Chapter One

The world around them shattered into silence. One moment, there had been nothing - No light, no ground, not even any air. In the next moment the three of them were coming to their senses in an immense cavern, their breaths echoing against the stone walls older than memory.

The cavern's ceiling soared high above, jagged with stalactites that dripped faintly glowing water. Veins of crystal lined the walls, faintly pulsing with bluish-white light, as though the chamber itself was alive and breathing. The air was damp and thick, carrying the scent of earth and something ancient- something that had whispered of forgotten ages.

At the center of the cavern rested an orb the size of a man's head. it hovered just above the ground, radiating a pale silver glow. Dust motes swirled lazily in it's light, though no wind stirred the air. The orb pulsed in rhythm, like the steady heartbeat of a god.

For a long moment, no one spoke. The silence was comforting yet uneasy, at the same time.

The first, Kaelen, who was tall and broad-shouldered, his dark hair falling across storm-gray eyes that narrowed as he studied the orb. His hands hovered instinctively over where a weapon should have been - though he carried no weapon. His jaw was tense, his stance defensive, as if he expected the stone to soon become alive.

Beside him stood Lyra, a sharp-featured woman with auburn hair that was braided over the right shoulder. Her green eyes flickered constantly, taking in every detail of the cavern. She pressed one hand against her chest, breathing heavily. "This....this doesn't feel real" she murmured. "Do either of you remember how you got here?"

The third, Darian, knelt down, running his fingers across the smooth stone floor. His dark skin gleamed in the orb's light, and his eyes, deep and thoughtful, reflected in the glow. "I don't remember anything" he admitted. "Not where I was before this. Not even....who I was before I opened my eyes here".

Kaelen's voice was low, firm. "So we're all the same, then. Emptiness; And than this." He nodded toward the orb, which flared faintly at his words.

Lyra took a cautious step forward. "It feels like it's waiting for us."

The orbs glow intensified, pulsing brighter with each passing second. The cavern seemed to draw in its breath, as though anticipating what would come next.

The orb pulsed again, brighter than before, as though answering Lyra's words. The light thickened, stretching into long strands that licked at the caverns walls like silver fire. Kaelen instinctively drew Lyra back. "Don't get closer," he warned, his arms sweeping protectively in front of her.

Lyra bristled. "You don't know what it will do. None of us do!"

Darian, still crouched, tilted his head and studied the glow. His voice carried a calm steadiness, though his eyes burned with curiousity. "No...I think it's not dangerous. Not to us at least. It feels like it recognizes us."

The orb quivered, as if Darian's words reached into it's core. Then, with a sound like stone spitting fire, it's light fractured. The orb pulsed again, it's light even brighter yet again. It's glow swelled until the cavern was awash in white-gold brilliance. Then without warning, the light shifted, and shapes flickered within it's heart-images moving so quickly they blurred into one another.

Battle raged. Cities burned. Twelve figures stood tall, their auras blazing like suns. Shadows devoured whole armies. A mountain split apart. A great river boiled into steam. Then came three silhouettes, faceless but radiant, standing against a darkness that seemed to swallow the very stars.

Lyra gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Do you see that?"

"I-I can't begin to make sense of it" Kaelen muttered, eyes narrowed against the flood of visions. "It's too fast - too much!"

Darian staggered back a step, his hand pressed to his temple. "It's not meant to be understood. Not yet. It's showing us a story, one we're not ready for."

The images built to a crescendo, flashing faster and faster until the dissolved into a single burst of blinding light. With the sound like shattered glass, yet again, the orb fractured.

Twelve smaller orbs burst forth, scattering into the air. They hovered in a perfect circle around the three of them, each glowing with a distinctive hue: crimson like fire, azure like the deepest seas, emerald like spring leaves, obsidian like shadow. Their lights filled the cavern with an otherworldly radiance, humming with barely contained power.

Kaelen tensed, stepping in front of Lyra. "Stay back, we don't know what they'll do!"

But the orbs had already chosen. The first orb struck, slamming into Kaelen's chest, then Lyra's, then Darian's, each in turn, moving like a chain of lightening. Their bodies erupted into flame. Kaelen screamed as fire consumed him, Lyra's hair blazed like a torch, and Darian's skin glowed molten red. Yet, none were burned - the fire sank into their veins, leaving trails of ember-light across their skin before vanishing.

They had no time to breath. The second orb followed immediately, shooting right through all three of them. This time water burst forth, flooding their lungs and vision, leaving them drenched in an invisible tide, their hearts thrumming like the ocean's currents on a storm sea.

The third orb struck as they felt like the earth itself was surging through them. The cavern shuddered; stone cracked beneith their feet. For a moment they felt rooted, immovable, as if mountains themselves had taken residence in their bones.

One after the other, all twelve orbs pierced them all- air that lifted them, weightless, shadows that slithered across their skin, lightening that tore their muscles into shreds of pain and raw strength, light that burned brighter than the suns. Each orb carried them to the brink of breaking, flooding them with impossible power before retreating into silence.

By the end of the twelfth, the cavern was trembling. Crystals rattled lose from the walls, dust fell in chocking clouds, and the three collapsed together, writhing as the last surge of energy seared through them.

Then-silence. The caverned dimmed finally. A single orb sat in the center of the cavern once more. There was a faint afterglow pulsing beneath their skin like buried stars. The pulsing matched that of the orb's in the center.

Lyra was the first to lift her head, her voice was a thin whisper. "It felt like...everything, alive, all at once, inside me."

Kaelen clenched his fist, his arms still trembling. "No one should carry this much power. It could tear someone apart!"

Darian shook his head, still lying flat, his eyes reflecting the fading crystal light. "Not apart" he murmured. "Together. The orbs, they hit all three of together. It's didn't chose one, it bound us as one."

The orb pulsed faintly, as though it had heard and approved of their words. A low hum filled the chamber, resonating through stone and bone alike. Then, for one final time, its glow swelled—brighter, brighter still—until the cavern itself seemed to dissolve into pure radiance. The light became unbearable, forcing the three to shield their eyes with raised arms.

When at last the brilliance subsided and they dared to look again, the world had shifted. They were no longer in the same cavern. This new place resembled the last, yet it was different—sharper, less worn by age, as if not shaped by time but carved by intent. Smooth walls gleamed faintly, and the air carried a strange, metallic tang.

Ahead, a dim light spilled in from the distance, suggesting a possible exit. But the chamber itself branched unnaturally—several paths twisting into shadow, each one yawning like the mouth of some waiting beast.

The three exchanged uneasy glances, words rising on their lips but not yet spoken. Before a sound could pass, a noise broke the silence.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Slow, deliberate, echoing against the cavern walls.

“Still alive, are we?” came a voice from the shadows. The tone was sly, carrying both amusement and disdain. The sound of it slid through the darkness like a blade across stone.