Chapter 244: Beneath the Veil of Silence

The cavern shook violently, sending debris raining from the jagged ceiling. Ochieng barely had time to react before a second claw—black as the abyss—lurched out of the chasm, aiming directly for him.

His body moved on instinct. He twisted, barely dodging the razor-sharp talons that carved through the air. The monstrous appendage retracted, retreating into the shadows below, but the sickening whisper remained.

"You… you are one of us."

The words slithered into his mind like a parasite. Ochieng staggered back, gripping his temple as an unbearable pressure coiled around his thoughts.

Lin Feng, still gripping his twin daggers, stepped in beside him. "What the hell was that?"

Cassandra's face had turned pale. Her holo-scanner flickered violently, distorting like static interference. "I don't know. But this—this thing recognizes him."

Ochieng's breathing was unsteady. He could feel something crawling beneath his skin, something stirring inside him, trying to rise.

A memory.

A flicker of a past he didn't remember.

The abyssal voice returned, stronger now. "Do you not remember, Ochieng?"

He gasped, stumbling against a cracked pillar. "No—" He clenched his fists. "I don't know you."

A deep, grating laughter rumbled from the depths. "Oh, but you do."

Then the darkness moved.

A monstrous form—black as midnight, taller than any beast Ochieng had seen before—crawled from the abyss.

Its eyes, burning silver, locked onto him.

And the past he had forgotten came crashing back.

Twelve Years Ago…

Ochieng stood before a lake—but it was no ordinary lake. The water wasn't blue; it was a reflective obsidian, like a mirror into the abyss itself. He was younger then, barely seven, and beside him stood a man wrapped in deep emerald robes.

The man knelt beside him, his golden eyes flashing with something unreadable. "You must never forget, Ochieng. The blood in your veins is not ordinary."

The lake stirred. A ripple moved across its surface, and then—a hand emerged from beneath.

But the hand wasn't human. It was clawed, monstrous, shifting like liquid darkness.

Ochieng had wanted to run, but his feet were rooted to the ground.

The man beside him had only smiled. "One day, the past will call for you."

And then—the memory ended.

Back to the Present…

Ochieng's eyes snapped open.

The monster in the cavern—it knew him.

The connection between them was undeniable.

Lin Feng moved in front of him, weapons raised. "Whatever you are, back the hell off!"

But the abyssal beast only chuckled. "You still do not remember everything, do you?"

The ground beneath them began to crack.

Cassandra's voice was sharp with urgency. "We need to move, NOW."

Ochieng didn't hesitate. He spun on his heel, dashing toward the exit. Lin Feng and Cassandra followed, but the monster was faster.

It moved with impossible speed—one moment lurking in the chasm, the next emerging before them, blocking their path.

"You cannot run," it said. "Not from what you are."

Ochieng gritted his teeth. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The beast's silver eyes gleamed. "Then let me show you."

And then—it lunged.