Golden odyssey

The air was heavier than ever. The heat of the red light pulsing on his palm seemed to spread, invading every part of his body. Eryndal felt a wave of dizziness, as if reality itself was warping around him, ready to collapse under the weight of what he had just chosen.

Alessia, still at his side, seemed to grasp the magnitude of the transformation that had just taken place. Her eyes grew sharper, her fingers tightening around Eryndal's arm in a silent attempt to understand, to anchor him to what was still real.

— What have you done? she murmured, her voice a mix of fear and despair.

Eryndal didn't have the courage to answer. He looked at his companions, feeling the weight of their stares on him. Darek was tense, his eyes scanning the growing shadow above them, while Elion seemed lost in thought, as if the implications of this sacrifice exceeded anything he had imagined.

But there was another presence.

The hooded man. The one who had followed them from the beginning without a word, observing without ever intervening. Now, his eyes pierced the darkness, fixed on Eryndal with an icy intensity. His lips remained sealed, but his gaze said everything. He knew what had just happened. He knew what it meant.

The creature, however, had not disappeared. Its shadow was more present than ever, its edges blurred and shifting, like a dying star in a sea of darkness. It moved slowly toward the group, its gaze locked onto Eryndal's palm. The air vibrated with tension, with the promise of what was to come—inevitable.

— You now bear the mark of sacrifice, Eryndal.

The creature's voice was soft, almost soothing, but every word resonated with an unspeakable threat.

— Truth has a price, but the one you have paid is heavier than you can imagine.

Eryndal, eyes frozen on the red light, felt a dull pain carve its way into his core. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He had wanted to know, he had wanted to understand. But he had made a choice. A choice that now seemed to consume him.

— What do you mean? Darek demanded, his voice breaking the heavy silence around them. What does this price mean?

The creature turned to him, its eyes gleaming with an eerie light.

— The price is… double.

Its words hung in the air, like a funeral melody.

— You thought you came seeking the truth. But the truth… it is far greater than you ever imagined. You are now bound to something that cannot be undone.

The hooded man stepped forward, breaking the circle of attention that had formed around the creature.

— It is right.

His voice, usually so calm, was filled with the same weight that had lingered in the creature's words.

— You did not merely choose knowledge. You chose to embrace the destruction of a balance you do not understand. You are now witnesses to what should never be.

Alessia turned to him, her face marked by anguish.

— Who are you, really? she asked, her voice both defiant and desperate. What do you know about all this?

The hooded man moved with an unsettling slowness, as if every motion bore the weight of eternity. When he spoke, his tone was heavier, darker.

— I am the one who watches over those who dare cross the borders of this world. But it is too late to turn back.

He paused for a moment before continuing.

— There is no going back, Eryndal. You have paid a price, and now, time itself will turn against you.

The creature moved closer, its form twisting around the group.

— Sacrifice is not an isolated act, it murmured, its smile gleaming in the darkness. It alters the threads of fate, tears apart the spaces between worlds. It has bound you to something greater, something beyond you. And you are already marked.

Eryndal felt himself waver. The pain slithering through his body seemed to grow with every word. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

The circle around them tightened, and the once-solid ground trembled once more. The red light on Eryndal's palm intensified, a searing heat coursing through him. He felt as though reality itself was warping around him, as if everything he had ever known was dissolving into the abyss of the pact he had sealed.

The creature spoke one last time.

— You have chosen the truth. But now, you must face the end of everything you have ever loved.

The price of knowledge is heavier than you ever could have imagined.

The ground cracked beneath their feet, and a whirlwind of light and darkness swallowed them all.