The night wind slithered through the forest like a warning no one wanted to hear.
Kaelira sat alone on the riverbank, sword resting across her knees, her reflection wavering in the dark water. She had been silent for hours, listening to the pulse of the world. The night should have been calm, but instead, a faint tremor lingered beneath the earth. A vibration only someone like her could sense.
The moment it struck, Kaelira's eyes snapped open.
Cold wind.
A breath that didn't belong to nature.
Footsteps of something marching far beyond the trees.
A whisper of an ancient power stirring in its sleep.
Her grip tightened. Slowly, she rose to her feet.
"…Something is coming."
Kaelira scanned the forest around her, silent, heavy, waiting. In the distance, she heard branches crack. Not from a beast. Not from the wind.
From something far more organised.
She turned instantly, sprinting into the night. Her boots hit the soil in rapid strides as she dashed toward the deeper forest. She didn't run out of fear.
She ran to find the source.
To stop the danger if she could.
"What is this, why is this happening all of a sudden?"
The humming in the air grew faintly stronger as she moved. A sound beyond human hearing. Something old. Something familiar. Something she wished never to hear again.
Kaelira muttered under her breath, voice trembling.
"Arathen… why now?"
The forest exhaled cold mist around her as she vanished into the trees.
Meanwhile, in Edward's home, silence rested gently over the small wooden room. Alan lay on his mat near the fire, his breath slow and shaky from the nightmare that had clawed its way into his sleep.
The embers crackled softly, lighting the room with a faint orange glow.
Then-
HUMMMMMMMMM…
A low vibration slid through the walls.
Alan's eyes opened instantly.
The sound wasn't loud.
It wasn't sharp.
It wasn't even fully audible.
But it called to him.
His heart thumped once, too hard.
He sat up.
Across the room, Edward slept like a rock, drooling into his pillow. Meera was in the next room, her fragile breath steady. They didn't react to the sound at all.
Alan whispered, "What is that…?"
As if responding, the hum grew slightly louder.
His chest tightened.
Alan rose carefully, the floorboards cold under his feet.
He reached for the sword resting against the wall.
Creek.
A tiny sound escaped the wood. Edward twitched in his sleep. "Mm… Alan… don't eat all the bread… mmm… It's mine…" he mumbled, turning over with a soft snore.
Alan froze.
He didn't even breathe.
When Edward settled, Alan slowly exhaled, his shoulders dropping in relief.
Alan hesitated. He didn't want to sound insane.
He didn't want to worry Meera.
He didn't want to sound cursed.
But the sound pulsed again.
"Hummmm…"
Alan exhaled._"I need to follow it."_
"I have to. Something's wrong. Something… connected to me."
He moved toward the corner where Edward's spare training sword leaned against the wall.
With controlled, silent steps, he moved toward the door. He slowly takes out Edward's sword, Not a single board groaned this time.
He placed his hand on the latch-slow… gentle… careful…
Click.
The door opened.
Alan stepped into the cold night air, pulling his cloak tight. The humming drifted again from the distant trees, like a breath in the darkness.
He didn't look back.
He walked into the night.
He stepped outside quietly.
The moment his feet touched the soil.
"Hummmm…"
The sound grew clearer, drifting from the direction of the Black Forest.
Alan froze.
The same forest that the villagers avoided.
The same forest is rumoured to swallow people whole.
The same forest that was Alan's nightmare.
Alan swallowed hard.
The humming pulled him like a thread tied around his chest.
He took a step.
Then another.
The forest loomed ahead, dark and massive, the trees twisting like giants frozen mid-scream. The moonlight barely touched the entrance, as if even the sky feared to reach inside.
Alan reached the boundary.
His heart pounded. But still not in fear. Not from the sound. Instead, something strange bloomed inside him.
A familiarity.
A warmth.
A soft ache in his chest.
"…Why does this feel like I've been here before?"
He didn't know the answer.
But he stepped into the Black Forest.
The darkness swallowed him whole.
The air was colder, thicker, almost alive. Shadows moved strangely, bending where the light didn't fall. His sword felt heavier in his hand, not from weight, but from the tension in the air wrapping around it.
The whispering trees rustled.
But the humming grew louder.
Alan followed it deeper, guided by instinct alone. Every step he took felt like a step toward something buried deep within him.
Something waiting.
Hours passed or maybe only minutes. Time bent strangely in the Black Forest. Eventually, Alan reached a narrow cliffside path, hidden behind twisted roots and thick vines.
A cavern entrance yawned at the base of the stone wall.
The humming vibrated from within.
Alan froze.
The cave was pitch-black. Its mouth was shaped like a gaping beast, ready to devour anyone who dared step inside. The air from within was unnaturally cold, brushing past his skin like a dead hand.
Alan's breath trembled.
"Do I… really go inside?"
His hands shook slightly.
Fear.
Curiosity.
Something deeper, something he couldn't name.
But the hum called again.
Alan gritted his teeth and stepped in.
The darkness consumed him instantly. He had no torch, only the weak moonlight leaking from behind. But he moved slowly, hand brushing along the damp stone wall, sword in the other hand.
The deeper he went, the louder the humming became.
And the colder. His breath fogged. His thoughts spiralled.
"Why am I hearing this?
Why me? Is this… connected to my past?
Who am I?"
