The ravine took them in.
Stone walls shot up on either side, climbing so tall that dawn's glow cracked into pieces across their edges. The breeze here felt chillier, thick with a stony smell - like buried ruins or things never spoken of. Boots thudded against rock, sound zipping back as though the cliffs had ears.
No one said anything - close to sixty seconds passed. Then someone coughed.
Not due to lack of will - yet each breath meant struggling with fear.
Ayla slumped by the rock, breathing hard, droplets gathering near her temples. Somewhere mid-sprint, her hands went numb - no sensation left. Her thighs quivered, shaky like loose wires. Not because she was tired. Because of what that voice had said.
A chill, strange voice - no actual speech, yet somehow it crept right inside her mind. It didn't talk; it seeped through like a shadow slipping under a door.
You cannot escape.
Her stomach turned.
She still sensed that trace - cold, slow drops running through her head.
Jalen approached first.
He kept his hands off her. Not once had he reached out, except when it was unavoidable - his quiet way just wasn't built for impulsive gestures. Still, he stayed near, so she picked up on him being there, like a steady pull bringing her mind back in line.
"Ayla," he said softly. "Look at me."
She raised her gaze.
His eyes stayed locked on her, clear and intent. "So you made it," he told her. "No harm done."
She gasped. "Jalen... that thing said something."
"I know."
"It's still there."
He tensed up - just a bit. "Inside your head?"
She nodded.
Kade shuffled behind them, restless - like something caged - fingers pressed into his hair, whispering "no way, no way" without pause. Mira propped herself against the stone, face tight, grumbling insults toward whatever ran this messed-up world. Eli kept staring at the canyon's mouth, tense, half-sure the wall of sand might rise again just to drag them back.
Ayla pushed up, straightening her back.
She was necessary. Not because she seemed weak - far from that. Because she caught whispers before anyone else did. She felt threats coming, like a chill down her spine. Others followed her lead, whether they'd say so or not.
She swallowed hard. "We need to move deeper."
Mira's eyes snapped open. "Into the canyon? We don't even know what's inside!"
Jalen answered calmly, "We know what's outside."
The ground shook a little, like it was agreeing with him.
Kade raised a hand. "Okay, just so everyone's on the same page—out there is a giant, sand-eating, mind-whispering nightmare that tried to… I don't know, touch Ayla's brain. In here, we might run into bandits, traps, ancient death tunnels, or some mutant canyon bat thing that wants to eat our ribs."
Ayla gave a quick blink. "Now that's oddly precise."
"I'm just pointing out," he said, waving an arm like a windmill. It might actually go down.
"The canyon offers cover," Jalen cut in. "Less visibility. Harder for something that size to navigate."
Eli adjusted his glasses nervously. "But if the creature can sense us… Won't it just follow?"
Ayla put her palm against the cold rock surface.
The canyon trembled softly under her hand. A low buzz, nothing loud. Not scary - just ancient. Heavy. The sort of stillness that saw empires grow, then fall apart.
"No," she murmured. "It lost us when the rock swallowed the sound. It relies on movement through the sand. The canyon breaks that."
Jalen gave a quick nod. "Let's move."
They lined up one after another - Jalen led the way, then came Ayla, followed by Eli right in the middle, Mira tagged on beside him, while Kade brought up the end.
The gap got tighter real fast.
The walls closed in, worn down by years until they looked like broken bones. Yet shadows reached out - thin, dark blades able to swallow whatever lurked nearby. Now and then, a breeze slipped through, bringing soft whistles from far-off passages, almost like quiet cries.
Kade muttered, "Whoever built this place didn't believe in straight lines or wide paths."
Mira elbowed him. "No one built it. Nature did."
Kade snorted. "Nature needs therapy."
Eli let out a faint laugh just then - sort of shaky, kind of quiet.
Ayla stayed quiet. Not because she wanted to, but because she wasn't able. That hushed voice from before clung on, tucked deep inside her thoughts - not loud, just there.
Watching.
She held the canyon's edge while they crept ahead. Cold rock under her palm seemed quiet yet breathing, pulsing like a slow heartbeat she didn't understand. Not spellwork. Not ghost stuff. More like it was watching.
Almost thirty minutes on foot brought them to a bigger cave, where the gorge branched off in three directions.
Jalen stopped.
Kade groaned. "Oh, great. A choose-your-own-death hallway."
Mira shot him a look. "Can you shut up for five minutes?"
"I could. But would it comfort you to know that silence increases the chance we'll be ambushed?"
"No."
"Then you're welcome."
Eli stepped closer to Ayla. "Can you sense anything? Any… danger?"
She took a deep breath, then shut her eyes tight.
At first - just silence. Then, a faint whisper of air slips through gaps.
But then—
A faint tremor.
A soft hum under the rock.
A pulse.
Not a threat.
Not the creature.
Something else.
Ayla blinked awake. "Go left," she said
Jalen said, "Are you sure?"
