The following morning, the City of Echoes was bathed in the pale light of dawn. Elian, the old man, offered Valen a meager breakfast of dried fruit and stale bread. They ate in silence, the crackling of the small fire and the distant cawing of crows the only sounds.
"The monolith," Valen began, breaking the silence, "what do you know of it?"
Elian's eyes clouded with both awe and fear. "It is... a gateway," he whispered. "A gateway to other worlds, other realities."
"Other worlds?" Valen raised an eyebrow.
"So the legends say," Elian replied. "Before the rift, the city's scholars studied it, believing it held the key to understanding existence itself."
"And did they succeed?" Valen asked.
Elian shook his head. "They delved too deep. The rift... it was their undoing. Some say they opened something they couldn't control."
Valen thought of the void he had endured, the test it had given him. "I touched the monolith," he said. "It showed me... fragments of my past."
Elian's eyes widened. "The monolith tests those who seek its secrets. It confronts them with their deepest fears, their greatest regrets. Only those who can face their darkness are deemed worthy."
"Worthy of what?" Valen asked.
"Worthy of the knowledge it holds," Elian replied. "Worthy of the power it can bestow."
Valen's gaze turned towards the distant monolith. "And the shard?" he asked, touching the obsidian fragment beneath his cloak.
"A gift from the void," Elian said. "A guide for those who pass the test. It will lead you, but its path is not always clear."
Elian led Valen through the labyrinthine ruins, moving with surprising agility. They reached a destroyed section of the city, with only a few shattered walls and rubble remaining.
"Here," Elian said, pointing to a pile of stones. "Beneath this lies the entrance to the monolith's chamber."
Together, they cleared the debris, revealing a narrow passage leading downwards. The air within was cold and damp, a sharp contrast to the warm morning outside.
They descended into darkness, Elian carrying a flickering torch that cast long shadows on the walls. The passage opened into a large, circular chamber. In the centre stood the monolith, its surface etched with shifting, writhing symbols in the torchlight.
"This is it," Elian whispered. "The Heart of the City of Echoes."
Valen approached the monolith, his hand tracing the strange symbols. They felt familiar, like memories lingering on the edge of his mind.
As his fingers brushed the monolith, the obsidian shard in Valen's pocket began to glow, its light projecting onto the stone. The carvings on the monolith responded, aligning with the light from the shard.
A section of the monolith slid open, revealing a hidden alcove. Within it lay a small, intricately carved wooden box.
Valen reached into the alcove and took the box. It was light, almost weightless, but it thrummed with powerful energy.
"What is it?" Elian asked awe in his voice.
Valen opened the box. Inside, nestled on a bed of faded velvet, lay a single, iridescent feather. It shimmered with all the colours of the rainbow, its delicate barbs catching the light.
As Valen touched the feather, a flood of images overwhelmed him—other worlds, realities filled with unimaginable beauty and power. Glimpses of past, present, and future intertwined in a whirlwind of knowledge.
The visions were overwhelming. Valen staggered back, clutching the feather tightly.
"The monolith... it showed me everything," he gasped. "The secrets of the universe, the possibilities of existence..."
Elian watched him with a mix of fear and understanding. "And what will you do with this knowledge, Valen?"
Valen looked at the feather, its glow now dimmed and felt the weight of what he had learned. This knowledge was a burden, but also a responsibility.
"I will use it to build a better world," he said firmly. "A world where the echoes of the past don't haunt us, but guide us toward a brighter future."
With those words, Valen closed the box and tucked it away safely. His journey was far from over. The monolith had shown him the vastness of the universe, and the endless possibilities that lay ahead. With the shard and the feather as his guides, he would continue walking, searching for his purpose, for a new beginning.