The fog hung thick like a living thing, coiling around tree trunks and stones as if it had breath of its own. Abhi stood frozen, heart pounding, the soft glow from his eyes casting strange shadows against the swirling white.
From the dense mist ahead came the sound again—a guttural, heavy growl. Not an echo. Not a dream.
A presence.
Isha stepped slightly in front of him, her arm extended protectively. "Get ready," she whispered, her fingers already crackling with radiant energy.
Abhi's own hands tingled. His Soulfire stirred, responding to the threat. It rose in him like steam under pressure, wild and unshaped. He breathed in deeply and tried to calm it. This time, he wouldn't let fear take over.
The growl shifted into a snarl. Heavy footsteps thudded against the earth. Then, from the shadows, it emerged.
A beast. Towering. Crooked. Its body was a fusion of flesh and stone, with moss and runes embedded into its skin. Eyes—too many of them—lined its broad, skeletal face. Some blinked. Others wept golden tears. And at its center, one large eye shone with the same sigil as Abhi's ring: the eye with three pupils.
"Vault Guardian," Isha breathed. "It's one of the old protectors."
"But I thought the Vault had been abandoned?" Abhi asked.
"Some guardians remain," she said. "Not all forgot their purpose."
The creature lowered its massive head and sniffed the air, locking its central eye onto Abhi. It let out a low groan, more ancient than anger, as if it recognized something in him.
"I think it knows me," Abhi whispered.
"It knows your blood," Isha said. "That means we can't run."
The Guardian's eye flashed—and then it charged.
Isha didn't hesitate. She leapt forward, firing twin beams of silver light toward the creature's shoulders. They struck with force, but the beast barely flinched. Its arm—massive and made of stone—swung like a tree trunk, and she barely dodged it.
Abhi rolled aside as the earth quaked. He summoned his light, trying to shape it, control it, use it—not as fire, not as rage, but as purpose.
He focused.
His vision sharpened. In his mind, he saw the world not in color, but in heat and movement. The creature's body glowed where its energy was strongest—its joints, its center, and especially that glowing eye.
Aim there, he told himself. Just one shot.
He raised his palm. A sliver of light gathered in the center, trembling slightly. The ground vibrated beneath him.
The beast roared and charged again, smashing through stone like it was paper. Isha tried to hold it back with a barrier, but the force knocked her off her feet.
It lunged toward Abhi.
Now.
He unleashed the beam.
A concentrated ray of white-hot energy fired from his palm and struck the Guardian's eye dead center. The creature reeled back, screaming—a sound like a collapsing world. The light scorched the runes along its face, causing a chain reaction of flickering symbols across its body.
But it didn't fall.
Instead, it stood tall again, angered but not destroyed. And now, it was furious.
"Abhi!" Isha called, staggering to her feet. "Together!"
She grabbed his hand. "Trust me."
He nodded.
She closed her eyes, muttering a chant. Her energy flared, silver-blue like a comet. Abhi felt it swirl with his Soulfire, fusing, harmonizing. Their hands glowed together—and for a moment, their powers synchronized.
"Now," she whispered.
Together, they released the energy.
A spiraling beam of light and silver shot from their hands, striking the Guardian's chest. The runes across its body flared like stars, and the creature let out one final cry before collapsing with a thunderous crash.
Silence.
Smoke curled from its stone limbs. Its many eyes dimmed, and the sigil at its center cracked in two.
Abhi collapsed to one knee, gasping.
Isha knelt beside him. "That was... powerful."
"It listened to the ring," he murmured. "For a second, before it attacked. It looked at me like it was waiting."
"Maybe it was," she said. "Maybe it wasn't just guarding the Vault. Maybe it was testing you."
They turned toward the mouth of the cavern now revealed beyond the clearing. It was wide and jagged, the rocks shaped like curling fingers. Carvings surrounded the entrance—old and deep. One symbol glowed faintly in recognition of the ring on Abhi's hand.
"Do we go in?" he asked.
"Yes," Isha replied. "But with caution. Whatever lies inside... it's older than the Hunters. Older than even the Guardians."
Abhi nodded. They stepped forward, crossing the threshold.
Inside, the air was cold. Not from temperature, but memory.
The walls pulsed faintly with light, reacting to Abhi's presence. Runes awakened as he walked, illuminating the path. The tunnel spiraled downward like a coil of bone, and at the end of it stood a massive stone door—shaped like an eye.
"It's here," Isha whispered.
Abhi stepped closer. The ring on his hand burned gently. He raised it to the eye-shaped seal, and the stone began to hum.
Then—click.
The door creaked open.
Inside lay a circular chamber, vast and echoing. Floating crystals hovered around the room, each one showing glimpses of different times, different faces. One showed the woman from his vision—the chained Guardian. Another showed the Watcher, cloaked in shadow. But one made his heart freeze.
A young man, about his age, with burning violet eyes and a scar down his cheek.
The second bearer.
"He's real," Abhi said softly.
"I think he's already found his way," Isha whispered. "We're not the only ones headed toward the truth."
Suddenly, one of the crystals shattered.
A whisper filled the chamber.
"They are coming."
The light in the Vault dimmed.
Abhi's hand clenched. The Hunters were still chasing. The Vault had more secrets. And somewhere out there... the second bearer was waiting.
This was only the beginning.