The sand had closed over the treasure chamber.But the exit led them to an even older corridor, its black rock streaked with crimson veins.Adam limped, one hand pressed against his still aching thigh.Kael led the way, silent, alert to the temple's pulsing.
They reached a circular alcove, where an arch stood sealed by a tangle of stones and dormant symbols.Kael stopped abruptly.— We're here.
He placed his palm against the rock.A vibration ran up his arm.The runes began to glow.But this time, the activation was brutal.A deep, dull, almost organic echo rang out.Cracks spread across the floor beneath their feet.
Adam tensed.— Don't tell me it's starting again...
Kael closed his eyes.He felt a foreign presence manifest — a rejection.The temple trembled.Not with anger.But with… fracture.
A low, ancient voice echoed in his skull.— You have crossed the threshold.
Behind them, a section of wall collapsed with a dry rumble, revealing a spiral staircase plunged into shifting darkness.Kael and Adam were pulled inside, as if caught by an invisible force.
They fell.Not long.But long enough for the void to stretch.
Then impact.
Kael straightened, grimacing.The chamber was strangely circular, lit by shifting luminous patterns.A symbol pulsed beneath his feet —The same one etched on his tattoo.
Ethereal columns rose,and at the center, a pedestal.Resting upon it: a crystalline sphere.It beat like a heart.
Thana whispered in his mind.— This is the node. The heart of the temple.If you touch it... it will remember you.
Kael hesitated.Then stepped forward.The moment his fingers brushed the sphere, a jolt ran through him.
Adam screamed behind him,but he no longer heard.There was only him,and the flood of energy overwhelming him.
His arm darkened with black veins,his eyes dilated.Thana's voice returned, deeper.— You have just inscribed your name in the stone, Kael.This place... recognizes you as its own.
Then everything collapsed —not the ground,but time,space,the invisible walls of the temple itself.
The air contracted,then exploded silently,as if the universe rejected their presence.
And the black.
When he opened his eyes, he was kneeling at the temple's outer threshold.He still felt the dull buzzing in his nerves,a residual heat flowing through his veins,like an echo of the bond just sealed.
A light breeze brushed his face,carrying the acrid scent of ancient sand.
His limbs tingled, numb,as if waking from a heavy dream.
The low sun stroked the horizon.Adam lay beside him, unconscious but alive.
Kael rose slowly.Something inside him had changed.It wasn't just the pain.It was… a fracture.A silent molt.
He lifted his arm before his eyes.The tattoo still pulsed faintly,beating in sync with the sphere he had touched moments ago.As if their hearts were now one.
A part of him had remained below.But he was alive.And that was all that mattered.
Kael slowly lifted Adam,hoisting him onto his shoulder despite his fatigue.Adam's body was heavy, limp,but still breathing weakly.
A dried streak of blood stained his temple,a silent trace of what they had just faced.
Kael tightened his grip, his gaze vacant,and stepped into the light.
Daylight, too bright after the temple's shadows, forced him to squint.A heavy silence hung over the ruins,barely disturbed by the dry wind carrying ancient dust.
They walked in silence along the rocky path winding through the valley.Numb legs, thoughts too full.
Kael glanced at Adam, still dazed but alive.Each step drew them closer to the surface, to the real world...but nothing felt the same anymore.
The air seemed heavier,as if the temple had left a mark on the very skin of the world.
The farther Kael moved away, the more he felt the invisible weight of what he had seen,of what he had left behind.
The journey to the vehicle was long, silent, surreal.A famished fox watched them from a rocky ridge, frozen like a statue.Further off, a solitary bird's cry echoed, amplified by the steep walls.
Everything seemed too sharp, too still,as if the outside world was holding its breath after their return.
And when they started the engine,the world around them seemed… frozen.As if time had waited for them to come back.
The front door opened silently,letting in a cold breeze into the dim apartment.
Kael carefully slipped off his shoes, avoiding the slightest noise.A quick glance toward the bedroom confirmed his sister was deep asleep,in Kael's bed,curled tightly around her pillow.
She held him against herself with disarming tenderness,as if Kael's scent in the fabric helped her feel safe.
Her peaceful breath contrasted with the storm still raging inside him.
A strand of hair fell across her face.He brushed it behind her ear with his fingertips,then pulled the blanket up to her shoulders.
He froze for a moment, watching her sleep,then quietly closed the door.
He headed to the bathroom.The simple touch of his blood-stained clothes made him grimace.
The fabric was stiff, soaked with dried blood.He peeled them off one by one before stepping into the shower.
Hot water slid over his skin,leaving reddish trails on the white tiles.
He closed his eyes.Images struck him:the spikes,the blood,the suffocated breath.The whistle of steel just centimeters away.Adrenaline still coursing through his veins.
He opened his eyes, gasping.
But one detail unsettled him.He ran his hands over his chest,arms,shoulders.
No cuts.No bruises.His skin was smooth, intact,as if remade.
His gaze shifted to his left shoulder.The tattoo had spread.Its lines now ran up to the base of his neck,thickened,rearranged.
He touched it lightly.A pulse responded.
Out of the shower, towel tied at his waist,he approached the mirror.He stared at himself.
His gaze seemed darker,deeper…Then, fleetingly,a number appeared.A countdown.Flashing.Irregular.Like a lingering echo.Before disappearing.
He straightened abruptly.Tried to focus again.But it was gone.
He left the bathroom,crossed the silent corridor.
In the kitchen, he poured himself a glass of water.He drank slowly,each sip seeming to soothe a tiny fraction of the turmoil inside him.
The living room welcomed him in a warm darkness.He collapsed on the old couch.
The TV turned on,faded images,low volume.He wasn't really watching.It was just noise,a fragile shield against the void.
His gaze lost itself in the darkness.His thoughts circled back endlessly.
He remembered the frescoes,the pain,the runes,the beings with similar marks.
Different eras,blurred but real faces.
He knew these were not hallucinations.The mark on his shoulder was a link.A thread stretching across the ages.
And this power…he could not name it.Not magic.Not science.Something older still.Something awakened within him.
He murmured:— Blessing, or curse…?
He closed his eyes, longing for silence, for rest.
But a flood of images surged forth.The temples.The silhouettes.And the number.Again.
He stood abruptly,almost staggering.
But his body could take no more.
He fell back onto the couch.His eyes closed.
And before sinking into sleep,one last clear thought crossed his mind:
I need to understand all this. This power. This mark… But not tonight.
The television kept humming indistinct sounds.Silence reigned.And Kael slept.
But even in that sleep,a tremor lingered beneath his skin.As if something,somewhere,kept watching.