"No," she said honestly. "But the left path feels… warmer."
Kade blinked. "Warmer?? That's your instinct? Seriously? That's what we're going with?"
Mira nudged his shoe. "She's someone we count on."
Kade raised his hands defensively. "I trust her! I just want to know if we're trusting her intuition or her temperature sense."
Ayla looked at him. "It's not temperature. It's…" She exhaled, searching for words. "Like the stone is breathing there."
Kade paled slightly. "Okay, that's worse. That's much worse. Lead the way."
They went down the left trail.
While moving ahead, the gorge opened up once more. Odd signs showed up along the sides - narrow cuts carved deep into stone, tracing the rock's flow yet splitting off like tree roots. He moved close to a mark, then ran his fingertips across the engravings.
"These aren't erosion," he whispered. "They're deliberate."
Jalen stepped up beside him. "You got something to say?"
"Maybe," Eli murmured. "Or a map. Or…" He frowned deeply. "…Or a warning."
Ayla was pulled toward some marks set in a ring. Not ones she knew - but the layout tugged at a thought half-buried. Like a broken piece of something lost. A feeling of being elsewhere - maybe another gorge? Could've been a shrine. Maybe just sleep.
Her fingers felt a buzz while she followed the mark.
A sudden sting raced up her arm.
She sucked in air while stepping backward.
Jalen grabbed her arm right away. "Ayla - hold up!"
She blinked fast, trying to calm her breathing. "I'm okay - just... caught off guard."
Yet she didn't seem shocked. Instead, her hands trembled.
For just a moment - not even that - she glimpsed something foreign. It didn't belong to her at all.
A heavy stone door. Yet solid, built to last ages.
Chiseled using matching marks.
Buried deep underground.
And behind it—
light.
Soft, glowing, unreal brightness.
Mira was staring at her. "You okay? You look like you saw a ghost."
Ayla swallowed. "Not a ghost. A memory."
"Yours?" Eli said, his voice tight with worry.
She moved her head from side to side, softly. "Nah."
Jalen's face went stiff. "Get going," he said, nudging forward."
They continued deeper.
The trail dipped down - easy at first, yet soon steeper, turning into a rough slope of cracked stone. The air turned colder fast. Sounds echoed strongly, hitting walls from hidden rooms.
Kade whispered, "Does anyone feel like we're walking into a beast's ribcage?"
"Yeah," Mira said really quietly.
Eli added, "Please stop whispering."
Ayla's steps slowed.
The rock under her boots pulsed once more - sharper now, beating like a drum in steady waves. It got noisier while they moved toward a curve in the rocky walls.
Her hand touched the wall, pushing slightly.
The canyon echoed back.
A soft vibration.
A pulse.
A noise from inside the stone - slow, echoing, old.
Her breath caught.
Jalen noticed. "Ayla?"
"There's something ahead," she whispered. "Not danger. Not exactly. But… something alive."
Kade groaned. "Fantastic. We traded one nightmare for another."
Mira slapped his arm. "Shut up, Kade."
Ayla moved ahead, her fingertips brushing the rock while tracing the vibration. Then - suddenly - the trail widened, uncovering a huge cave that seemed like another realm tucked within this one.
Light slipped through a gap up high - sunbeams split into gold streaks, lighting the room like some forgotten church. Water-formed spikes hung overhead, shining like icy knives coated in tiny stones. The floor dipped low into a flat hollow where pale gray powder lay, twinkling slightly every time air moved.
In the middle of the cave sat…
A monolith.
Tall.
Smooth.
Black rock, sort of shiny like glass.
Covered with the same marks carved into the canyon's sides.
Ayla's heart stumbled.
Her heartbeat matched the rock's hum.
She noticed Jalen move up next to her.
"What is this?" he murmured.
Eli's voice was trembling. "This isn't natural… this was placed here."
Mira moved ahead slowly. "Who put it there?"
Ayla murmured the first thought that came into her head -
"By whatever is searching for us."
Jalen spun around to face her. "Ayla - "
The cavern trembled.
Softly at first.
Then stronger.
Sand trickled down from the gap up high. Small stones bounced over dirt, moving quickly. The tall stone flickered with a soft light within - steady, pulsing, almost breathing.
Ayla's mind prickled.
That feeling - the kind that came from the sand hills - touched her mind once more.
Softer now. No rough edges.
Gentle.
Calling.
You are close.
Ayla grabbed her heart.
Mira shouted, "What is happening?!"
Kade backed away from the monolith. "Okay, okay, okay—NOPE—turning around—this is cursed—this is so cursed—"
Jalen took hold of Ayla's shoulders. "Tell me what's going through your?"
She opened her mouth but stopped short
The cave echoed with a loud, rumbling noise.
A heartbeat.
Not theirs.
Not human.
The big stone lit up more.
The canyon shook.
And Ayla whispered—
"It's waking up."