Kael felt the sharp sting of impact as he was thrown onto the cold, black marble floor. His body hit hard, the force knocking the breath out of his lungs. Gasping, he scrambled to his hands and knees, trying to steady himself. Around him, the others were in similar states of disarray, groaning as they pushed themselves up from the floor. The dark, oppressive space they were in was a stark contrast to the bright, white room they had passed through earlier. The light was gone, swallowed by the overwhelming blackness that seemed to press down on them from all sides.
The floor beneath them was as smooth and reflective as polished stone, but it was eerily cold, almost lifeless. Kael's breath misted in the frigid air as he looked around. No warmth, no comfort—just an unyielding darkness. The castle walls loomed above them, their black, jagged forms disappearing into the gloom, and the silence was deafening, broken only by the faint echo of the monsters' wings as they hovered above them.
As Kael rose shakily to his feet, he noticed something strange. His companions, those who were four-layered mages and warriors, were trembling. Not from fear—but from pain. Lira dropped back to her knees, clutching her head, while Gareth, usually so composed, gritted his teeth, his face twisted in discomfort.
"What… what is this?" Lira gasped, pressing a hand to her chest as if the weight of the very air was crushing her. Her breath came in short, labored gasps. "The aura…"
Gareth growled, forcing himself to stand despite the obvious agony coursing through him. "It's… too strong," he muttered through clenched teeth. "I can't… It feels like my bones are breaking…"
Kael watched them, confusion swirling in his mind. He felt nothing. No pressure, no weight bearing down on him, no aura crushing his spirit. Just the cold, heavy darkness.
Lira shot Kael a glance, her eyes filled with a mixture of pain and disbelief. "You're… you're lucky, Kael," she panted. "You're too weak to feel this. The rest of us…" She broke off, groaning as she fought to stay on her feet. "The aura from that castle… it's unbearable."
Kael swallowed, a knot of guilt forming in his throat. For once, his weakness was a shield, protecting him from whatever terrible force his companions were sensing. But that only made him feel more vulnerable. He couldn't help them, couldn't share in their burden. He was a bystander, standing on the outskirts of their pain.
The monsters didn't seem to care. They hovered in the air, cold and indifferent, their leathery wings flapping lazily. The captain monster, its four wings spreading wide, grunted impatiently. "Move," it growled, the guttural sound echoing through the oppressive space.
With begrudging compliance, the humans were pushed forward, driven toward the towering entrance of the castle. Kael could feel the monsters' claws at his back, prodding him along. His heart raced as they crossed the threshold, the doors looming above them like the jaws of some massive beast.
Inside, the castle was surprisingly clean. The floors gleamed beneath their feet, and the walls were smooth and polished, though still cold and foreboding. They moved through long, twisting corridors, up steep staircases, and down narrow hallways. The layout was dizzying, and Kael quickly lost track of where they were. Everything looked the same—dark, sleek, and unnervingly silent, save for the faint echo of their footsteps.
At last, they arrived at a massive hall. The space was vast, the ceiling so high that it vanished into the shadows above. At the far end, a throne sat in darkness, looming like a specter. It was enormous, made of twisted, dark material that gleamed faintly in the dim light. But the most unsettling part was the figure that sat upon it—a grotesque shell of a creature, barely moving, as if it had been there for centuries, decaying into the very fabric of the castle.
The monsters, all of them, dropped to their knees in unison. Their captain, who had led them here, was the first to bow, its massive body sinking low to the ground in reverence. Then, as if on cue, the rest of the monstrous horde followed, kneeling before the throne with a kind of silent, terrifying reverence.
Kael's stomach churned as he watched. The air in the hall felt different—thicker, more oppressive. There was a weight here that he couldn't quite place, but it was suffocating all the same.
The monsters howled in unison, their voices a guttural chant in a language Kael couldn't understand. The sound echoed off the walls, deep and haunting, filling the space with a primal, ancient energy. It was as if they were calling out to something—something older and far more terrifying than anything Kael had ever encountered.
"Take a knee," the captain monster growled, its eyes snapping toward the humans. "Show respect."
Kael hesitated, his mind racing. He glanced at Gareth, whose face was a mask of tension. Slowly, they all knelt, none daring to imitate the strange chant. Their silence was all they could offer in this moment. Kael lowered himself to the ground, his heart pounding in his chest, every instinct screaming at him to run.
The air grew still. The chanting stopped. The silence that followed was deafening, oppressive in its weight.
Then, without warning, a voice echoed in Kael's mind—ancient, dark, and filled with power. It wasn't a sound he heard with his ears, but a presence that filled his thoughts, pressing into the very core of his being.
"I've been waiting for you, child of Eldenwood," the voice whispered, sending a shiver down Kael's spine.
Kael's breath hitched, his mind spinning. Child of Eldenwood? How could this… thing know him? And what did it want? His heart raced as the voice lingered in his mind, oppressive and suffocating, as though it was reaching deep into his soul, searching for something.
He glanced at his companions, but they showed no sign of hearing the voice. The monsters, too, were still kneeling, their grotesque forms pressed low to the ground in submission to whatever power ruled this place.
Kael's heart pounded, the words echoing in his mind. The weight of the voice hung heavy in the air, suffocating, and Kael knew, without a doubt, that their lives were no longer in their own hands.