Rael sat in silence long after Atlara left the room. The air was thick and still, broken only by the creaking of the wooden hut and the distant crash of the sea.
He looked down at his hands again. The faint black lines beneath his skin were gone, or maybe they had sunk deeper.
He touched the mark at his chest. It felt warm, almost alive.
He clenched his fist and shut his eyes. The whisper from earlier came again, soft and cold like breath in the dark.
"The abyss is never gone. It only waits to be called."
He opened his eyes suddenly, gasping. The lantern flame beside him flickered as though caught in a gust. But there was no wind.
He tried to breathe slowly.
He had died. He had felt his soul leave his body. So how was he alive now?
And that voice, whatever it was, had bound itself to him.
He needed answers.
Outside, he could hear Atlara and her father speaking in low voices.
"I don't like this," Marn said. "The sea has been strange ever since we dragged him out. Even the gulls will not come near the shore."
"Father, please," Atlara said. "You are just imagining things."
"I have fished these waters for twenty years. I know when something is wrong. The air is heavier tonight. The waves sound angry."
"He is just a boy," she said, her voice tight.
"Maybe. Or maybe he is the reason we could not catch fish for days."
Rael listened quietly. His jaw clenched. He did not want to bring trouble to the only people who had shown him kindness since his mother.
He stood up slowly. His clothes were still damp. Every movement felt strange, like his body was not entirely his. He took a step, and the lantern flame died.
He froze. The darkness inside the hut thickened, moving like slow smoke.
Stop, he whispered in his mind. But the shadows did not listen.
He raised his hand, and they followed, coiling around his fingers like living threads.
The whisper came again, louder now.
"You are the vessel. Command or be consumed."
Rael's breathing quickened. He forced the words out, trembling. "I do not want this."
"Then the void will choose for you."
The shadows surged for a second, then vanished, slipping back into the corners as if nothing had happened.
Rael fell to one knee, chest rising and falling. Sweat ran down his temple.
He did not understand it. But whatever had merged with him in that abyss was not done with him.
The door opened suddenly. Atlara peeked in, holding a lantern. "Rael? Are you okay? I thought I heard something."
He looked up quickly, forcing a faint smile. "Just tired."
She stepped in, her bare feet soft against the floorboards. "You look pale. Did you eat?"
"I tried," he said quietly. "Thank you."
Her eyes wandered toward the dead lantern beside him. "Strange. Did it go out on its own?"
Rael looked at it and said nothing.
She knelt beside him and placed the new lantern down. The light washed over his face. His skin was unnaturally smooth now, pale like moonlight.
Atlara tilted her head slightly. "You do not look like someone from around here."
"I am not."
"Where are you from?"
Rael hesitated. "Far away. Too far."
She smiled faintly. "That is not an answer."
He almost smiled back, but the heaviness in his chest stopped him. "It is the only one I have right now."
They sat in silence for a while. Outside, the wind began to rise, howling through the cracks of the hut.
Atlara looked toward the door. "A storm is coming. You can sleep here for the night."
"I do not want to cause trouble."
"You are not. My father acts tough, but he is not bad. Just stubborn."
Rael nodded slightly. "You are kind. Not many people are."
She shrugged. "Kindness is cheap. People just do not spend it."
Rael looked at her properly for the first time then. Her brown eyes reflected the lantern light, calm but curious. She looked simple, ordinary, but something about her aura felt different.
He could sense warmth coming from her, like a soft glow beneath her skin.
For a moment, he felt peaceful.
Then, outside, the sea roared. The ground trembled.
Marn burst through the door. "Atlara! The water, it is rising!"
Rael stood quickly. "What do you mean?"
"The tide! It is too fast. Like the sea is being pulled by something!"
Atlara ran to the doorway. Her eyes widened. The waves were climbing higher than normal, dark and violent. The air smelled of salt and rot.
Rael stepped out into the night. He stared at the sea, and his chest burned again. The mark glowed faintly under his shirt.
The water responded.
For a brief second, the entire shoreline seemed to bow toward him. The waves bent unnaturally, forming a ring before crashing apart.
Marn fell back, his face pale. "By the gods… what did you just do?"
Rael did not answer. He was too stunned himself. He had not moved a muscle. He had only felt something inside him react to the sea.
Atlara looked from him to the waves, speechless. "Rael… what are you?"
He lowered his head, unable to answer.
The wind died as suddenly as it had risen. The waves slowed, returning to normal. But the silence that followed was heavier than before.
Rael turned back toward them, his eyes dim but steady. "I think I brought something back with me."
Marn swallowed hard. "If that is true, boy, then you need to control it, or it will destroy us all."
Rael looked back at the dark water. "If it has not already."
The night pressed down on them, and far out at sea, a faint glow shimmered beneath the surface, like something ancient had stirred awake.