Chapter 28: Visions of the Root
Adrian had grown used to the pendant's pulses — faint warmth during training, sudden flares in danger, whispers in ruins. But now, a week after Elias's warning, it changed again.
It began with dreams.
He woke in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, heart pounding. The pendant glowed faintly on his chest, and images lingered in his mind: streets swallowed by emerald light, figures standing on rooftops, hunters scattering like shadows. He tried to shake it off, but the visions returned every night, sharper, heavier.
By the third night, he stopped pretending they were dreams. The pendant wasn't whispering anymore. It was showing him.
Leah noticed first. "You're pale," she said one morning at the office, her voice low. "You haven't slept."
Adrian forced a smile. "Just… long nights."
But she didn't buy it. Later, when they trained in the warehouse, she pressed harder. "The relic's changing, isn't it?"
Adrian hesitated, then nodded. "It's showing me things. Visions. The city, but not as it is. As it was. Or maybe as it will be."
Elias frowned, arms crossed. "Relics don't give visions lightly. They're warnings. Or burdens. What did you see?"
Adrian swallowed hard. "Emerald light flooding the streets. Hunters scattering. And… people. Ordinary people, standing together, holding fragments of something. Like the cavern, but alive."
Isabella's eyes widened. "My grandmother wrote about that. She said the relic sometimes revealed glimpses of balance — moments when the city stood on the edge, when ordinary people carried extraordinary weight."
Elias shook his head. "Visions are dangerous. They make you believe in destiny. They blind you to discipline."
Adrian clenched his fists, pendant glowing faintly against his chest. "But what if they're not just illusions? What if they're guidance? The relic isn't just binding me. It's showing me what's coming."
Silence hung heavy. Leah stepped closer, her voice steady. "Then we prepare. If the relic is showing you hunters scattering, maybe it's telling you how to fight them. If it's showing people carrying fragments, maybe it's telling you we're not alone."
Elias muttered, "Or maybe it's telling you you'll fail if you chase shadows."
Adrian looked at him, then at Leah and Isabella. He felt the weight pressing down heavier than ever, but for once, it didn't crush him. It steadied him.
That night, the visions returned. Adrian stood in the middle of a street, emerald light flooding the city. Hunters hissed in the shadows, their eyes glowing faintly. But behind him stood people — dozens, maybe hundreds — carrying fragments of stone, their faces ordinary but their presence extraordinary.
The pendant pulsed brighter, flooding his chest with warmth. Adrian gasped, whispering to himself. "Chosen vessel. Guardian of roots. Defy fate."
He woke with tears in his eyes, chest heaving, pendant glowing faintly. Leah sat nearby, watching him. She had stayed, refusing to leave him alone.
"What did you see?" she asked softly.
Adrian swallowed hard. "The city. Hunters. And people. Ordinary people, carrying fragments. Like the cavern, but alive. It wasn't just me. It was all of us."
Leah's gaze hardened. "Then maybe that's the truth. The relic doesn't choose one. It chooses many. And you're just the first."
Adrian clenched his fists, whispering to himself. "I'll rise. I'll uncover the truth. And I'll carry this legacy."
The pendant pulsed again, brighter than before.
And Adrian Reyes knew the path ahead wasn't just about visions or whispers. It was about preparing for a city that would one day stand with him — or fall without him.