CHAPTER TWO:The Return Of The Others
Elianah
The moment the soul oath was spoken, Elianah felt it — a ripple, deep and wide, like a gong struck inside the fabric of the world.
She had felt the soul-bond before.
But this?
This was a summoning.
"They're coming," she whispered, eyes lifting to the stars above — which now pulsed like an ancient signal. "The Others."
Kael nodded, already turning toward the forest.
"They heard us."
Elsewhere...
Far beyond the veil of memory, in corners of the world untouched by history, the others stirred.
Aislen, waking in the middle of a burning dream, her hands glowing gold, her breath caught in her chest. "They're back," she whispered. "It's beginning again."
Soren, standing at the edge of the monastery library, saw books open themselves, pages fluttering to the same phrase: When the oath is spoken, the gates shall stir.
Selene, her mirror cracked without cause. In its reflection, she saw her own eyes — but older. Wiser. "No," she breathed. "Not again."
The oath had unlocked what time had hidden.
They had all sworn it once — in lives before this one.
And now, like sleeping codes, their memories began to wake.
Kael
"We need to gather them," he said, his voice resolute. "Before the Shadow finds us first."
Elianah frowned. "The Shadow?"
He nodded. "It never dies. It only forgets — and waits. Just like we do."
She felt a chill in the wind then, unnatural.
The trees began to bend toward them, whispering in a language she almost recognized.
And out from the woods came a figure — tall, limping slightly, wrapped in cloth that shimmered with light and ash.
"Took you both long enough," he said.
Elianah blinked. "Do I… know you?"
The figure pulled back his hood. A boy, maybe nineteen.
A jagged scar across his cheek, and eyes that blazed too ancient for his youth.
"Name's Thorne." He smirked. "In your last life, you killed me. Twice."
Kael stepped forward. "Then why help us now?"
Thorne shrugged. "Because this time, if we don't win — none of us get to reincarnate again