Karl didn't speak.
He couldn't.
The voice still echoed in his head like thunder muffled by distance — not words, exactly, but intention.
"You are not ready."
And yet, something inside him had responded anyway.
That name… Veiled One.
It felt too familiar.
Mira knelt beside him, shaking his shoulder.
"You blacked out for a second. I thought the relic sucked your soul or something."
He blinked, grounding himself with her voice.
"No soul-sucking," he murmured. "Not yet."
She exhaled sharply. "Great. Because dragging you back to the village would be the worst cardio."
He managed a faint smile.
But underneath that calm, the warmth in his chest mark hadn't faded.
It pulsed. Once every few heartbeats. Like it was syncing with something else… deeper.
Karl looked back at the shrine. The light was gone, the crack sealed — but the air still tasted wrong. Metallic. Charged.
"Did you hear anything?" he asked quietly.
Mira tilted her head. "You mean like a creepy echo whispering death riddles? No. Just you falling over like a dramatic bird."
Karl hesitated.
So… it really was just him.
They turned back toward the ridge, the forest unusually still. Even the wind had settled. As if the trees themselves were listening now.
Mira walked a few steps ahead, but didn't speak.
It was strange — she was never quiet for this long.
When they reached the edge of the trail, she finally stopped and turned.
"Hey, Karl…"
Her voice wasn't teasing this time.
"That thing in there… did it feel like it knew you?"
Karl met her gaze.
Yes.
"I think it did."
They walked in silence after that.
But high above, from a hidden perch in the mountain brush, someone watched them. Cloaked in rune-threaded fabric, their eyes burned with recognition.
The boy had awakened something.
Too soon.