Dawn came without fanfare… pale fingers of light edged across the sky, touching treetops, stirring mist that curled along the ground. I woke on the slope above the canyon where I had tasted both fire and memory. My cloak lay tangled beneath me, dew dampening its folds. The fragments on my palm pulsed gently… five flickers of crimson light beneath the skin. Each was a promise of power… and a reminder of price.
I stood and breathed deep… drawing in the quiet of morning. The world felt hollow and full at once, as though every stone and leaf knew my secret. I pressed a hand to my chest… felt the slow pulse of my heart… steady beneath the weight of what I carried.
I moved without a plan, following instinct down the rocky path toward the valley floor. The air grew cooler as I descended… the mist thickened. Every footstep sent ripples through the fog… every breath caught on my lips. Nothing stirred except the sound of my own heart. And then… I heard it.
A whisper.
Soft… distant… like the sigh of wind through ancient ruins. It called my name. Not with words I could understand… but with a tone that echoed inside my mind… a pull that tugged at the fragments beneath my skin.
I paused.
The whisper came again… clearer this time. A melody of notes woven from memory and longing. It called me deeper into the mist.
I moved toward it… each step both hesitation and resolve.
---
The mist parted at the edge of a clearing… revealing stones carved by hands long vanished. Tall pillars ringed the circle… each etched with faint symbols that glowed silver in the pale light. The ground was smooth stone, polished by time… and at the center stood a pool of black water that reflected nothing but shadows.
The whisper rose in volume… a chorus of echoes that danced across the stone. I knelt at the pool's edge, watching ripples form as though something beneath disturbed the surface.
> "You have come," the voice said…
It was not the abyss speaking. Not the distant presence of Heaven's light. Something older… something undying.
I pressed a palm to the cool stone beside the water, fragments stirring… aching with anticipation.
> "You walk between worlds."
I closed my eyes, letting the mist swirl around me.
> "There are eyes that never close… watching from beyond."
My heart thundered… an echo of the pool's hidden motion. I looked up… but the pillars stood silent, emptiness between them.
The whisper grew… a thousand breaths... and then faded.
---
I rose slowly… mind racing. This place was a gateway… a threshold between the world of living and something unseen. I felt the pull of that unseen realm… a tug beneath my ribs… a whisper behind my eyes.
I stepped into the circle, each footfall echoing on stone. The air tasted of salt and iron… of blood and stars. My fragments glowed… the five lights mingling into a gentle pulse.
I reached my hand toward the water.
The moment my fingers touched the surface, the pool shivered. Ripples spread like spider lines, bending mist and stone. The silver symbols on the pillars flared… bright, then dim. A current of power ran through me… not pain, but memory.
Visions glimmered…
A chamber of living flame, walls carved with abyssal runes… figures bound in chains of light… a moment when a child with a black mark on her palm reached for hope…
I gasped and withdrew my hand. The visions snapped away, leaving only the pool's still dark surface.
---
The whisper returned… softer now, like a sigh.
> "You have seen the edge."
My breath trembled.
> "Stand upon it or turn away."
I knelt again, pressing both hands to my knees. The fragments glowed urgently… five sparks blazing in unison. My body thrummed with energy… an ache I had not known could exist.
I closed my eyes and listened.
The unseen realm beckoned… inviting me to step through the veil. To leave mortality behind and claim the power that lay beyond.
A memory rose in my mind… the girl in the temple, her wrists bound in red chains, eyes empty but unbroken. She had walked into fire and emerged changed. I remembered her face… my face in hers.
I opened my eyes.
> "This path is mine alone."
The whisper paused… a moment of silence that rang louder than thunder.
> "Then walk on."
---
I rose, head high. The mist swirled away as though respecting my choice. The pillars dimmed… the silver symbols fading into stone once more. The pool stilled… its surface black and opaque.
I turned from the circle and stepped back onto the path. My fragments pulsed in my palm… five flickers of crimson light now steady. I felt lighter… not whole, but unburdened. I had touched the threshold and walked away by my own will. That alone was strength.
The mist wrapped around me as I continued into the valley. The wind carried no whispers… only the rustle of grass and the distant murmur of the river. Life moved on… unknowing of the moment that had passed in the ancient circle.
---
By midday I reached the banks of the black river that ran through the valley's heart. Its surface glistened with a strange iridescence… not a reflection of sky or tree… but something deeper.
I knelt and let my fingers drift just beneath the surface. The water was cold but smooth… it whispered secrets as it slipped through my fingers.
> "You carry pieces of the abyss… but you are still bound to flesh and blood."
The voice was quiet… closer this time. Not from the unseen realm, but from within me. The abyss itself… acknowledging the choice I had made.
> "In the unseen realm… there are those who never came back."
My breath caught.
> "You walk the edge… and it watches."
I drew my hand from the water and shook droplets onto my robe. My fragments flickered… five sparks dancing… teasing with warmth and promise.
> "Grow or break."
Silence fell again.
---
I left the river and climbed a ridge where the forest thinned. The sun hung low in the sky… a pale orb sinking between jagged peaks. Shadows stretched long across the land.
At the ridge's crest, I paused. Below me, the valley glowed in gold and shadow. Distant fires still smoked from collapsed shrines. The world was imperfect… scarred by faith and fear.
I raised my hand… palm outward… fragments pulsing gently. I watched how the light bent away… how the wind seemed to shift around me.
My reflection in a shard of broken glass at my feet flickered and stuttered. For a moment… I saw not myself… but someone shaped by abyss and light… a figure walking alone between two worlds.
I knelt and picked up the glass shard, holding it to the sun. The surface shimmered with rainbows… then cracked as the light touched it too strongly. I dropped it. It splintered on the rock, leaving jagged fragments.
> "Shatter or shine," the abyss whispered.
I let the glass shards fall where they may.
---
Night fell as I descended the ridge. I made camp in a hollow beneath an ancient oak whose roots curled like sleeping beasts. I gathered dry leaves and built a small hearth of stones. No fire this time… just the warmth of my breath and the faint glow of my fragments.
I pulled my cloak tight, letting the night wind wash over me. The valley was still once more. Stars glittered above… silent witnesses to my choice.
I closed my eyes and listened… to the breathing of the world… to the echo of unseen eyes… to the pulse of the abyss within me.
It sang a lullaby of shadows and light… of fragment and whole… of endless paths that spread beyond horizons.
And in that song, I found peace.
---
When dawn came again… I would walk on.
I would carry the fragments, one by one, until the abyss breathed through every vein.
I would learn its secrets… respect its price… master its whispers.
And no matter how long the path… no matter how deep the unseen realm… I would never hesitate to walk it.
---