Okay, so remember how I said things couldn't possibly get worse? Yeah. That was adorable of me.
Spoiler alert: Things got worse.
Let's set the scene: it's the morning after the whole "marked by ancient sigil and possibly haunted by hooded void stalkers" situation. I woke up feeling like my skull had been used as a drum at a goblin rave, which was honestly fair, considering I spent the night having weird fever dreams about falling into darkness while hooded figures judged me silently. (Rude.)
Anyway, I was lying there, trying to decide whether to get up or just surrender to the void forever, when—
CRASH.
My door exploded inward.
Now, I'd love to tell you I handled this like a pro. That I rolled out of bed, sword in hand, ready to face whatever dark forces had breached my sanctuary.
In reality, I screamed like a banshee, tripped over Star (who, by the way, was unfazed), and face-planted into the floor.
"Chris!"
Oh. Fantastic. It was Rowan.
"Morning," I mumbled from the floorboards.
"You okay?" Rowan crouched next to me, grinning like this was hilarious instead of trauma-inducing.
"Nope," I said, rolling onto my back. "Definitely cursed. Possibly dying. What's up?"
He held up a crumpled piece of parchment. "Thought you might want to see this."
Now, under normal circumstances, I would've ignored whatever nonsense Rowan was dragging me into. But then I saw it—the sigil. The same one currently branded into my hand.
"Oh, for the love of mana," I muttered, snatching the parchment.
It wasn't a letter this time. It was a map. And scrawled beneath it, in the same ink that had moved the night before, were three words:
"Find the Seer."
"Cool," I said. "Just what I needed today. A scavenger hunt through cursed ruins."
Rowan leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "You're not seriously thinking about going, are you?"
"Of course not," I said. "That would be incredibly stupid."
Smash cut to five minutes later, me standing at the edge of the forest with Rowan and Star in tow.
"Don't say it," I warned.
Rowan smirked. "Not saying it."
Star twitched his nose. Betrayal.
Trail of Tears (and Probably Blood)
The map led us deep into the woods. Which, for the record, was already suspicious. Woods are never a good idea. No one ever says, "Hey, remember that time we wandered into the ancient, haunted forest and everything turned out fine?"
We pushed through dense undergrowth, Rowan helpfully cutting through vines with his dagger while I tripped over approximately every root in existence. Star, meanwhile, hopped along effortlessly, because of course he did.
After an hour of hiking, we reached a clearing. A stone archway stood in the center, covered in ivy and worn down by time. At the top of the arch was the sigil. Again.
"Do we… go through it?" Rowan asked.
"I mean, the last time I followed creepy magic symbols, I ended up branded by ancient forces and fell into a void," I said. "So obviously, yes."
We stepped through the arch.
Instant regret.
Visions Are Not Fun, Actually
The second my foot crossed the threshold, the world… shifted.
Suddenly, I wasn't in the clearing anymore. I was standing on black stone, beneath a sky full of swirling stars. The hooded figure stood in front of me, because of course they did.
"Okay," I said. "Seriously. Who are you?"
The figure raised their head, and for the first time, I saw their face. Pale. Sharp. Eyes like pools of ink.
"You have been marked," they said. "Chosen for the Trial."
"Yeah, yeah, marked, chosen, big destiny—got it," I said. "Care to explain what this trial actually involves?"
They ignored me (because why answer the guy whose life you just ruined?) and pointed to the stars above.
"The Seer will reveal the path. But beware."
"Beware of what?"
They vanished.
"Cool," I muttered. "Very helpful. Thanks so much."
The vision ended as abruptly as it began, and I found myself back in the clearing, face-down in the dirt. Again.
Rowan was kneeling next to me, looking alarmed. "Chris! Are you okay?"
"Nope," I groaned. "Definitely hallucinating. Also maybe haunted."
"You were only gone for like two seconds," Rowan said.
"Yeah, well, it felt longer." I sat up and rubbed my face. "So apparently, I need to find the Seer."
"And where exactly are we supposed to find a mystical Seer?" Rowan asked.
At that moment, Star hopped up to me and dropped something onto my lap. A silver coin. Engraved with—yep—the sigil.
"Where did you get this?" I asked him.
Star stared at me.
"Cool. So the rabbit's involved now too."
The Seer Awaits
So let me get this straight:
1. I've been branded by some ancient sigil of doom.
2. I'm apparently chosen for a Trial that no one will explain.
3. Now I have to track down some mystical Seer, while being stalked by hooded figures from the void.
4. My rabbit is apparently part of the prophecy.
Excellent. No notes.
"Alright," I said, standing up. "Let's find this Seer."
"Do you even know where to start?" Rowan asked.
"Nope," I said cheerfully. "But I've got a glowing hand, a cursed coin, and a psychic rabbit. How hard can it be?"
(Answer: Very hard.)
Next stop: destiny. Or death. Or possibly just more hallucinations. Stay tuned!