Chapter 27: Echoes of the Forgotten
The Shrouded Awakening
Jorath couldn't move.
The weight of the presence before them was suffocating, pressing against his very existence. It wasn't just the air that felt heavy—it was time itself, thickened as if something ancient had stirred from beyond the flow of reality.
The voice—low, reverberating—was neither kind nor hostile. It simply was.
"You have forgotten my name."
The words sent a shiver down Jorath's spine. Not just from the voice itself, but from the unshakable feeling that they were standing before something outside of history.
The Forgotten One watched them, its presence shifting like a mirage. It had no true form—only a vague, humanoid silhouette wrapped in darkness, its eyes burning like twin voids.
Eryndra's fingers twitched. A sorceress of her caliber should have been able to decipher the nature of this being. And yet… her expression was one of uncertainty.
"What are you?" she whispered.
A long silence. Then, the entity stepped forward—or perhaps it didn't. Its movement defied logic, existing in multiple places at once before settling into a single form.
"I am that which was cast aside. That which even gods turned away from."
The temperature dropped. The very forest recoiled at its words.
Jorath's grip on his sword tightened. His instincts screamed at him to run, but his body refused to obey.
Arlen swallowed. "That's… not ominous at all."
The entity's eyes shifted toward her. Arlen froze instantly, as if the very concept of her existence had been acknowledged by something far beyond her understanding.
Then, its gaze returned to Jorath.
"You bear the scent of the Rift… and yet you are not of it."
Jorath's jaw clenched. "I don't answer to the Abyss."
The entity seemed amused. "Nor do I."
A flicker of relief ran through him—if only for a second. This was not another Abyssal Lord.
But then… what was it?
Eryndra finally spoke again, her voice more steady now. "You said you were cast aside. By who?"
The shadows around them stirred, rippling like ink dropped in water.
"By those who call themselves gods."
A sharp crack of energy split the air. The mention of the gods sent a jolt through the surroundings, as if even speaking of them had consequences.
Vauron, who had remained silent this whole time, finally muttered, "What in the hells did we just wake up?"
---
The Eternal Dominion Reacts
Solstice Hold – The Grand Hall of Concordance
Far above, in the radiant halls of Solstice Hold, the gods watched.
The divine projections of the Eternal Dominion flickered with unease. Even among their vast knowledge, even with their dominion over reality itself, there was something… wrong.
The seal had been shattered.
The thing beneath had woken up.
And yet—
It was not Abyssal.
It was not of them.
It was something lost to even their records.
Callis Veradin's expression remained unreadable as he gazed down upon the unfolding events. His voice, though calm, carried an unspoken tension.
"The Forgotten One has returned."
Lysara turned to him sharply. "Then it was not truly erased from existence."
"No. And that is why we must act."
The gathered Dominion figures murmured in agreement. Divine energy crackled in the air, the very concept of judgment manifesting around them.
But Callis raised a hand.
"Not yet."
A silence fell over the room.
One of the lower-ranking gods—a lesser Archon—narrowed their eyes. "You intend to let it roam free?"
Callis's gaze did not waver. "No. But if we do not understand what we are dealing with, we risk something far worse than its mere existence."
Lysara exhaled sharply. "Then what do you propose?"
The High Primarch turned his eyes back to the mortal world, to the figures standing before the Forgotten One.
"We let the mortals test its nature first."
---
The Abyss Watches
The Rift of Unmaking – The Abyssal Court
Within the depths of the Abyss, something stirred.
The lords of the void—those who had devoured countless realities—felt it.
Something was wrong.
The Forgotten One did not belong to them. It did not carry the taint of the Rift. And yet… it had awoken from beneath their prison.
The Abyss did not fear much.
But it feared the unknown.
A voice—cold and infinite—whispered through the formless dark.
"If it is not ours… then whose is it?"
For the first time in eternity, the Abyss did not have an answer.
And that was unacceptable.
---
A Reckoning Approaches
Back in the Black Hollow Forest
Jorath finally found his voice again. "What do you want?"
The Forgotten One tilted its head. "What do you fear?"
The question was not rhetorical.
A pulse of energy rippled outward. Shadows twisted unnaturally, forming shifting images—scenes drawn from their very thoughts.
Jorath saw flashes of battlefields—of bodies he had failed to save, of chains binding him to something unseen.
Eryndra saw a sigil burning away, its meaning lost to time, its warnings unheard.
Vauron saw the endless abyss of failure, of not being strong enough when it truly mattered.
Arlen saw herself alone, standing in the ruins of everything she had fought for.
The images disappeared as quickly as they had formed.
The Forgotten One spoke again. "Your fears are chains. But they are also doors."
It took another step forward.
And for the first time, Jorath noticed something else.
Despite its overwhelming presence…
It did not attack them.
It had no hostility.
Instead, it seemed almost… curious.
"Do you wish to understand what lies beyond the veil?"
Jorath exhaled. "And if we say no?"
The entity did not smile—because it had no face—but somehow, the feeling of amusement radiated from it.
"Then you remain blind. And the world moves on without you."
Another pulse of energy crackled through the air.
Something changed in that moment.
The night sky above rippled unnaturally, as if the very fabric of reality had bent under unseen pressure.
Far away, in the divine halls of the Dominion, Callis Veradin rose to his feet.
In the depths of the Abyss, the shadows hissed in unison.
And in the mortal world—
The Forgotten One extended its hand toward Jorath.
"Step forward, mortal. And I shall show you what the gods have hidden from you."
The world held its breath.