The forest exhaled when I spoke my name.
The heartbeat in the soil quickened, steady at first, then thrumming like a drum in my bones. Roots shifted beneath my boots, just enough for me to feel them moving. They were closer now, listening.
Kaelen.
The voice was different when it said my name. No longer a mocking whisper, but heavier, deeper, wrapping around the syllables like a hand closing over a blade.
Your name is mine now.
"Names are just words," I said.
Spoken like a man who has lost everything… But you have not lost enough yet.
I ignored it and moved forward. The ground was uneven, littered with bones and old leaves, yet I didn't stumble. The forest seemed to open in front of me, guiding me without a visible path. The air grew thicker, every breath tasting faintly of copper.
Something shifted ahead.
A wet, dragging sound broke the quiet. I slowed, my hand resting on the hilt of my sword.
Beside a root as thick as my torso, a man slumped forward. His skin was grey and loose, his eyes bloodshot and wild. Every breath rattled, wet with fluid. He looked at me as if I were the first living thing he'd seen in days.
"Help… me…" His voice was a broken rasp. He reached out, fingers trembling.
Feed me.
The voice slid into my mind without warning, low and insistent.
I said nothing.
He will not last the hour, it continued. His blood will open the way. Give him to me, and I will give you strength.
The man's hand caught the edge of my cloak, barely able to hold it. "Please."
"Do it," the voice urged, sharp now. Or walk away. You know how that ends.
I remembered the marketplace. Her smile. The guards. The sound of her bones.
I drew my blade.
The man's eyes widened, realization flickering for a heartbeat before the steel punched into his chest. He gasped once, then the breath left him. Hot blood spilled across my hands and soaked into the black earth.
The roots shivered. They swelled beneath the surface, drinking greedily, pulsing with new life. The ground seemed to breathe beneath my feet.
The stars above shifted. I could feel them watching.
The voice sighed, pleased. Yes… Now you are mine.
No guilt stirred in me. Only resolve. This was the first step. There would be more.
The earth split ahead—thin at first, then widening into a spiral staircase descending into darkness.
"Go," the voice commanded. Your revenge waits below.
I stepped forward but stopped.
Leaves shivered in the still air. Something moved between the trees—fast, deliberate, and too large to be human. The sound was low and heavy, like bone grinding on stone.
I turned, sword ready.
From the shadows, a pair of pale eyes opened.