The oppressive air of the jungle grew heavier as we moved farther from the ruins, the silence around us louder than any noise. Leery walked ahead, his scimitar still in its coin form around his neck, and I followed, the faint sting of the claw marks on my arm serving as a constant reminder of how close I'd come to death.
"Leery," I said, breaking the silence, "that ruin… why did it feel so… alive?"
"Because it was," he replied, not breaking stride. "Nexuses like this are more than places of power. They're… echoes of what the coins were meant to be. When you're near one, you feel it. The energy, the history, the corruption—it's all tied to the coins."
I thought back to the carvings on the walls. The scenes of battle, the strange deities, and the five coins glowing in perfect harmony. "Do you think there's anything left here? Something that could help us?"
Leery stopped and turned, his expression grim. "That parchment we found… it might be something. But answers don't come easy when it comes to the coins. We'll need time to figure it out, and time's not something we have much of."
He pulled the parchment from his bag, unrolling it carefully. The paper was old, fragile, and covered in strange symbols and faint lines. At first glance, it looked like gibberish, but as I peered closer, I realized it wasn't just random scribbles.
"It's a map," I said, pointing to the faint outlines of what looked like paths and markers.
Leery nodded. "Looks that way. But it's written in a language I've never seen before."
I ran my fingers over the parchment, feeling the rough texture of the ancient paper. The map seemed to pulse faintly, almost as if it were alive. My coin, resting in my pocket, began to grow warm, and I pulled it out instinctively.
The coin's glow intensified, and the symbols on the map shifted. Lines rearranged themselves, and new markings appeared, forming a clearer path that led to a distinct symbol—a circular shape surrounded by intricate patterns.
"What just happened?" I asked, holding up the coin. "Did it… do that?"
Leery's eyes narrowed as he studied the map. "It reacted to the coin. Whatever this map leads to, it's tied to the coins' power. And if the coin wanted us to see this, then it's important."
"Important good, or important bad?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"With the coins, it's never just one or the other," Leery said. He rolled up the map and tucked it back into his bag. "Let's keep moving. We'll figure it out as we go."
---
We followed the newly revealed path on the map, which led us deeper into the jungle. The air grew thicker, the trees taller and more twisted, their branches clawing at the sky like skeletal hands. The faint hum of insects filled the silence, a reminder that life continued here despite the looming sense of dread.
As we walked, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched. Every rustle of leaves, every shadow cast by the dense canopy above, felt like it was following us.
"You feel it too, don't you?" Leery said without looking back.
I nodded. "Yeah. Like something's out there."
"It's not just your imagination," he said. "The creatures… they're not the only things drawn to the coins. There are other dangers on this island. Things we don't understand yet."
"Great," I muttered. "As if the monsters and Seekers weren't enough."
We pressed on, and soon the dense jungle began to thin, giving way to a clearing. In the center of the clearing was a strange metallic structure, unlike anything I'd seen before. It stood about ten feet tall, its surface covered in strange symbols similar to those on the map.
"What is that?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Leery approached it cautiously, his hand resting on the coin around his neck. "Looks like some kind of marker. Maybe a signal."
"For what?"
"That's what I'm afraid to find out," he muttered.
The air around the marker buzzed faintly, and as we got closer, the glow from our coins intensified. The marker seemed to respond, its surface lighting up with the same patterns that had appeared on the map.
"Don't touch it," Leery warned, but I was already reaching out, unable to stop myself. The coin in my hand seemed to pull me forward, as if it were connected to the marker.
The moment my fingers brushed the metal, a surge of energy shot through me, and my vision went white.
---
For a moment, I was nowhere and everywhere. Images flashed through my mind—chaotic and fragmented. A massive temple with five glowing coins set into its walls. A figure cloaked in shadow, holding a scimitar that burned brighter than the sun. A battle raging across a desert, with creatures larger and more terrifying than anything we'd faced so far. And then… a voice.
"The nexus demands balance. The cost must be paid."
The words echoed in my mind, heavy and final. The vision faded, and I collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
Leery was beside me in an instant, his hand gripping my shoulder. "What did you see?"
I struggled to find the words. "A temple… the coins… a battle. And a voice. It said… 'The nexus demands balance. The cost must be paid.'"
Leery's face darkened. "The cost…" he murmured, almost to himself. "The coins always take something. The bigger the power, the higher the price."
"What does it mean?" I asked, still trying to steady my breathing.
"It means we're running out of time," he said grimly. "That marker—it's a beacon. Whatever's at the end of that map, it's calling to the coins. And whatever it is, it's not going to let us leave without a fight."
---
Before we could move, a sound broke the stillness—a faint, deliberate crunch of leaves. Leery's scimitar was in his hand before I even realized he'd moved, and I scrambled to my feet, clutching my coin.
"Who's there?" Leery barked, his voice sharp.
A figure stepped out of the shadows, and my heart sank. He was tall and lean, dressed in black with a hood that obscured most of his face. But it was the coin glowing faintly in his hand that caught my attention.
"Felix Kane," Leery said, his voice low and filled with venom.
Felix tilted his head, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "Leery," he said, his voice smooth and unbothered. "It's been a while. And I see you've picked up a new apprentice."
I bristled at the word but said nothing, my grip tightening on the coin.
"What do you want, Felix?" Leery demanded, his scimitar glowing brighter.
Felix chuckled, stepping closer. "The same thing I've always wanted. Power. And you're standing in the way of it."
Leery shifted his stance, ready for a fight. "You won't get it from me."
Felix's smirk widened. "Oh, I think I will. But not yet. You see, I've been following that map for a long time, and now you've saved me the trouble of finding the beacon. So, thank you for that."
Before either of us could respond, Felix raised his coin, and a burst of blinding light filled the clearing. When it faded, he was gone, leaving only the faint hum of the marker behind.
---
Leery cursed under his breath, his scimitar returning to coin form as he turned to me. "This just got a lot more complicated."
"What was that?" I asked, still shaken.
"Felix," Leery said grimly. "And if he's here, things are about to get a hell of a lot worse."
The jungle around us stirred, and the faint sounds of creatures began to echo through the trees. The marker's hum grew louder, almost as if it were reacting to Felix's presence.
"We need to move," Leery said, pulling the map from his bag. "Whatever's at the end of this path, we need to get there before he does."
I nodded, gripping my coin tightly as we started moving again. The weight of what we were carrying—what we were fighting for—pressed down on me like never before. Felix was out there, the creatures were closing in, and the cost of the coin's power was becoming clearer with every step.
Whatever lay ahead, I wasn't sure we'd make it out alive.