Chandel_Neetu

The world ended in fire, tsunamis, and endless catastrophe. Just when humanity faced total annihilation, the last survivors were forcibly transported to isolated islands—each left alone, with nothing but a broken hut and a cryptic system demanding their survival.

Lena, cunning, ruthless, and unyielding, refuses to be controlled. She will carve her own path, build her own strength, and rise higher than anyone expects. But she soon realizes this world is far from empty.

Something stirs beneath the surface. Something watches from the shadows.

He is powerful. Intelligent. Dangerous. And unlike anything—or anyone—she has ever encountered.

He doesn’t belong to the shattered world she left behind. He doesn’t belong to humanity at all.

Their meeting is inevitable. Their fates tangled in ways neither of them understands.

But on an island where the system decides who survives and who perishes, some threats don’t come with claws and teeth. Some are far more seductive. And far deadlier.

Islands of the Forsaken

The fire had nearly died, but the weight of the night hadn't lifted.

Lena stood where the whispering figure had vanished, staring into the darkness. There was no trace of it—no footprints, no movement, nothing. But the words it had spoken lingered in her mind.

She exhaled slowly. (Not the first to be here? Not the first to survive? Then where are the others?)

Behind her, Riven hadn't moved. He stood near the fire, watching her—not impatient, not urging her to return, just waiting.

She turned to him. "You knew what it was."

A pause. Then, calmly—"I knew it wasn't something to fight."

Lena narrowed her eyes. "That's not an answer."

Riven tilted his head slightly, studying her. "Would you have won if you attacked?"

That thing—**whatever it was—**felt different. Not like the Wraith Hounds. Not like anything else she had encountered so far.

Lena finally stepped away from where the figure had been, heading back toward the fire. She crouched, feeding another dry branch into the embers, watching as flames licked hungrily at the wood.

"I'm not going to sit here and wait for it to come back," she muttered.

Riven's expression didn't change. "Good."

She exhaled, rubbing a hand over her face. The exhaustion was creeping in, but she shoved it down. (Rest later. Survive first.)

[System Alert: Hidden Quest Activated]

Objective: Uncover the history of the island.

Lena's stomach tightened. (Now the system reacts? Why now?)

She dismissed the notification and turned to Riven. He was watching her again—too carefully.

Riven didn't deny it. "The system responds when it wants to."

"That doesn't explain why it's reacting to this."

Riven was quiet for a long moment. Then—"Because now, you're asking the right questions."

Lena's grip on her knife tightened. Vague. Always vague.

She wasn't just surviving anymore.

The first hints of dawn crept over the ocean. The stars faded, swallowed by the growing light, but the heaviness in the air remained.

Lena stepped out of the hut, feeling the cool breeze against her skin. The island was the same. The trees still swayed gently. The ocean waves still crashed in the distance.

She felt it in the ground beneath her feet, in the air itself—a shift.

And it wouldn't stay hidden for long.

Chapter 10: Echoes of the Past