The moon hung low in the sky, a bleeding sliver of silver barely peeking through the twisted branches of the Forest of Whispers. A quiet wind drifted like a warning, stirring the tall grass and whimpering against the cold earth. Arav's footsteps were heavy. Each stride carried the burden of revelations, scars, and silent screams that would never be heard.
The events of the past few nights still echoed in his mind. His battle with the spirit of fire, his confrontation with the darkness within, and the soul-wrenching truth Zia had confessed—the truth that shook him more than any blade ever could.
Zia.
She was gone. Not dead—just gone.
And that made it worse.
He walked alone now, through the thick fog and moonless woods, driven by one word whispered in a dying man's breath: "Vayrun."
A name. A myth. A destiny waiting in the shadows.
---
❖❖❖
As the night deepened, Arav reached a broken stone gate half-sunken in vines and moss. A symbol glowed faintly on the weathered stone—a circle of seven eyes, each looking in a different direction.
He reached out to touch it. And the moment his fingers brushed the ancient surface, the world collapsed into darkness.
No scream. No sound.
Just nothingness.
And then… the eyes opened.
All around him. Above. Below. Within.
He stood in a realm beyond time, a sanctuary of fate. Seven colossal stone heads floated around him, each with a single glowing eye, whispering in a language older than humanity.
"You were not chosen…"
"…you were created."
"What you seek is buried in you…"
"…but the truth will blind you."
Arav screamed, not in fear, but in rage.
"WHO ARE YOU?! WHY ME?!"
A blinding light burst from the central eye. And then, a figure emerged—hooded, faceless, but with eyes identical to Arav's.
"I am your mirror," the voice said. "I am the eyes you refused to see."
The illusion shattered.
---
❖❖❖
He gasped awake, lying in a circle of ancient runes. His body felt scorched from the inside, but his mind... it was clearer than ever.
A girl stood nearby, staring at him with glowing amber eyes. She looked no older than sixteen, yet her presence pulsed like a goddess of old.
"You've awakened the Eyes of Destiny," she said calmly. "Few survive their judgment."
"Who are you?"
"I am Liara. Seer of the Unwritten."
She walked to him, and her voice softened.
"You carry two fates inside you. One belongs to the world. The other... belongs to her."
Arav's heart skipped.
"Zia."
Liara nodded. "And your brother, Kalo, walks the path of destruction. If he reaches the shrine before you, he will awaken the Eye of Ruin."
"What happens if he does?"
She turned. "Then this world ends—not in flames, but in silence."
---
❖❖❖
That night, Arav saw his fate for the first time—not in dreams, but in the reflection of Liara's eyes.
He was not just a boy who defied death.
He was the tether between light and oblivion.
And his next choice would determine which side would survive.