The Gathering Storm

The tunnels shook with muffled sounds of combat. Aiden's breath came in sharp gasps as he ran along the twisting courses, his mind a maelstrom of thought. The Last Witness's words lingered in his mind.

"Find the heart… before it finds you."

He couldn't shake the sense that time was running through his hands. The further down he descended, the heavier the air grew—heavy with something invisible, something watching.

Up ahead, he saw movement. A flash of firelight.

"Aiden?" he called, slowing his pace.

She stepped out of the shadows, her face smeared with dirt and sweat. Behind her, Kael and the others were standing, battered but alive. Tenwa leaned against the wall of the tunnel, his injured arm bandaged in shredded cloth, blood leaking through.

"Aiden." Elena breathed, relief flashing in her eyes. "Did you find anything?"

He paused. How could he describe what he had witnessed? The truth was too immense to be spoken.

"There's something more," he said at last. "The curse… it wasn't an accident. It was a choice."

Elena furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"The council that governed this land—those men weren't in harmony. Some desired to spare the village. Others envisioned only vengeance." He braced his hands on his hips. "The curse was cast by their own hands. And if we're to shatter it, we must travel to its origin."

There was a silence after that. Then Kael moved ahead.

"Where is the source?"

Aiden swallowed hard. "The heart of the village. Where the ultimate judgment was rendered.

A grim realization came over them.

Tenwa thrust himself up to his feet. "Then we go. Now."

Elena was hesitant. "You're not fit to fight—"

"I don't have to fight," he snarled. "I only need to stand long enough to see this out."

There wasn't time to dispute. The party gathered equipment, checking for guns and wrapping up wounds. Then, in hushed determination, they moved out toward the heart of the village.

Shadows Among Them

The deeper they went, the more the tunnels shifted. The walls ceased to resemble stone but something ancient, etched with symbols that pulsed softly, responding to their presence.

Aiden sensed the curse in every step.

Near the end of the tunnel, Elena tensed. "Wait."

She raised a hand, listening.

And then they heard it—a shuffling, nearly imperceptible. A presence just around the bend.

Aiden and Kael exchanged a look. Someone was tailing them.

Kael nodded to the others to advance, while she and Aiden advanced stealthily on the noise.

A rustling sound—Aiden sprang. His blade bit into flesh, and a muffled gasp escaped the figure he wrestled to the ground.

Light danced across a familiar face.

"Reis?" Aiden's gut plunged.

Reis, one of their own, was pinned under him, his face contorted in agony and something else—guilt.

"Why are you here?" Elena demanded, advancing.

Reis's breath was in ragged gasps. "I—I had no choice."

Kael's eyes narrowed. "You were stalking us."

Aiden recoiled, heart racing. "Why?"

Reis swallowed hard. "Because they made me."

A sickening silence ensued.

Elena's hand clenched on her weapon. "Who?"

A shadow crossed Reis's face. "The ones who control the curse."

Kael's claws flexed. "You're saying—

"I made a bargain," Reis confessed, his voice no more than a whisper. "They knew we were coming. They instructed me to bring you to them."

Elena stared, betrayal crisscrossing her face. "You were going to sell us out?"

Reis nodded, shame clouding his eyes. "I thought… I thought they would spare my life."

Aiden was cold. The curse wasn't a force. It had a will. And it had already dug its claws into one of their own.

"We can't trust him," Kael said, voice cutting.

Elena hesitated. "But we can't leave him here."

Aiden breathed slowly. "He goes with us. But if he tries anything—"

Kael's claws flexed. "I'll be the first to finish it."

Reis ducked his head. He didn't protest.

The Truth Beneath the Stone

They arrived at the center of the village at dawn.

It was no longer a village. The remains lay out in ragged pieces, shattered buildings half-shrouded in centuries of rot. An unnatural stillness hung in the air.

At its center was the stone of judgment.

A great, charred slab, fissured with age, but still weakly throbbing with accursed power. Where the council had convened. Where the village's destiny had been decided.

Aiden advanced, the burden of the Last Witness's words weighing on his mind.

This is where it occurred.

Elena approached. "What do we do next?"

Aiden touched the stone. At once, his vision grew indistinct.

A flood of voices—echoes of the past—

Angry cries. Pleading screams.

A divided council. A decision made.

And in the middle of it all… a face.

Aiden took a step back, his heart pounding.

Elena steadied him. "What did you see?"

Aiden's throat constricted.

"The person who placed the curse." He shook his head. "It wasn't a stranger."

The rest of them stared at him, waiting.

He faced them, his next words barely spoken.

"It was someone from the village."

Elena's eyes were wide. "What?"

Kael tensed. "You're saying…?"

Aiden nodded, dread sinking deep into his bones.

"One of them did this. One of them condemned their own people."

The judgment stone pulsed. The truth had been spoken.

And somewhere in the ruins, something stirred.