Chapter 29: The Void's Embrace
The world was gone.
Caelan's thoughts were the only thing that anchored him to his sense of self, yet even those were slipping away, drifting like smoke in the void. The darkness around him was absolute, an endless, inescapable abyss. There was no up, no down, no left, no right. There was only the cold silence, a vacuum that swallowed every trace of existence.
His breathing was shallow, ragged, as if his lungs were struggling to fill with air that no longer existed. He tried to move, but his limbs felt heavy, as though they had been shackled to the weight of the infinite darkness. Panic clawed at the edges of his mind, but he fought to stay calm, focusing on the flicker of light in the distance.
There was a flicker.
At first, it was barely noticeable—a distant pinprick of light, a shimmer in the vast nothingness. But then it grew, pulsing like a heartbeat, drawing him toward it.
He was drawn to it.
A voice, soft and distant, echoed through the silence, sending chills down his spine. It wasn't his voice. It wasn't the voice of anyone he knew. It was something ancient. Something... other.
"You are lost, Caelan Darrow."
The words whispered through the void, curling around him like tendrils, clawing at his thoughts, pulling him deeper into the darkness. The light ahead pulsed again, more brightly this time, and Caelan couldn't help but move toward it.
Why am I going toward it?
He wasn't in control. His body moved as if it had its own will, as though it were being pulled by some unseen force, dragging him further away from the shattered fragments of his former world. His heart raced as he reached the light, and just before his fingers could touch it, a voice erupted in his mind.
"You have been chosen."
The words struck him like a blow, reverberating through his very soul. He tried to scream, but no sound escaped him. The void closed in around him, and the light suddenly burst forward, engulfing him in its intense glow.
---
Caelan's eyes snapped open.
For a moment, he was disoriented, the remnants of the dream—or vision—clinging to him like cobwebs. He was no longer in the void. The blackness had given way to soft golden light, and the scent of earth and rain hung in the air, grounding him to reality. His body felt strange, almost like it wasn't his own, but as his senses slowly returned to him, he realized he was lying on the ground.
Grass.
He sat up, his muscles stiff, and took in his surroundings. The landscape was unlike anything he had ever seen. Towering trees with silver bark stretched above him, their leaves glowing faintly in the dim light, casting long shadows that danced in the breeze. The air hummed with an energy that was both calming and unsettling, like a song half-remembered, just out of reach.
His heart pounded in his chest, and his breath came in quick bursts. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was the shadowy figure, its dark power pulling at him, bending the world around him. And then... nothing. It had all gone dark.
A sudden noise snapped him from his thoughts. A rustle.
He turned quickly, his hand instinctively reaching for the hilt of his sword, but found only empty air where it should have been. He glanced around frantically, only to find that his weapons, his armor, everything he had once relied on—was gone. It was just him now, alone in this strange, alien place.
"Caelan," a voice called softly from the shadows.
He froze.
The voice was familiar, yet distant. It was Rhys's voice.
Turning toward the sound, Caelan squinted into the dim light, his eyes narrowing as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Emerging from the trees, Rhys stepped into view, his normally calm demeanor replaced with a look of grave concern. His eyes flickered with something Caelan couldn't quite place—fear, or something darker.
"Rhys," Caelan croaked, his voice hoarse from disuse. "What... what happened? Where are we?"
Rhys's gaze faltered for just a moment, his face paling. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. The silence that followed was thick, uncomfortable.
"I... don't know," Rhys finally said, his voice low. "We've never seen a place like this before. This is... beyond anything I've encountered."
Caelan looked around them again, the reality of the situation settling in. The landscape stretched on, an endless wilderness of glowing trees and shifting shadows. There was no sign of the others—Melissa, Zephyr, Coralia, Terra. No sign of the rest of the group.
A chill ran down his spine.
"Where are the others?" he asked, his voice urgent. He stood shakily, his legs almost buckling beneath him as he took a step forward. "Where did they go?"
Rhys hesitated for a moment before speaking, his tone hesitant. "I haven't seen them. I woke up here alone, just like you."
Caelan's stomach churned with unease. Alone. That didn't make sense. He had felt the presence of the others when he was pulled into this place, the energy they had shared in the temple. And now... nothing.
"Do you hear that?" Caelan asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Rhys's brow furrowed, confusion crossing his features. "What? What are you—"
The air around them shifted, growing heavier with each passing second. The distant rustle he had heard earlier grew louder, closer. A figure emerged from the shadows, its silhouette jagged and unnatural against the glowing backdrop of the trees.
Caelan's pulse quickened. His instincts screamed at him, a deep, primal warning telling him to flee, but his feet wouldn't move. He was rooted to the spot, locked in place by a force he couldn't explain.
The figure stepped forward, its form coming into view, and Caelan's heart stopped.
It wasn't human.
The being before them was tall, its body cloaked in a shroud of shadow that clung to it like smoke. Its eyes glowed with an unnatural light—an unsettling mix of green and violet that seemed to pierce through him, as if seeing straight into his very soul. Its features were indistinct, like a twisted mirror of something human, but with a feral, almost animalistic quality that made Caelan's skin crawl.
The figure tilted its head, and the faintest trace of a smile curled on its lips.
"I see you've made it," it said, its voice a low rasp that reverberated through the air. "But I fear... you've come too late."
Caelan's breath hitched. "Who are you?"
The creature's grin widened, its teeth sharp, glistening in the pale light.
"Who I am," it began slowly, savoring each word, "is the least of your concerns, young one. You are already part of something much larger than yourself."
The last thing Caelan saw before the darkness overtook him was the creature's eyes, burning into him, cold and ancient.