The night didn't feel natural. It wasn't just the darkness—darkness was normal. It was the kind of darkness that swallowed light whole, as if something alive was breathing around the world, watching everything in silence. The wind howled through the narrow streets of the old city, carrying faint whispers that no human should have been able to hear. And then lightning struck—but it didn't fall from the sky. It rose from the ground.
At the edge of a broken, forgotten temple hidden between modern buildings and decaying ruins, a lone figure stood still. Around him, the city continued its restless life—cars passing, people laughing, screens glowing—but none of it reached this place. Here, time felt ancient, heavy, unmoving. Avi stood quietly in a black hoodie, his hands tucked into his pockets, his head slightly lowered. His presence was calm—too calm for a place that felt like it was about to collapse into something unknown. His dark eyes rested on the shattered idol before him, an ancient deity with half its face missing, its cracked stone surface looking less like centuries of decay and more like something that had been broken recently.
Avi took a slow step forward, and the air around him tightened, as if something invisible had suddenly become aware of his presence. A cold voice cut through the silence from behind him, telling him he shouldn't be there. Avi didn't turn. He simply replied that he knew. The footsteps that followed were steady and controlled, belonging to a man dressed in a formal black suit. His eyes carried a strange depth—something unnatural, something powerful. He told Avi to leave, that the place was sealed, but Avi only turned slightly, meeting his gaze with quiet indifference. When the man asked who he was, Avi answered vaguely, saying he was just someone who heard the storm. That answer alone was enough to shift the man's expression, because normal people didn't hear storms like this.
Before anything more could be said, the ground beneath them trembled. Cracks spread across the temple floor, glowing faintly with a deep crimson light. The man stepped back immediately, his calm demeanor breaking as he muttered in disbelief. The cracks weren't random—they formed patterns, ancient symbols that seemed alive, pulsing with something buried deep beneath the earth. He told Avi to leave again, his voice no longer calm but urgent, almost fearful. But Avi didn't move. Instead, he crouched slightly and reached out, his fingers brushing against the glowing lines.
The moment he touched them, the world shattered.
A flash of light consumed everything, followed by the sound of distant screams. When his vision returned, he wasn't standing in the temple anymore. He stood on a battlefield that stretched endlessly under a black sky. Fire burned across the land, and the air was thick with blood and chaos. Warriors clad in ancient armor clashed against monstrous beings that defied understanding. And at the center of it all stood a throne made of ash—empty, silent, waiting. For a moment, everything felt real, like a memory rather than a vision.
Then, just as suddenly, it was gone.
Avi's eyes opened, and he found himself back in the ruined temple, his breathing steady, unnaturally steady. The man stared at him, shock evident in his eyes, asking what he had seen. Avi simply replied that he didn't know, even though something deep inside him recognized the truth. The ground began to shake more violently now, the symbols glowing brighter as if something beneath them was waking up. The man gathered energy in his hand, the air distorting around him with invisible pressure, and warned Avi one last time. But Avi's attention drifted back to the broken idol, drawn by something he couldn't explain, like a memory trying to resurface from a past he couldn't remember.
Before anything could stop him, the temple exploded.
Debris scattered in all directions as a surge of crimson energy burst from the ground. The man reacted instantly, creating a barrier that shielded him from the blast. But Avi didn't move. The energy rushed toward him like a storm—and then split around his body, as if it refused to touch him. For a brief, terrifying moment, everything went silent.
Then something began to rise.
A black stone pillar emerged from the shattered ground, covered in glowing red inscriptions that felt ancient and forbidden. The air grew heavier, darker, as if the world itself was being crushed under its presence. The man whispered in disbelief, but Avi stepped closer, each step echoing like a heartbeat. When he reached out and touched the pillar, reality broke again.
This time, he found himself in a void of endless darkness. In front of him sat a figure on a throne made of bones and fire. Its face was hidden, but its presence was overwhelming, pressing down on him like the weight of existence itself. The figure spoke, its voice not loud, yet powerful enough to shake reality, telling Avi that he had returned. Something inside Avi stirred at those words—not fear, but recognition. When he asked who the figure was, it laughed, a hollow, broken sound, and answered that it was what he had left behind.
Pain erupted in Avi's chest as fragments of memories surged through him, only to shatter before he could grasp them. The figure leaned forward slightly, its tone almost amused as it noted how weak he had become. Avi clenched his fist, denying any connection, but the figure only seemed more intrigued, saying that his ignorance made things more interesting.
The world snapped back.
Avi staggered slightly as the pillar in the real world cracked, its glow flickering violently. The man rushed forward and grabbed him, demanding to know if he had lost his mind. But then he froze, because for a brief second, Avi's eyes glowed crimson. The glow vanished almost instantly, leaving only confusion behind, but the man had already seen enough to know something was terribly wrong.
Sirens echoed in the distance as the modern world began to catch up to the chaos, but it didn't matter anymore. Something had already changed. Something irreversible.
A soft voice suddenly broke through the tension. A girl stood at the edge of the ruined temple, her long dark hair moving with the wind, her sharp eyes scanning the destruction with curiosity rather than fear. She stepped closer, questioning what had happened, but stopped the moment her gaze met Avi's. Time seemed to pause between them, an unspoken connection flickering into existence.
For the first time, Avi's calm expression cracked—just slightly.
The man quickly stepped in front of her, ordering her to leave, but she pushed back, confused and frustrated. When he shouted, the force of his voice shook the air, forcing her to step back, yet her eyes remained fixed on Avi. She noticed the blood on him before he did and quietly told him he was hurt. For a brief moment, everything else faded—the storm, the pillar, the danger—and only her voice remained. It was unfamiliar, unwanted, yet strangely warm. Avi told her he was fine, but his voice lacked its usual steadiness.
The ground trembled again, this time violently. Cracks spread outward from the pillar, reaching the streets beyond. Cars stopped, lights flickered, and the sky darkened unnaturally. The man's expression turned grim as he realized it wasn't stopping. The pillar was breaking from the inside.
A low, ancient sound echoed through the air, sending chills through everything it touched. The girl whispered a question, but no one answered. They already knew.
The pillar shattered.
From within, a black, burning hand emerged—twisted, unnatural, and undeniably alive. The air itself seemed to scream as reality bent under its presence. Then a voice echoed across the broken sky, calling out as if it had finally found what it had been searching for.
Avi froze, not out of fear, but realization.
This wasn't an awakening.
It was a hunt.
The creature began to rise slowly, its presence alone crushing the ground beneath it. The man stepped forward, energy flaring wildly around him, telling both of them to run. But neither Avi nor the girl moved. Deep inside, something had already answered that call.
Avi took a step forward—toward the monster.
The girl instinctively called out his name, even though she had never heard it before. For a brief second, he stopped and looked back at her. Their eyes met again, but this time there was no confusion—only something dangerous and unfinished. He told her to stay back, his voice quiet but firm.
The creature fully emerged, towering and burning, its hollow eyes locking onto Avi with eerie recognition. It spoke again, its voice filled with dark amusement, as if greeting someone it had been waiting for.
Avi's heartbeat slowed. His expression turned cold once more, but his eyes… were no longer human.
Above them, the storm split open.
And something far worse began to descend.
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🔥 To be continued in Chapter 2: "The Mark of the Forgotten King"