**Chapter 35: Into the Unknown**

**Chapter 35: Into the Unknown**

Jack followed the hooded figure into the darkness beyond Eldrin's walls, Shadow padding beside him, his muscles tense. The golden glow of the city dimmed behind them, replaced by the vast, empty wilderness stretching into the horizon. The night air was thick with something unseen—**a presence that whispered beneath the wind.**

The stranger moved silently, their cloak barely shifting as they led Jack further from the safety of the fire. Jack kept his grip firm on his sword, his mind racing. **The Forsaken.** Exiled Keepers who had once wielded the fire of Eldrin. If they had survived all these years, why had they remained hidden? And why now—**after so long—were they stirring?**

Jack broke the silence. "Who are you?"

The stranger did not stop walking, but their voice was calm. "A Keeper, like you. But unlike you, I have spent my life watching the shadows."

Jack frowned. "Watching for what?"

The stranger slowed, turning to face him. In the moonlight, their features were sharp, their face lined with experience beyond their years. "For them," they said. "The ones who never stopped searching for Eldrin's fire. The ones who were cast out, but never truly gone."

Jack felt his pulse quicken. "The Forsaken."

The stranger nodded. "You have done something no Keeper has in centuries. You restored the fire. But in doing so, you lit a beacon for those who were waiting."

Jack exhaled sharply. "And now they're coming."

The stranger's expression darkened. "They were always coming. But now, they know exactly where to strike."

Shadow let out a low growl, his golden eyes locked onto the path ahead. Jack followed his gaze and saw it—a structure hidden deep within the cliffs, its jagged form barely visible against the night sky.

The stranger motioned for Jack to follow. "If you want to understand what you're up against, you must see it for yourself."

Jack tightened his grip on his sword and stepped forward.

The wind howled through the canyon as they descended toward the hidden structure. The path was treacherous, lined with loose stones and sheer drops into darkness. Jack's boots crunched against the ground as he kept his gaze locked ahead, his heartbeat steady but alert. Shadow remained close, his ears twitching at every distant sound.

Jack glanced at the stranger. "What is this place?"

The stranger didn't look back. "A remnant of the past. A sanctuary turned prison."

Jack felt the weight of those words settle over him. As they neared the entrance, the shadows seemed to shift unnaturally. The structure was ancient, built from dark stone, its walls lined with faded carvings that hinted at its forgotten purpose.

They stepped inside, and Jack's breath caught. The air was thick, heavy with an energy he could not yet understand. The chamber they entered was vast, its ceiling lost in darkness. Broken pillars lined the room, and at the center stood **a brazier, unlit but pulsing with dormant power.**

The stranger walked to the brazier and placed a hand on its surface. "This was once a place of learning," they murmured. "Before the Forsaken twisted it into something else."

Jack ran his fingers over the carvings on the wall. The symbols were similar to those in Eldrin, but distorted, as if something had tried to erase or rewrite them. "What happened here?"

The stranger's expression was unreadable. "They tried to claim the fire for themselves. They thought they could reshape it, make it obey them."

Jack turned to face them. "And?"

The stranger's fingers clenched slightly against the brazier. "And they lost themselves to it."

A sudden sound echoed through the chamber—a low, reverberating hum, similar to the one that had rippled through Eldrin the night before. Jack instinctively drew his sword, his body tense. Shadow growled, his stance rigid.

The stranger remained still. "They know we are here."

Jack's grip tightened. "Then let's not keep them waiting."

The brazier **flared to life**, its flames casting long, shifting shadows along the walls. And from the darkness, **figures emerged.**

Jack took a step back as the shadows solidified into humanoid forms, their bodies draped in tattered cloaks, their faces obscured by masks carved with runic symbols. **The Forsaken had been waiting.**

One of them stepped forward, their voice hollow, layered with something unnatural. "You are not welcome here, Keeper."

Jack held his ground. "Neither were you."

The figure tilted its head. "Yet we remain."

Jack glanced at the stranger beside him, whose grip on the brazier tightened. "They cannot be reasoned with," the stranger whispered. "They believe Eldrin belongs to them, and they will not stop until they take it."

Jack exhaled. He had already fought to reclaim Eldrin. He wasn't about to let it fall again.

Raising his sword, he met the Forsaken's gaze. "Then they'll have to go through me."

The Forsaken did not hesitate. In a blur of motion, they **attacked.**

Jack barely had time to block the first strike, his sword clashing against a weapon of pure shadow. The force behind it was immense, pushing him back. Shadow lunged at another Forsaken, his fangs sinking into fabric that seemed to shift and writhe like living darkness.

The chamber erupted into chaos as the battle began. The brazier's flames flickered wildly, casting eerie shadows as the Forsaken moved with unnatural speed. Jack swung his blade, striking true, but his opponent dissolved into smoke before reforming behind him.

The stranger fought beside him, their own blade ignited with the remnants of Eldrin's fire. "They cannot be killed like ordinary men," they warned, slicing through another Forsaken, only for it to reassemble seconds later. "You must sever their connection to the fire they stole!"

Jack's mind raced. **The carvings—the runes were altered, twisted. If they had once been Keepers, their power was bound to something.**

Dodging another strike, he turned his gaze to the brazier. The flames within it pulsed, erratic, as if mirroring the battle. **This was the key.**

"Keep them busy!" Jack called out, sprinting toward the brazier. He thrust his hand into the flame, feeling its heat surge through him. His vision blurred, and suddenly, he saw it—**chains of energy, binding the Forsaken to something deep within the ruins.**

He clenched his fist. **Break the chains.**

Summoning every ounce of strength, Jack poured his fire into the brazier, sending a shockwave through the chamber. The Forsaken screamed as the runes on their masks cracked, their forms flickering wildly.

One by one, they began to vanish, their connection severed.

As the last figure faded into nothingness, the chamber fell silent once more.

Jack staggered back, breathless. Shadow stood beside him, his fur singed but unharmed. The stranger sheathed their blade, their gaze lingering on the dying embers of the brazier.

Jack exhaled. "That was just the beginning, wasn't it?"

The stranger nodded. "They were only scouts. The true battle is still to come."

Jack wiped the sweat from his brow and tightened his grip on his sword.

"Then we'd better be ready."

**To be continued…**