The Unraveled Threads

The ruins stretched endlessly before them, ancient structures twisted and fractured by time itself. Idris could feel the history beneath his feet—whispers of a civilization that had once commanded the very fabric of time but had now faded into myth.

Elise tightened her grip on her weapon. "I don't like this place."

Rook scanned their surroundings, his stance tense. "It's too quiet. If this was once the stronghold of the Sa'Khel, where are the remains? The artifacts? Something feels… off."

The hooded woman walked ahead of them, completely at ease. She hadn't spoken since they had entered the ruins, but Idris could tell she knew something they didn't.

Nyla moved beside him. "You felt it too, right?"

Idris nodded. "That pulse back there. It was like… a memory trapped in the stones."

"A warning," the hooded woman finally spoke. "The Sa'Khel were the only ones capable of stopping the Echo. But they were betrayed. Their secrets lost. Their bloodline shattered."

"Betrayed by who?" Elise asked.

The woman hesitated. Then she turned sharply. "Not by who. By what."

A chill settled over the group.

"You mean the Echo?" Rook asked.

She shook her head. "No. The Echo is a consequence, not the cause." She gestured toward the massive archway ahead of them, its inscriptions glowing faintly in the dim light. "The truth lies beyond here. But you must understand—once you step through, there is no turning back."

Idris exhaled, squaring his shoulders. "We came this far. We need answers."

The woman studied him for a long moment before nodding. "Then let me show you what was never meant to be seen."

She raised her hand and traced a glowing sigil in the air. The archway rumbled, its ancient mechanisms awakening for the first time in millennia. The light within its frame shimmered, revealing a swirling vortex—something between time itself.

Then, without hesitation, she stepped through.

Idris glanced at the others. Nyla gave him a small nod. Elise sighed but followed. Rook remained unreadable, but he stepped forward without hesitation.

Idris took a deep breath and stepped into the unknown.

Beyond the Veil

The moment he crossed the threshold, everything shifted.

Time itself fractured.

For a brief moment, Idris wasn't himself. He was everywhere—everywhen. He saw glimpses of the past, the future, and things that had never come to pass.

Then—

His feet hit solid ground.

The others stumbled beside him, gasping at their surroundings.

They were no longer in the ruins.

They stood in a grand hall, its ceiling stretching impossibly high, its walls lined with floating glyphs that pulsed like living constellations. In the center of the room stood an obsidian pillar, covered in intricate carvings that seemed to shift as Idris looked at them.

And then—

A voice.

"You have come too far."

The air rippled, and a figure emerged from the shadows.

It wasn't the Echo.

It was something else.

It wore the armor of a Sa'Khel, but its body flickered between forms—human, machine, something in between. Its eyes glowed with raw temporal energy.

"You should not be here," it said, voice echoing with countless lifetimes.

Elise raised her weapon instinctively. "Who are you?"

The figure tilted its head, as if the question amused it. "I am the last guardian of time. I am what remains of the Sa'Khel's greatest sin."

Idris felt his pulse quicken. "What do you mean?"

The guardian's gaze locked onto him.

"You wish to know the truth of the Echo?" It stepped forward. "Then listen well.

The Echo was not born.

It was created."

A stunned silence filled the chamber.

Rook narrowed his eyes. "Created? By who?"

The guardian exhaled slowly. "By the Sa'Khel themselves."

The words struck like a thunderclap.

Elise's face darkened. "That's not possible. The Sa'Khel fought the Echo—"

"And yet," the guardian interrupted, "they are the ones who unleashed it."

Idris felt the weight of those words settle over him. "Why? Why would they do that?"

The guardian's flickering form dimmed. "Because they sought to master time. To wield it as an infinite weapon. But in doing so, they shattered the very fabric of reality. The Echo is not a being. It is the consequence of their arrogance."

Idris exchanged a glance with Nyla, who looked just as shaken.

"So you're saying," Nyla said carefully, "that the Echo exists because of the Sa'Khel?"

The guardian nodded. "And now, it seeks to undo everything they ever built. To erase their mistakes. To purge their bloodline."

A heavy silence followed.

And then Idris realized—

"That means the Echo isn't just after me. It's after every descendant of the Sa'Khel."

The guardian's eyes burned brighter. "And it will not stop until the last of you is gone."

The truth settled over him like a storm.

For the first time, Idris understood.

The Echo wasn't just hunting him.

It was hunting all of them.