The First Signs of Awakening

The silence in the chamber was thick, pressing, like the air itself had weight.

Mira's breathing was sharp, controlled. "Alright. We're leaving. Right now."

No one argued at first.

The vision of the Ogryn and the Vairlith still clung to the air, a memory burned into the stone itself.

But then Tomas hesitated. His gaze drifted to the massive, carved door, the flickering runes around its edges. Some still pulsed with weak light. Others had gone dark.

"Something's wrong," he muttered.

Leila turned on him. "Yeah. Something's wrong. Everything is wrong. That's why we're leaving."

Beren huffed, resting his axe on his shoulder. "We just gonna run? Feels like a waste."

Mira's eyes narrowed. "A waste? What part of 'this is a goddamn sacrifice chamber' did you not understand?" She jabbed a finger toward the carvings. "We saw what happened here. The Ogryns weren't just fighting—they were dying on purpose to keep that thing locked up."

Tomas didn't argue, but he didn't move either.

Instead, he stepped closer to the door.

Mira growled under her breath. "Tomas."

His voice was tight. "If they sealed it generations ago, why is the door only just now starting to weaken?"

Silence.

Leila shifted uneasily. "You think something from outside is breaking it open?"

Tomas exhaled slowly. "I don't know. But—"

Then, the ground rumbled beneath them.

Not an earthquake. Not a collapse.

Something shifted inside the ruins.

And the door moved.

Something is Changing

The stone door groaned, shifting just an inch.

Not enough to open.

Just enough to breathe.

A gust of foul, heavy air pushed through the gap, cold and suffocating, carrying a scent that hit them all at once.

Rot. Stale blood. And something deeper.

The smell of something ancient waking up.

Mira swallowed bile. "Nope. Absolutely not. We're leaving. Right now."

Tomas stepped back, nodding slowly. "Yeah. Agreed."

For once, Beren didn't argue. He tensed, gripping his axe, shifting his stance as if expecting something to come bursting through.

Arlan wasn't looking at the door.

He was looking at the walls.

Watching as the glowing runes flickered, some brightening—others snuffing out entirely.

It wasn't just the door shifting.

The seal itself was breaking.

And they had triggered it.

Something Else is Here

"Alright, we're leaving," Tomas said, turning away. "Back the way we came—"

Leila stiffened. "Wait."

They froze.

Leila's hand was on her bow, her head slightly tilted.

Listening.

Watching.

Something felt off.

Mira frowned. "Leila?"

"…We're not alone."

Beren scoffed. "Obviously. that monster is waking up."

Leila shook her head. "No. I mean—we're being watched."

Tomas immediately drew his sword. "Where?"

Leila's eyes flicked to the far wall.

At first, it was just stone.

Then—she saw it.

A marking.

Freshly carved.

It wasn't there before.

It was small, almost imperceptible—but it matched the symbol the Vairlith had traced on the dying Ogryn.

The one that marked him as an offering.

Mira's voice was barely above a whisper. "That wasn't there before."

Tomas took a slow breath. "We're not alone."

The Collapse

"Alright, time to move," Mira hissed, stepping back toward the exit.

Tomas followed. "Agreed. We head back—"

Then, before they could take another step—The path behind them collapsed.

A deep, thunderous crack as the ceiling gave way, stone crumbling in a violent roar.

Dust filled the air, cutting their vision to near blackness.

Tomas coughed, shaking off debris. "Is everyone—"

His words died in his throat.

The rubble wasn't natural.

It had fallen in a perfect blockade.

Like something had made it happen.

Like something had led them here.

The Whisper

Silence.

Not just absence of noise—true, suffocating silence.

Even the torches barely flickered, as if afraid to move.

Then—

A voice.

Not spoken. Not echoed.

Just a whisper, threaded through the stone itself.

"You came to listen."

The torches snuffed out.

Total darkness.