The Watchers in the Dark

The dust settled, leaving the cavern eerily silent.

Malachai stood at the center, his hand still slightly raised, the remnants of golden light flickering away like dying embers. He could feel something change within him. Something beyond just the release of those forsaken souls.

He had just done something impossible.

Riven let out a low whistle, stepping over the remains of the shattered chains. "Well, well. Looks like our dear Malachai has more tricks up his sleeve than we thought."

Dax grunted, rubbing his sore shoulder. "Yeah, but what was that? He just… unmade them."

Senna's grip on her spear was tight. "No. He freed them." She turned toward Malachai, her eyes sharp. "Didn't you?"

Malachai didn't answer immediately. He was still staring at his hands, flexing his fingers. His body felt different.Not weaker, but… less connected.

He could no longer feel the lingering presence of divinity in his veins.

"…They weren't meant to exist," he finally murmured. "They were bound. Twisted. Someone did that to them."

Rex frowned. "But who? And why?"

Before Malachai could respond, the cavern trembled.

The glowing veins along the walls pulsed violently, their light flickering in erratic patterns. A strange whispering sound filled the air, like a hundred voices speaking just out of earshot.

The group instinctively backed into formation. Weapons drawn, eyes scanning the dark.

Then—movement.

At the far end of the cavern, where the red and gold veins converged into a jagged archway, shadows began to stir.

At first, it was subtle. A mere flicker. Then, something stepped forward.

A figure—tall, thin, and draped in robes darker than the void itself. Its face was obscured by a golden mask, featureless except for a single, vertical slit where its eyes should be.

And behind it, more figures emerged.

At least ten. All identical. All silent.

Riven exhaled. "Oh, fantastic. More cryptic weirdos."

Malachai, however, felt a chill creep up his spine. This was different.

The chained souls before had been trapped remnants—half-forgotten echoes of something once divine.

But these beings?

They were watching.

Waiting.

And Malachai had the distinct feeling that they had been observing for a very long time.

One of the figures took a step forward, and when it spoke, its voice was neither deep nor high, neither male nor female. It was just… there.

"You should not have done that."

The cavern felt colder.

Malachai squared his shoulders. "And why not?"

The masked figure tilted its head slightly. "Because it was a lesson."

Senna narrowed her eyes. "A lesson?"

The figure didn't move, but its presence loomed nonetheless.

"You walk among things you do not yet understand," it said. "Breaking the chains of the forsaken is not an act of kindness. It is an act of defiance."

Rex scoffed. "Yeah? Well, we're real good at defiance."

A pause. Then, the masked figure laughed.

Not loud. Not mocking. Just… a simple, unsettling chuckle.

"You misunderstand," it said. "You were not the one being defied."

Malachai's jaw clenched. He understood.

They weren't talking about the group.

They were talking about God.

The whispering sounds around them grew louder. The shadows along the walls seemed to pulse, stretching unnaturally.

Riven twirled his blade. "Alright, I've had enough of the ominous monologue. Are we fighting, or are you just here to creep us out?"

The masked figure stared.

Then, all at once, the cavern shifted.

The walls warped, and the red-gold veins began to twist into symbols— ancient glyphs that burned with unholy light.

Malachai's body tensed. He could feel power radiating from the very air around them.

This wasn't just some hidden ruin.

This was a sanctuary.

A place of watchers.

And they were not welcome.

The ground lurched.

Before anyone could react, the floor beneath them collapsed.

A weightless moment—then the group was falling.

Down, down, into the endless dark.

And as Malachai plummeted, he heard the masked figure's final words, echoing through the abyss:

"May you find the truth before it finds you."