The temple held through the night.
But only just.
Kieran didn't sleep. Neither did Selene. The others drifted in and out—Calla curled near a wall, Talon pressed against a pillar, Rei sitting upright, blade in hand.
Outside, the wind howled like it was in pain.
And somewhere in that sound, Kieran heard his name.
Not aloud.
Not even in a whisper.
But in the bones.
---
At dawn, they moved.
Selene guided them along a path half-lost to sand and root. It wound through cliffs of black stone and under arches etched with god-runes. Ancient structures—remnants of something older than the trials. Older than the gods.
The Forgotten World, it turned out, remembered everything.
Even the things it shouldn't.
---
They reached the ruin by midday.
A city swallowed by sand.
Dozens of buildings, half-collapsed. Banners faded to colorless strips. A massive statue lay face-down in the square, broken at the neck. Kieran stared at its shape—six arms, a serpent crown, wings of stone.
He had seen it in his dreams.
Calla walked beside him. "This place feels… wrong."
"It's waiting," Selene said.
"For what?" Nova asked.
Selene didn't answer.
---
Inside the temple at the center, they found the writing.
Scrawled in dozens of languages across the walls, the ceiling, even the floors. Not painted—carved.
Deep. Violent. Rushed.
Kieran ran his fingers along one.
YOU ARE NOT FIRST.
YOU ARE NOT LAST.
Another read:
THE GODS LIED.
And another:
IT IS NOT A TRIAL IF NO ONE SURVIVES.
Talon stepped back. "Who wrote these?"
Rei's jaw clenched. "Someone like us."
Selene touched the wall. "No. Someone who never left."
---
They camped there that night.
Inside the temple of the broken god.
The fire flickered low. Shadows clung to the ceiling like cobwebs. Kieran sat with his back to the wall, trying not to close his eyes.
But he was so tired.
And the dreams always came.
---
This one was colder.
He stood in a chamber of glass. Beneath his feet, stars spun slowly—dying. His reflection stared up at him, unchanged. Until it blinked.
Not with his eyes.
Not with his shape.
But with something behind it.
You are the door, the voice said again.
He turned—and the shadow was waiting.
Not his. Not anymore.
It reached toward him.
Touched his chest.
You left it open.
---
Kieran woke with a gasp.
Selene was already watching him.
She didn't speak.
She just nodded.
She knew.