The Road To The Temple

The dense green fog enveloped them like a living entity, choking their breath and erasing the road's features.

Julius followed Lena and Cain, feeling the weight of the Shift Ring in his pocket pulsating like a sick heart.

Every step pulled fragments of memories from him, the name of his first teacher, the scent of his grandmother's bread... things he no longer remembered why they mattered.

"How much longer to the temple?" Julius asked, clutching the broken pendant around his neck like a lifeline.

"The temple isn't a destination. It's a journey," Lena replied without turning, her fingers tracing a tree trunk carved with an eye-like symbol.

"These trees... were part of ancient rituals. Look, the engravings mark this as the Path of the Dead."

Cain halted abruptly, his black coat blending with the shadows.

"The fog isn't just hiding the path... it's erasing our trail. If we get lost here, no one will find us."

After hours of walking, they reached a crumbling stone bridge arching over a black river whose waters whispered like muffled screams.

On either side lay broken statues of guardians with horrified faces.

"Don't cross!" Cain warned, but Lena had already stepped onto the stone.

The bridge shuddered, and the shattered statues began to move with bone-grinding creaks.

Julius felt pressure in his chest then heard Sirius's voice whisper in his mind

"This isn't a river... it's the River of Oblivion. If you fall, you'll vanish from the memory of everyone who ever knew you."*

Lena nearly slipped into the black water, but Julius seized her arm, channeling his rudimentary magic to shift stones into a temporary bridge.

As they crossed, Lena turned to him

"How did you know to do that?"

"I didn't... I felt someone guiding my hand."

Cain, who had crossed effortlessly as if he knew every stone, said,

"Perhaps because you're not alone in your body."

At nightfall, they camped beneath colossal trees whose branches formed a natural roof. Lena lit a fire using air magic, while Cain sliced into a strange fruit resembling tiny skulls.

"Why are you really here?" Julius suddenly asked Cain, his gaze fixed on the flames.

"You know more than you say... even about this poisonous fruit."

Cain didn't look up.

"Because I'm paying an old debt."

"A debt for what?"

"For being a failed experiment."

Lena, who was cleaning a wound on her arm from the bridge crossing, paused.

"What do you mean?"

"Everything has a price. Even life." Cain pulled the Shift Ring from his pocket.

"This ring... was meant to be a key to immortality. Instead, it became a tool for stealing memories."

Julius's throat tightened.

"Did Sirius make it?"

"Sirius made many things... some were mistakes."

Midnight found Julius guarding the camp when whispers drew him to an ancient tree, its trunk etched with a face resembling Sirius.

"You are the bridge..." the echo said in Sirius's voice.

"But bridges are sometimes destroyed."

"What do you want from me?" Julius whispered, gripping the pendant.

"To remember... that the Heart Stone isn't just a source of power. It's a tomb."

Before he could ask more, the tree collapsed into ash.

Julius returned to find Lena and Cain surrounded by three robed figures from the Eternal Flame Guild, their swords blazing with blue fire.

"Surrender the pendant... or die," demanded their leader, a tall man in a silver mask.

Lena conjured an air shield, but the flames devoured it. Cain drew his black sword, but Julius felt the pendant grow hot, time slowed.

The flames crawled like snails; the attackers froze.

Julius seized Cain's blade and struck the leader's back.

When time snapped back, the man collapsed, and the others retreated.

"This power... it isn't yours!" the leader roared before vanishing into the fog.

After the attack, Lena sat shivering by the fire.

"Why target us? We have nothing!"

"Because they know Sirius has returned," Cain said, folding his map.

"And the worst is yet to come."

Julius stared at the pendant, now glowing faintly blue.

"What if Sirius... doesn't want to return?"

Silence answered him.

…

Excerpt from Sirius's Journal (Year 458 of the Magical Era):

"The green fog... was my first mistake. I thought I could turn memories into energy, but I turned humans into ghosts."

.