Echoes of the Forgotten City

The moment Idris stepped through the portal, reality bent.

For a brief second, he felt like he was falling through an infinite loop—time folding and unfolding around him, reshaping itself with every heartbeat. His vision blurred with flashes of different timelines—cities rising and crumbling, stars being born and collapsing into black holes, entire civilizations flickering in and out of existence.

Then—

Solid ground.

He staggered forward, the air around him thick with static energy. The others landed behind him in quick succession—Elise, Rook, and Nyla—all equally disoriented.

They stood at the edge of the floating city.

It was magnificent.

Massive towers of translucent metal spiraled high into the violet sky, connected by intricate bridges that shimmered with unknown energy. Streets paved with pulsating blue veins stretched ahead, leading toward a central structure that seemed to defy gravity, floating several meters above the rest of the city.

Yet, despite its grandeur, the place was empty.

No voices. No movement. Only the distant hum of machines that had long outlived their creators.

"Okay," Elise said, adjusting her gloves. "I'm officially freaked out."

"This place is ancient," Nyla whispered. "But it's still running. Like it's waiting for something…"

Idris took a step forward, feeling the weight of history pressing down on him. "We need to find the Eidolon Core before the Echo finds us."

Rook scanned their surroundings, his eyes narrowing. "Something's wrong."

The words had barely left his mouth when the city responded.

A low vibration rippled through the air. Symbols carved into the towers began to glow, and from the shadows, they emerged.

Spectral figures—ghostly remnants of the Sa'Khel.

They weren't alive, yet they weren't quite dead either. Their translucent bodies flickered, their eyes glowing with the same blue energy that pulsed through the city.

One of them, taller than the rest, stepped forward.

"You are not of the Sa'Khel," it said, its voice layered with echoes. "Yet you bear the mark of the Forgotten."

Idris felt a chill run down his spine. "The mark of the Forgotten?"

The figure lifted a spectral hand, and suddenly, Idris's vision fractured.

For a split second, he saw himself in another life. A different timeline. Standing among the Sa'Khel—not as an outsider, but as one of them.

Then it was gone.

Idris stumbled back, breathing heavily. "What… was that?"

The spectral figure's expression remained unreadable. "A fragment of truth. The Echo hunts you because of what you carry. The blood of the Timekeepers."

Rook's eyes widened. "Timekeepers… You mean the Sa'Khel?"

"No," the figure corrected. "The Sa'Khel were engineers of time. But the true Timekeepers—the Vael'Zir—were something far greater. They were the only ones who could control the Echo. And now… their bloodline is all that remains."

Idris's hands clenched into fists. "And I'm one of them."

The figure inclined its head. "Yes. And that makes you both the key… and the threat."

The air around them shook.

A distant howl echoed through the city. A sound that sent a jolt of dread through Idris's body.

"The Echo is coming," the figure warned. "If you wish to survive, you must retrieve the Eidolon Core. It lies within the heart of the city, beyond the Veil of Paradox."

The others barely had time to react before the ground beneath them shifted. The city was coming alive, moving like a living entity.

Idris turned to his team. "Run."

And with that, they sprinted toward the heart of the city, as the echoes of the past—and the terror of the future—closed in around them.

The city twisted and moved beneath their feet, rearranging itself as if it had a will of its own. Towers that had once been distant now loomed closer, and pathways that had been open seconds ago were suddenly walled off by shifting architecture.

"This place is alive!" Nyla gasped, struggling to keep pace with the others.

"It's responding to us," Idris said, dodging a rising column of glowing stone. "Or maybe… it's trying to keep us from reaching the core."

A sudden flash of energy burst to their right, and a massive construct materialized—an automaton of pure light, humanoid in shape but shifting like liquid. It hovered above the ground, its faceless head turning toward them with unsettling precision.

Elise skidded to a stop, raising her weapon. "Tell me that thing isn't hostile."

As if answering her, the construct raised an arm, and a pulse of energy blasted toward them. They barely had time to throw themselves aside before the force struck the ground, sending shards of crystal flying in all directions.

"Hostile," Rook confirmed grimly.

"Keep moving!" Idris yelled.

The construct advanced, and suddenly, more appeared—three, four, five of them, forming a perimeter around the group. Their bodies pulsed with the same energy that flowed through the city, their limbs elongating and shifting like blades made of liquid time.

Nyla muttered a curse. "We're surrounded."

Elise clenched her jaw. "Then we fight."

Without hesitation, she fired. A streak of golden plasma shot toward one of the constructs, but before it could make contact, the creature phased out of existence, reappearing a second later as if it had never been hit.

Idris barely had time to react before one of them lunged at him, its arm morphing into a jagged spear. He ducked, rolling to the side as it slammed into the ground where he had stood a moment before. The impact sent ripples through the air, distorting everything around it.

"These things aren't bound by normal physics!" Rook shouted, using his energy blade to parry an incoming strike. "They're manipulating time itself!"

Idris gritted his teeth. "Then we need to stop thinking in linear terms."

Closing his eyes, he reached deep into his own connection to time—the strange power he had only begun to understand. He focused, feeling the pull of the city's energy, and then—

The world slowed.

The constructs moved at half-speed, their attacks suddenly predictable. Idris dodged effortlessly, weaving through them as if he had rehearsed every move a thousand times.

He grabbed Elise's wrist, pulling her out of harm's way just as one of the creatures attempted to skewer her.

"Whoa—what did you just do?!" she gasped.

Idris didn't have time to answer. The moment he released his focus, time snapped back to normal, and the constructs adapted instantly.

One of them surged forward, and for a split second, Idris saw something within its shifting form—a memory.

A Sa'Khel warrior, locked in battle. A desperate attempt to seal away the Echo before it consumed them all.

These weren't just machines.

They were fragments of the past.

The realization sent a jolt through him. "They're not just guards—they're echoes of the Sa'Khel! They're trapped in a time loop, reliving their last moments."

Nyla's eyes widened. "Then maybe… they're not our enemies."

The constructs paused, as if sensing her words.

The city trembled, and a pathway suddenly opened—a bridge of pure light leading toward the floating structure at the city's heart.

The Eidolon Core was within reach.

But as Idris took a step forward, the spectral figure from before reappeared.

"You have their attention," it said. "But be warned—the Echo is closer than you think."

And in the distance, something roared.