white crystal.
"I've read about this place," Yuna murmured. "A city built to house the Echo's voice. They said only those chosen could enter the tower."
"Let's find out what it wants from us," Elias said.
---
As they walked deeper, shadows shifted unnaturally. Kael thought he saw movement, a figure ducking behind a wall. When he followed it, he found only a trail of handprints in the dust—small, childlike, but with too many fingers.
"There's something else here," he muttered.
In an open courtyard, the group paused. A tree stood at its center—blackened and leafless, yet humming with the same energy as their Marks. Beneath its roots lay carvings, names, and symbols they couldn't decipher.
Suddenly, the ground trembled. From the alleys surrounding them, shadows peeled from the walls and took shape.
They weren't creatures. They were echoes.
Each one bore a faint resemblance to someone the Keepers had lost. A father. A sibling. A friend. They stepped forward, whispering.
"Elias... you left me..."
"Yuna... why didn't you come back?"
"Kael... you swore to protect us..."
Liora's hands trembled as a pale imitation of her mother stepped forward. "You were always meant to fail."
"Don't listen!" Elias shouted. "They're lies—reflections! They feed on our guilt!"
The Mark on his arm flared. A ripple of force blasted the echo away, but more surged forward.
A battle broke out—not of blades and arrows, but of resolve. Each Keeper faced a manifestation of their regrets.
---
Liora stood still, letting the whispering echo draw close.
"I failed you," she said softly. "But I won't fail them." She stabbed her staff into the ground. A pulse of white energy lit up the courtyard, and her echo dissolved.
Kael dropped to one knee, gripping his sword. "You were right to hate me. But I'm still here. Still fighting."
Yuna wept as she knelt before the echo of her younger sister. "You were my light. I'll carry you with me."
Elias stood tall. "I made mistakes. But I won't let them define me."
The echoes wailed, then burst into dust.
---
When the battle ended, silence returned.
The Mark burned again, and this time, the spiral street beneath them glowed. A voice, ancient and layered, rumbled from the tower.
"The first trial is passed. The Echo watches. The path is open."
They turned toward the tower.
"We're not alone here," Kael said. "But we're meant to be here."
"And the tower," Yuna added, "is where the next truth waits."
They walked on—toward whatever came next.
Above them, from a hidden balcony in the tower, a figure watched. Draped in crimson robes, their eyes glowed softly with gold light.
"They've come," the figure whispered. "Let the games begin."