Chapter 41: The Entity Within

The stone tablet in the Chamber of Echoes pulsed faintly, its runes glowing in sync with Skully's mark. The air was thick with tension as I studied the ancient text, my heart pounding with each word I deciphered.

"It says the rune is a seal," I said, my voice trembling. "A binding meant to contain a powerful entity. But it doesn't say what kind of entity—or why it was sealed."

Skully's rune flickered, the faint red light growing brighter. *"So… I'm basically a walking prison?"*

"Not just a prison," I replied, my mind racing. "The tablet says the entity was sealed because it was too dangerous to exist freely. If the seal breaks…"

*"It'll get out,"* Skully finished, his voice unusually solemn. *"And it'll probably destroy everything."*

I clenched my fists, my resolve hardening. "We can't let that happen. We need to figure out how to strengthen the seal—or at least control it."

Skully hesitated, his eye sockets narrowing. *"What if… what if the entity isn't all bad, Master? What if it's just misunderstood?"*

I looked at him, my stomach twisting. "Skully, if this thing was sealed away, there's a reason. We can't take that risk."

He nodded, but there was a flicker of doubt in his eye sockets. *"You're right, Master. But what if it's a part of me? What if I'm not… whole without it?"*

I didn't know how to respond to that. Skully had always been a mystery, even to himself. But now, with the rune acting up and the voice in his head growing louder, it felt like we were on the edge of uncovering something big. Something dangerous.

"We'll figure it out," I said, placing a hand on his bony shoulder. "But we need to be careful. If this thing is trying to mess with you, we can't let it win."

Skully's rune glowed brighter for a moment, the red light fading as the golden light took over. *"You're right, Master. We'll face this together."*

But as I looked at him, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were running out of time. The voice in his head, the flickering rune—it was all connected. And if we didn't figure it out soon, we might lose more than just the balance we'd fought so hard to restore.