Chapter 36: Echoes of the Forgotten Realm

The world around Elias wavered like a mirage, shifting between the known and the unknowable. The cold air bit at his skin as he stood on the threshold of a vast corridor, its walls adorned with cryptic symbols that pulsed with an eerie glow. Lucien's warning still echoed in his mind—You are not alone in this dream.

Taking a cautious step forward, Elias felt the weight of unseen eyes pressing down on him. He turned sharply, but there was nothing, only the flickering of distant torches casting elongated shadows along the marble floor. The whispers began again—soft, indistinct voices speaking in a language he did not understand.

He clenched his fists, steeling himself. This place, wherever it was, had been pulling him deeper into its enigmatic grasp since the moment he crossed the veil of reality. He could no longer tell if he was awake or still trapped within a dream, but one thing was certain—something here sought to reach him, to unravel the truth that lay buried beneath his memories.

A sudden gust of wind surged through the corridor, carrying with it the scent of aged parchment and something more metallic—blood. Elias' pulse quickened. He followed the scent, the whispers growing louder with each step. The corridor opened into a grand chamber, its ceiling lost in darkness. At its center stood a figure, draped in tattered robes, their face obscured beneath a hood.

"You have come at last," the figure spoke, their voice neither male nor female, but something in between—a blend of echoes and lost time. "Do you seek answers, or do you seek escape?"

Elias hesitated. The air in the room thickened, pressing against his lungs. The figure extended a skeletal hand, revealing an ornate key shimmering with an otherworldly glow.

"This key unlocks the path forward, but the price is steep. Are you willing to pay it?"

His mind raced. He had ventured too far to turn back now. Taking a deep breath, Elias reached forward, his fingers brushing against the cold metal. The moment he grasped the key, the chamber trembled, and the world around him shattered into a cascade of fractured memories.

He was falling—through time, through space, through the layers of his own forgotten past. And somewhere in the abyss, a voice called his name.

Elias... remember.