The air around the seal thickened, as if the forest itself needed time to breathe after Ren's words.
No one moved.Not Borin, standing firm with his axe half-raised.Not Lyra, who held Ren as if anchoring him to the world.Not Draven, who had simply stopped running and now crouched behind a tree like a terrified animal.
Ren's fingers hovered over the stone.
He didn't touch it.
Not again.
His voice was quiet, raw.
"They begged for silence… because the echo wouldn't stop."
Lyra leaned closer, her forehead nearly touching his.
"Ren… does your echo hurt you?"
He shook his head.
"No.It doesn't hurt."
"That's not comforting," Borin muttered.
Ren continued, voice trembling:
"But it grows.It listens.And it… imitates."
Lyra felt her throat tighten.
"What do you mean 'imitates'?"
Ren closed his eyes.
Inside him, the echo shifted—a murmur brushing against the edges of his thoughts.
"When I feel something… it feels it.When I fear something… it echoes it.And when something tries to call me—it answers."
Lyra's breath caught.
"Ren… that's dangerous."
He opened his eyes, and for a moment, the world reflected in them felt wrong—as if something ancient were staring through him.
"I know."
The seal pulsed.
A faint hum trembled beneath their feet, like the Earth whispering through the roots.
Ren looked down.
What he said next was not a guess.
It was a memory—one that wasn't his.
"The one sealed here… had an echo too.Just like mine."
Borin swore under his breath.
"So they broke? Lost control?"
Ren shook his head.
"No. They didn't lose control."
He swallowed.
"They were losing themselves."
Draven peeked out from the tree.
"Losing themselves HOW?!"
Ren's hand hovered over the stone again.
And when he spoke, his voice was no longer just his:
"The echo… replaces thoughts.Whispers inside them.Shows things that aren't real.Turns silence into noise…and noise into commands."
Lyra grabbed his wrist.
"Ren. Ren—stop. This isn't yours. Don't let it pull you."
Ren looked at her.
For a moment, truly looked.
And the gray behind his irises softened.
"I'm not going anywhere, Lyra."
The seal pulsed again, faint light creeping along its veins.
Borin stepped closer.
"What happened to the sealed one? How far did they get before the forest locked them in?"
Ren lowered his gaze.
"They tried to stop it."
Lyra's eyes widened.
"Stop the echo?"
Ren nodded.
"But the echo doesn't stop.It doesn't fade.It changes…and the person changes with it."
Lyra tightened her grip on his wrist.
"Ren… you're not going to let it change you."
He smiled weakly.
"Not if I can help it."
The forest rustled—not in warning, but in sorrow.
Ren's voice lowered to a whisper.
"They begged the forest… to bury them before they became something else."
Draven covered his mouth with both hands.
"That's— that's horrible."
Ren nodded.
"But they weren't afraid of dying."
Lyra's voice broke:
"Then what were they afraid of?"
Ren met her eyes.
And whispered:
"Becoming the next Shadow."
The clearing froze.
Even the roots stopped moving, as if the very memory recoiled from his words.
Lyra's hands trembled.
"Ren… is that what she is? Someone who… transformed?"
"Not exactly," Ren murmured."She didn't break.She evolved."
Draven screamed:
"EVOLVED INTO WHAT?! INTO THIS HORROR?! WHY DOES THIS WORLD DO THIS?!"
Ren didn't answer him.
He stepped closer to the seal.
This time, the roots did not resist.
They pulled back, opening the stone further—like a mouthor a woundor a confession.
Lyra gasped.
"Ren, STOP!"
But he was already touching the stone again.
Images burst behind his eyes.
Not clear.Not whole.Fragments—
A pair of shaking handsA cracked voice beggingRoots curling gently around a kneeling bodyLight sealing the soil above themA whisper: "Don't let me become it."
Ren stumbled.
Lyra caught him instantly.
"What did you see? Tell me!"
Ren clutched her sleeve.
"They weren't fighting the echo anymore."He swallowed."They were fighting themselves."
Borin stepped closer, jaw tight.
"Do we need to leave? Now?"
Ren shook his head.
"No."
Lyra's voice rose, filled with fear she could no longer hide.
"Ren—why not?!"
Ren touched the seal again, gently.
"The one beneath isn't awake."
Lyra exhaled in relief—
Until Ren added:
"But they're dreaming."
Draven shrieked.
"WHAT KIND OF PERSON DREAMS WHILE BURIED UNDER A MAGIC ROCK?!"
Ren ignored him.
He traced one spiral on the stone.
And the faint echo of a dream touched him—
sorrowregretfearlongingand something else…
Recognition.
Ren froze.
Lyra saw it immediately.
"Ren? What is it? What did you feel?"
Ren's voice came out like a broken breath.
"They knew someone would come after them."He lifted his eyes."And they left this memory so the next one could understand."
Lyra covered her mouth.
"Ren… they left it… for you."
The forest exhaled—
a long, trembling breath of truth.
Ren's fingers curled.
"I'm not the next Shadow."
He looked at the seal.
At the memory.The sorrow.The warning.
And finished:
"I'm the one meant to stop the next Shadow…before they begin."
Lyra grabbed him and pulled him into her arms before he could collapse again.
He let her hold him.
And the forest listened in silence.