Tower of cours

Chapter 28: The Abyss Beckons

The air in the ruins was thick with tension. The words of the Last Watcher still echoed in Kael's mind, each phrase like a weight pressing down on him. The true darkness. Something deeper than the Void. A primordial force that could consume everything. He had known that the world was never truly safe, but the enormity of the threat they now faced felt more real than any danger they had encountered before.

"We need to find it," Kael said again, his voice steady despite the turmoil in his mind. He turned toward Mira and Selene, their faces reflecting the same grim determination.

Mira nodded, though her expression was shadowed with doubt. "But where do we even start? The Watcher said the darkness lies in all things—in the earth, the oceans, the stars above. How do we find something like that?"

Selene's gaze drifted to the fading tablet, her brow furrowing as she considered their next steps. "We need answers. The Watchers said we would find it beneath the earth, beneath the oceans, in the stars… Perhaps we need to search for the clues in those places."

Kael felt a spark of resolve. "I've seen ruins like this one before. Old places, long forgotten. There's a network beneath the land—something deep within the earth. We may find answers there."

"Under the earth?" Mira asked, her eyes narrowing. "That sounds like it's going to get complicated."

"Complicated is an understatement," Kael replied, a wry smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "But we'll need to start somewhere."

---

The Descent

The decision was made swiftly. After gathering what little they could from the ruins—the remnants of Watcher records and cryptic symbols—they made their way back toward the town. The council had agreed to provide them with the resources they needed for the next part of their journey. But as they prepared for the descent into the unknown, something gnawed at Kael's gut. The Watchers had warned them of the primordial force, but they had also left them with a question—how had it remained hidden for so long? How had it avoided discovery by the Watchers, by the Unseen, and by the world's greatest minds?

"There's something we're missing," Kael murmured to himself as he prepared for the journey.

"What's that?" Selene asked, overhearing.

"We've been looking at the problem the wrong way," Kael replied. "The Watchers spoke of the dark force in terms of its reach—beneath the earth, beneath the oceans, in the stars. But what if the key to finding it is not where it is, but when it came from?"

Mira's eyes widened as the implications of his words hit her. "Are you suggesting… it's older than the Watchers?"

"I don't know," Kael admitted, "but the more I think about it, the more it feels like it's been hiding in plain sight all along. What if we've been looking at the wrong timelines?"

"We'll figure it out," Selene said, the quiet confidence in her voice returning. "But for now, we focus on the task ahead. The descent. We'll need to move quickly before we lose the trail."

---

The trio gathered their supplies and prepared for a journey to a place far beyond the town they had just helped to rebuild—a dark, forgotten place rumored to be the home of the deep truths that had eluded even the Watchers. A network of caverns, caves, and tunnels that stretched far beneath the surface of the land. They traveled by night, their path winding through dense forests and over hills, each step bringing them closer to the entrance of an ancient cave system.

As they approached the cave's entrance, the air grew colder, and the scent of earth and stone filled their noses. The mouth of the cave was wide and foreboding, the jagged rocks above it looming like the teeth of some great beast. There was an unnatural silence around them, as though even the wind dared not disturb the sanctity of this place.

"This is it," Kael said, his voice tight with tension. He felt an odd pull in his chest, as though the cave itself was calling to him.

Mira stood a little behind him, her staff glowing softly in the darkening twilight. "I don't like it. It feels… wrong."

"Trust me, we'll be fine," Kael said, though his own doubts gnawed at him. "Let's just get in and find what we need."

The descent into the cave was slow, the air growing colder the further they went. The narrow passageways opened up into vast chambers, the walls slick with moisture and age. The faint glow of Mira's staff was the only source of light, casting eerie shadows that seemed to dance on the walls. Strange carvings were etched into the stone, symbols that seemed to shift as they passed, their meaning unclear.

"We're getting close," Kael murmured, his eyes scanning the walls for any hint of what they were seeking. "I can feel it."

Hours passed, the tunnels twisting and turning in ways that defied logic. They stopped only for brief moments of rest, the journey exhausting them both physically and mentally. Every step seemed to draw them further into a realm of forgotten knowledge, a place where time seemed to have stopped.

At long last, they arrived in a cavern that was unlike any they had seen before. The space was vast, the ceiling high above them, lost in shadows. The air here was thick with the weight of history, of ages past, as though the cavern itself had been waiting for them to arrive. At the far end of the cavern, an altar stood, ancient and crumbling, covered in layers of dust and stone. Its surface was carved with symbols much like those they had seen in the Watcher's ruin, but these were different—these were far older, more intricate.

Kael stepped forward, his heart racing as he approached the altar. He could feel the pull of the stone, the way it seemed to call to him as though it held the answers they sought. His fingers hovered over the surface, and he whispered, "This is it. This is where it all began."

Suddenly, the ground beneath them trembled, and the cavern seemed to come alive with a low, guttural hum. The walls shifted, and the stone began to crack. A deep, ancient voice rumbled from within the heart of the cave.

"Who dares awaken what should remain buried?"

A figure materialized from the shadows—tall, cloaked in darkness, its form ever-shifting. It was the same voice that had echoed in the ruins, the same presence that had warned them of the primordial force. The figure was not the Last Watcher, but something else—something older, something far more powerful.

"I am the Keeper of the Abyss," the figure said, its voice vibrating with the power of the earth itself. "You have uncovered the secrets of the Watchers. But you are too late. The darkness you seek to prevent has already begun to stir."

The trio stood frozen, their hearts pounding in their chests. The figure's eyes—if they could even be called eyes—seemed to pierce into their very souls.

"You've come to stop the darkness," it said. "But I tell you this: You will not. The Abyss cannot be stopped. It will devour everything in its path."

Kael stepped forward, his sword drawn, ready to face whatever this being was. "We'll see about that."