Eluvian Chronicals - Echoes of the Lost

~ PART ONE ~

Chapter I.

Awakening

The taste of ash clung to my tongue, my breath was thick with the acrid smoke from the rising fires consuming everything around me.

Piercing screams echoed through the air, some calling my name, others crying out for their loved ones.

Here lay my world in ruins, littered with the remnants of once-mighty armies and magnificent cities now reduced to ash and rubble.

I struggle to rise from the cold stone floor, my knees buckling under me after the explosion. My vision blurred as my head spun.

"Faelin..... Faelin !!" Someone calls my name desperately, but I cannot respond, my voice is barely a whisper. We had failed. We couldn't protect our people before him. We had failed our Mother.

"There you are. We need to leave. The city is .... Falling apart. We have to go. Now!" Someone grasped my arm firmly. Pain shot through my body, but I didn't make a sound. I could only watch as my world collapsed around me.

"We will fix this. We will," another voice joined, lifting my other arm and wrapping it around their shoulder.

"We failed..." My words were barely a whisper, almost drowned by the chaos surrounding us. Guilt spreading through my beaten body.

"We didn't. There wasn't enough time. We need to get to a crossroads. We can use your Eluvian," said my friend on the left, a beautiful elven woman who was frantically searching for a path leading to home. Our home. Though now, it was just mine, wasn't it?

"They locked them all. We cannot use them. We are trapped here," my other companion said, a tall, formidable elven man in full armor, a greatsword strapped to his back.

"We are trapped," I echoed, my head pounding. How would we survive this? How could we help our people without the Eluvians?

"To the temple then. We need to treat his injuries. Then we can think of something else. Anything. I refuse to believe there's nothing to be done," the woman insisted.

"Belwedir... there is nothing we can do now. He did it. Look around you, the world is in ruins," the man snapped.

"Abelas, we cannot just do nothing. Mother is counting on us," she said, her voice firm but desperate as she readjusted my arm around her.

We make our way to the shattered temple. Once a beacon of beauty and serenity, filled with flowers, animals, and laughter, now standing desolated, filled with ash and the cries of the wounded.

They laid me on a fallen column, near a statue of a laying wolf. Inspecting my injuries, Belwedir quickly assess the wounds, realizing they were more severe than she had hoped for. Reaching out for her powers, but encountering an impenetrable barrier. She tries again and again, failing each time.

"I... I cannot use my powers," she said, her voice trembling with fear.

"His... doing. He created this... wall..." I coughed. "Locked them away for good as he planned the whole time."

"That cannot be true... What was he thinking?" Belwedir's voice broke with disbelief.

"I don't think he was thinking at all..." Abelas began, but stopped when he saw the pain in my eyes.

"I am tired... so tired..." Sleep began to overtake me, my consciousness slipping away. My friends could only watch helplessly as I fall asleep......

I slowly stirred, the world around me coming into hazy focus. My body felt heavy, weighed down by an inexplicable fatigue. The ground beneath me was soft, covered in a thick layer of leaves and moss. As I opened my eyes, the dense canopy above filtered the sunlight, casting dappled shadows all around.

I tried to sit up, my muscles protesting with every movement. My mind was a blank slate, devoid of memories or any sense of who I was. Panic threatened to rise within me, but I forced myself to breathe, to take in my surroundings.

A towering statue of a wolf loomed above me, its eyes seemingly watching me with a silent, stone-cold vigilance. It stood majestically, its features detailed and lifelike, as if it were guarding the forest itself. Vines and moss clung to its surface, giving it an ancient, almost sacred appearance.

Where am I? The question echoed in my mind, but there were no answers. I tried to recall something, anything, but my memories were shrouded in an impenetrable fog.

I pushed myself to my feet, swaying slightly as I regained my balance. The forest around me was thick and lush, filled with the sounds of birds and rustling leaves. The air was cool and fresh, carrying the earthy scent of the woods.

I approached the wolf statue, my fingers brushing against the rough stone. There was something both comforting and unnerving about its presence. I felt a strange connection to it, as if it held some clue to my past.

I looked around, searching for any sign of a path or a clue that might lead me to answers. But the forest seemed endless, an intricate maze of trees and undergrowth.

A sense of urgency gnawed at me. I needed to find out who I was, where I came from, and why I had awakened here, beneath this watchful wolf. With no clear direction, I took a tentative step forward, hoping that somehow, the forest would guide me to the truth.

Each step was cautious, my senses on high alert. I had no idea what dangers might lurk in the shadows, but I knew I couldn't stay here, lost and alone. The wolf's gaze followed me, a silent reminder that I had to keep moving, to uncover the mysteries that lay hidden within the depths of my forgotten memories.

As I ventured deeper into the forest, I couldn't shake the feeling that something, or someone, was watching over me. Whether it was the wolf, the forest itself, or something else entirely, I didn't know. But I clung to the hope that, in time, I would find the answers I sought and reclaim the pieces of my shattered past.