Chapter Three: Echoes of the Past
The mist thickened as Kael led her deeper into the forest. His stride was long, measured, unhurried, yet purposeful—like a man who knew every tree, every stone, every shadow. Liora followed reluctantly, one hand curled tight around the glowing locket at her chest.
She tried to speak, but the weight of silence pressed down on her. Finally, she asked the question gnawing at her chest.
"What are these echoes? Why can I hear them?"
Kael did not answer at once. He glanced over his shoulder, studying her with unreadable eyes, as though measuring how much truth she could bear.
"They are the remnants of enchantments," he said at last. "Whispers left behind when great magic touches the world. Joy. Sorrow. Betrayal. Hope. Every strong enchantment leaves its trace… and sometimes those traces do not fade."
Liora frowned. "Like… memories?"
"More than memories." His voice was quiet, almost reverent. "Echoes are alive in their own way. They can guide… or deceive. Heal… or destroy. Few can hear them. Fewer still can wield them."
His gaze flicked to the locket. "And yet, you carry the strongest echo I've seen in centuries."
Her throat tightened. She wanted to protest, to tell him he was wrong, that she was nothing more than a girl who liked reading by candlelight and wandering through old halls. But the warmth of the locket pulsing against her skin told her otherwise.
They broke into a clearing, and Liora gasped.
Before them stood a circle of ancient stones, half-buried in moss and ivy. The air shimmered faintly above them, as though heat rose from the earth. But it was not heat—it was sound. A faint chorus of voices drifted on the breeze, whispers layered atop whispers, haunting and beautiful.
Liora pressed a hand to her ear, startled to find the sound wasn't entering from without—it thrummed inside her mind.
"I… I can hear them."
Kael's expression was grim, though his eyes softened.
"Then you are bound to this world more deeply than I feared."
He stepped into the circle of stones and gestured for her to follow. Reluctantly, Liora obeyed, her boots sinking into damp earth. As she crossed the boundary, the whispers surged—stronger, sharper, almost desperate. Images flashed in her mind: a battle wreathed in fire, a woman cloaked in silver light, a tower shattering into fragments of glass and stars.
She staggered. Kael caught her by the arm, steadying her.
"Careful. Echoes can overwhelm if you're unprepared."
"What… what was that?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
"Fragments of what was," Kael said. "The past calling out through the present." He studied her carefully. "And if the shadows stir now, it means the past is not done with us yet."
The locket pulsed against her heart, and before Liora could speak, the forest itself seemed to hush. The chorus of whispers stilled. Even the wind held its breath.
Kael's hand dropped to the hilt of the blade at his side, his body taut.
"They've found us."
From the tree line, shadows began to move—shapes darker than the mist, gliding toward them with inhuman silence..it