Unnamed

Chapter 15: The Crimson Watcher

The air felt thick, as if every breath Kairos took was weighted with unseen pressure. He glanced over his shoulder once more, uneasy. Despite the eerie calm that settled after the disruption of the statue's curse, something was wrong — something was still watching them. The sensation was like an oppressive shadow pressing down on his very soul, wrapping around his chest and squeezing.

He turned back to Erynn, her gaze fixed ahead. She didn't speak, but he saw the way her eyes flicked constantly to the shadows around them, her hand hovering near the hilt of her dagger.

"You feel it too, don't you?" Kairos murmured.

Erynn nodded, her voice tight. "Whatever is watching us... it's not just lingering. It's aware of us. It's waiting."

Kairos didn't reply. He didn't need to. The feeling gnawed at him, a sensation that was becoming impossible to ignore. He could hear it now — soft whispers that seemed to come from every direction, curling in the air like tendrils. They were too faint to make out clearly, but the tone was unmistakable: mocking, ancient, and far too familiar.

The ruins stretched on before them, a labyrinth of dark stone corridors and chambers that seemed to fold upon themselves. Every twist, every turn, felt like a step deeper into a nightmare.

Kairos motioned for Erynn to follow as he picked his way through the debris-littered floor. His hand was on the hilt of his sword, instinctively ready for any attack, but nothing came. The silence was deafening, only broken by the occasional scrape of stone underfoot.

Finally, they reached another chamber — smaller than the last, but no less foreboding. The walls were adorned with strange carvings, some familiar and some alien, though all seemed to pulse with that same crimson light that had consumed the statue. The center of the room held a single object — a pedestal. The object atop it, covered in shadow, was a dark, obsidian sphere.

"It's here," Erynn whispered, her voice reverberating with a mix of awe and terror.

Kairos approached the pedestal cautiously, his eyes never leaving the sphere. He felt the familiar pull on his very being — as if the darkness inside that sphere recognized something inside him. The connection was undeniable, but unlike the previous encounters, there was no malevolent force pushing him to touch it. Instead, it was as though the sphere was waiting for him.

"Do you think this is what we're meant to find?" Erynn asked, her voice laced with suspicion.

Kairos didn't answer at first, his gaze fixed on the sphere. His mind raced with questions: What was this? Why was it here? And more importantly, why did it call to him so strongly?

Without another word, he reached for it. His fingers brushed the surface of the obsidian, the stone as cold as the grave. The moment his skin made contact, a burst of energy exploded through him, rushing up his arm like lightning. The world around him warped, twisting into a dizzying blur. He stumbled back, gasping for breath, but his body felt oddly weightless — as if he were caught in some kind of invisible tide.

Erynn moved to steady him, her eyes wide with alarm. "Kairos!"

"I'm fine," he gritted out, though his voice lacked conviction. The energy from the sphere was unlike anything he'd felt before. It was ancient, primal — and, incredibly familiar.

Suddenly, the air around them snapped. A wave of force rolled through the chamber, knocking them both off their feet. The pedestal shattered into pieces, and the sphere rolled free, its dark surface gleaming like a malevolent eye in the center of the room.

And then it spoke.

A voice — low, rumbling, ancient — echoed in Kairos' mind, reverberating through his very being. "You... You've awakened me. Foolish... mortal."

The voice was cold, distant, and tinged with an impossible sense of inevitability.

Erynn stumbled to her feet, her hand instinctively gripping her dagger. "What is that?" she hissed.

Before Kairos could answer, the ground trembled once more. The walls of the chamber cracked, and from the darkness around them, skeletal figures emerged. These weren't like the previous ones — no longer mindless husks of death. These creatures moved with purpose, their eyes blazing with the same crimson energy as the sphere. They weren't mere monsters; they were something far worse.

"Stand back," Kairos warned, drawing his sword.

Erynn didn't hesitate. She drew her dagger and took up a defensive position beside him. They had fought together countless times, and there was an unspoken understanding between them. But even she could see the gravity of the situation. This time, they weren't dealing with mindless servants of the darkness. They were facing something far more dangerous — a force that thought.

The first skeletal warrior lunged at them with unnatural speed, its limbs moving like broken marionette strings. Kairos swung his sword, meeting the creature's attack with a shower of sparks. The impact was jarring, but the creature didn't flinch. It was relentless, its claws scraping against his armor as it pressed forward.

Erynn's blade darted out like a serpent, striking the creature's throat. It howled — a sound that sent chills through Kairos' spine. But even as the creature crumpled to the ground, another one took its place. Then another. And another.

"Can you feel it?" Kairos gritted out, his sword slicing through yet another skeletal warrior. "This isn't just a fight. This is a test."

Erynn nodded grimly, her face drawn with determination. "A test we're failing."

Despite their best efforts, the creatures kept coming. There was no end. The shadows themselves seemed to spawn new enemies faster than they could defeat them. With every fallen warrior, two more emerged from the darkness. The chamber was growing colder, the crimson light flickering like a dying star. The very air felt like it was crushing in on them.

Then, from the center of the room, the sphere's power flared again, sending a wave of energy through the chamber. The skeletal warriors froze mid-motion, their eyes locked on the orb. For a moment, the entire room held its breath.

Then, as if by command, they turned in unison and advanced toward the sphere.

Kairos' heart skipped a beat. "They're leaving."

The moment the creatures began to retreat, the pressure on them lifted. The air became still. The shadows receded, their eerie whispers fading into nothingness.

"What just happened?" Erynn whispered, eyes wide.

Kairos turned toward the sphere. The crimson light was dimming, and the darkness that had once poured from it was now still. He had no answers, only a cold sense of foreboding.

"We may have just triggered something far worse."