Chapter 23: Echoes of the Abyss
Kael's world was consumed by darkness. It was not the peaceful kind of void that some might imagine in death; no, this was the abyss—chaotic, cold, and pulsing with an ancient malevolence. He floated, or perhaps he fell, in the endless black, unsure of time or space. The weight of his injuries, the exhaustion from battle, all faded into nothing.
But the presence, that dark force—the entity—was still there, lurking at the edges of his consciousness, watching, waiting.
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the void, clear and sharp.
"Is this how it ends for you, Kael?" It was familiar, mocking, yet distant. "After all your struggles, all your pain—reduced to this?"
Kael groaned, trying to focus. The voice—he recognized it. But it wasn’t the entity this time. It was someone else, someone tied to his past.
In the swirling blackness, a shape began to form, shimmering like a reflection in broken glass. Slowly, it solidified into the figure of a man, his features obscured by shadow. His eyes, however, glowed with an eerie light. Kael knew this man, or at least he thought he did.
"Do you recognize me, Kael?" The figure stepped closer, his voice tinged with sorrow. "I was the one who left you in that broken body in your previous life."
Kael’s heart froze. He had spent years trying to forget the trauma of his old existence. The brutal death he had faced before being reborn into this magical world haunted his every waking moment. And now, standing before him was a man he had long since buried in his memory.
“Who… are you?” Kael managed to rasp, his voice weak, strained.
The figure chuckled softly, though there was no humor in it. “You truly don’t remember? Perhaps that’s for the best. After all, remembering me means remembering the horrors you endured before.”
Kael's breath hitched. Images of his old life flooded back—the cold steel of a blade cutting into his flesh, the laughter of those who watched him die, and the searing pain that consumed him in his final moments.
The figure tilted his head, as if savoring Kael’s realization. “You and I were bound long before you set foot in this world of magic and gods. Your suffering didn’t start here. It started with me.”
Kael clenched his fists. “Why… why are you here? What do you want from me?”
The figure’s smile was cold, almost pitiful. “I want to see how far you’re willing to go, Kael. I want to see if you can break free from the cycle of suffering you’ve been trapped in. Or if, like so many before you, you’ll succumb to it.”
Kael forced himself to stand, despite the overwhelming weight of the void pressing down on him. His body ached with phantom pain, but he refused to give in. Not here. Not now.
“I’ve come too far to fall now,” Kael growled, his eyes narrowing as he glared at the shadowed figure. “Whatever you did to me in the past… it doesn’t matter. I’ll fight, no matter what.”
The man’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes seemed to flicker with something—was it respect? Pity?
“Brave words,” the figure said softly. “But bravery alone won’t save you, Kael. Not from what’s coming.”
And then, just as quickly as he had appeared, the figure began to dissolve back into the shadows. Kael reached out, but his fingers passed through empty air. The darkness thickened once more, enveloping him entirely.
"Remember, Kael," the voice whispered, fading into the abyss. "The past never truly dies."
Kael awoke with a start, his body jerking upright as he gasped for air. He was no longer in the void; he was back on the battlefield. The sun had dipped below the horizon, casting the landscape in the eerie glow of twilight. The remnants of the entity’s army still littered the ground, but the battle had ceased.