Alan's grip tightened on the sword hilt.
Then-
A faint blue light flickered ahead. Alan stopped breathing for a moment.
He stepped forward slowly, the cave walls trembling with the vibration of the hum. The blue glow grew brighter, illuminating the jagged stone floor.
At the very centre of the cavern…
A small, shining blue crystal floated just above the ground, pulsing gently like a heartbeat.
Alan's heart thudded.
"It's beautiful…"
But it wasn't the beauty that drew him closer.
It was the pull. Like invisible hands gently urging him. He reached out slowly-but paused inches away.
His hand trembled.
"What… are you?"
No answer.
Only the humming, soft but commanding.
Alan swallowed hard and extended his fingers.
The moment his skin brushed the crystal.
TIME BROKE.
The world froze.
The air stopped.
His breath halted in his chest.
The cave walls rippled like liquid glass.
Alan's eyes widened.
"What- what's happening?!"
A blinding flash exploded around him. And the cave vanished.
Alan fell-
Through nothing. Through darkness. Through silence. A void swallowed him whole.
Then-
A spark of light- Small, Distant, Growing.
It expanded rapidly, swallowing the darkness. Alan shielded his eyes as the brightness burst outward like a sun exploding.
When the light faded
Alan stood in the middle of an ancient world.
Everything moved in light-speed motion around him. Seasons changed in seconds. Civilisations rose and fell. Storms formed and vanished. Clans marched across vast lands, dressed in armour long forgotten by history.
Alan's breath shook.
He stepped forward in the vision as if weightless.
He watched people travel in groups-families, warriors, nomads, tribes-each wearing distinct crests signifying their clans. Fires burned in gathering circles. Children played near rivers. Elders told stories beneath starry skies.
Then- The sound of horns shattered the peace.
An army of thousands surged across the land, weapons gleaming, and banners raised high.
Their roar shook the heavens.
Alan stumbled back.
A voice whispered in the vision deep, echoing, ancient.
"THE WORLD … TREMBLED."
Clans united desperately, forming alliances out of fear. Warriors from every corner of Arathen marched to the battlefield.
Then Alan saw him.
A lone man.
Standing on a burning hill. Hair whipped in the raging wind. Eyes glowing with an inhuman ferocity. Aura erupting like wildfire. His presence alone scorched the ground around him.
He raised a banner.
A black banner.
Its emblem- blurred, unreadable—radiated terror.
The united clans charged toward him.
He walked forward alone.
And the world burned.
Fire swallowed forests. Mountains cracked.
Rivers boiled.
The sky turned red.
Bodies piled like fallen leaves.
People screamed-crying, begging, dying.
Alan's knees buckled.
His hands shook violently.
His breath came in ragged gasps.
"No… n-no… stop… Ahhh..."
The man's aura expanded, consuming everything.
Alan felt like he was suffocating.
Then-
The vision stopped.
Everything froze.
Then shattered-
And the world yanked him backwards.
The cave returned.
The crystal lay shattered on the ground.
Alan collapsed, gasping for breath, sweat pouring down his face. His entire body trembled uncontrollably.
"T-That man… that war… all those people… what… what did I just see…?"
His voice cracked. His chest hurt. He could still hear the screams. Alan staggered to his feet, gripping the cave wall.
He had to get out.
He had to breathe.
He had to escape before the vision crushed his mind.
He stumbled out of the cave, nearly tripping over the roots outside. The world felt too bright, too loud, too real.
The sunlight spilled across the horizon.
Morning.
Alan froze. "It's morning already…?"
He had been inside the vision for hours.
He tightened his grip on the sword and began running-heart pounding, thoughts screaming, fear clawing at his mind.
He had to get back to Edward's house.
He had to tell someone.
He had to understand what he saw.
Alan sprinted through the forest, the weight of Arathen crushing his chest, the vision still burning behind his eyes.
And the humming echo still whispers in his soul.
Alan pushed through the trees, lungs burning, branches whipping against his arms. The forest felt different now- darker than before, the air colder, as if the vision had followed him into the real world.
His footsteps echoed between the trees.
Run… run… run…
He didn't know if he was running toward safety or running away from the memory that clawed inside his skull.
"Edward… Meera… I need to..."
A deep, rumbling growl rolled through the forest.
Alan's feet stopped.
Not because he chose to but because something strangely moved in front of him.
A massive shape dropped from the branches, crushing the ground with its weight. Alan staggered back, eyes widening in pure shock.
A creature towered above him,
not a dragon, but something far more twisted.
Its scales were cracked like burnt stone, glowing faintly between the fractures. Its wings were torn, dripping with a black, tar-like fluid. Its eyes…
Its eyes were wild with hunger and rage, burning like dying embers.
The beast lowered its head, smoke curling from its jagged teeth.
Alan couldn't breathe.
His hand tightened around the sword's hilt until his knuckles turned white. His left arm burned.
The old wound was glowing again, pulsing violently beneath his skin.
The creature took one step forward.
The earth shook. Alan's heartbeat stopped for a second. He swallowed, fear freezing his legs.
The monster opened its mouth. A low hiss leaks out, promising violence. Alan raised his sword, barely holding himself steady.
The forest fell silent. Even the wind stopped.
And in that stillness…
Only one thought echoed in Alan's mind:
"Not now… please… not now…"
The creature lunged.