An invisible weight pressed down the silence deep within the forest.
Like a ghostly whisper, the distant horn from last night clung to the ends of their nerves.
They quickened their pace, each breath tainted with the sweet, decaying smell of rotting earth and an icy sense of alertness.
The shadow of their pursuers followed them relentlessly, like bone-chilling worms at their heels.
This twisted forest was a vast cage, and now, the hounds' fangs were beginning to show.
Thalia's figure floated ahead, her weakness concealed under the cloak, yet it was becoming increasingly impossible to ignore Raine's growing sensitivity.
Karrion brought up the rear, his short, sturdy body tense, like a crossbow pulled tight. The handle of his warhammer was slick with sweat.
"Up ahead!" Thalia's voice suddenly rang out, sharp with urgency.
She stopped abruptly, pointing ahead at a seemingly ordinary patch of dense forest.
The air was thick with an even more nauseating surge of energy.
Raine's heart skipped a beat.
This wasn't just the usual corruptive presence—this felt like… a trap?
Karrion furrowed his brow and sniffed the air, his nose twitching.
"Something's off. It's too quiet. Even the twisted bugs aren't making any noise."
They approached cautiously.
The trees before them appeared normal, though their branches twisted in strange angles, as if silently screaming.
The ground was covered in a thick carpet of black moss, soft to the step, yet devoid of any sign of life.
A seemingly passable path wound forward, disappearing into even darker shadows.
"Is this… an entrance?" Raine hesitated.
But this entrance emanated a sinister allure, like the gaping, mucus-covered throat of a beast.
"More like a dead end," Karrion growled, raising his warhammer slightly.
"Or a carefully laid trap, waiting for us to stumble right into it."
Thalia remained silent, her face turned toward Raine beneath the shadow of her hood.
Her eyes pierced the darkness, conveying a silent question.
Raine understood what she meant.
The usual path was blocked, and the hounds from the Church could be on their tail at any moment.
They needed a way out, a route that would either shake off the pursuit or lead them deeper into the forest, perhaps even to Starfall City.
But this path…
Raine closed his eyes, trying to center himself.
The residual burn from the Starlight backlash still seared within, and his left arm ached faintly.
He knew the cost of forcing his precognition ability again.
Each glimpse into the future felt like burning a brief candle with his life force.
After the light, only deeper darkness and emptiness remained.
But they had no other choice.
The threat behind them pressed closer, and the path ahead was filled with the unknown.
He had to see!
"Back up," Raine's voice came out hoarse, tinged with undeniable exhaustion.
Thalia and Karrion obeyed, stepping back warily, their eyes scanning their surroundings.
Raine took a deep breath, forcing himself to suppress the protest from his body and the fear clawing at his soul.
He extended his trembling right hand, gathering a faint glimmer of Starlight at his fingertips.
The glow was so dim, it seemed ready to be swallowed by the surrounding darkness at any moment.
He pressed the glimmer to his temple.
Buzz—!
It felt like an invisible needle pierced his brain.
The pain surged violently through him, and his vision shattered into countless fragments.
The light of the stars and the corruption of shadows clashed and twisted before his eyes.
Countless chaotic images flooded his mind.
Twisted trees, rotting corpses, and crimson eyes peering from the shadows.
Church knights with cold faces, brands of holy light burning into their flesh.
And then… his sister, Lilia, her blurred figure flickering between broken floating islands, her smile strangely…
No! Focus!
Raine gritted his teeth, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
He needed the path! He needed life!
Amidst the agony, a relatively clear image pushed through the chaos.
It showed a narrow crack hidden behind a waterfall of black goo.
The crack was not solid rock, but a winding stairway carved with ancient runes.
The runes were old, with the breath of the stars, though some had been eroded by shadows, flickering with dangerous ghostly light.
In the vision, an invisible hand pointed at certain runes, causing an energy barrier at the crack's entrance to dissipate.
The path… led deeper into the Corrupted Forest, perhaps to a forgotten Starborn stronghold?
But then, more fragments surged in.
Fuzzy, unsettling visions.
A tall, shadowed figure stood before a shattered throne, silent laughter escaping from its form.
Lilia's face appeared again, her smile cold and strange, her eyes hollow.
"Brother… come find me… this is where you belong…"
That voice was not Lilia's, but filled with an empty, soul-chilling void.
A trap!
The thought stabbed through Raine's consciousness.
A clear path… a blurry warning…
"Ugh—!"
Raine let out a guttural cry of pain and swiftly pulled his hand back.
He staggered, his knee buckling as he collapsed to the ground.
The vertigo almost made him vomit.
The Starlight energy in him felt drained, leaving his skin pale, and the faint starlight runes nearly extinguished, leaving only invisible gray traces.
A cold, weakening sensation spread through his limbs, as if his life force was leaking out through unseen holes.
His vision darkened, and his consciousness seemed to sink into an icy sea.
"Raine!"
Karrion darted forward and caught him, steadying his faltering body.
The dwarf's palm was rough yet strong, offering a brief warmth.
"Kid! What happened to you?!"
Thalia was quickly at his side, crouching beside him.
The shadow of her hood obscured her expression, but Raine could feel the urgency and… a subtle, unnoticed fear in her gaze.
She reached out her hand, seemingly intending to touch his forehead but hesitated halfway, instead clenching her fist.
"Cough... cough..."
Raine coughed violently, each movement pulling at the searing pain across his body.
His bones felt as though they were groaning, his blood turned to cold lead.
The Starlight backlash… this time, it was worse than ever.
He had almost touched the edge of death.
"Water…"
Raine managed to croak two words.
Karrion immediately unslung his waterskin and carefully gave him a few sips.
The cool water slid down his throat, offering some slight relief, but it couldn't dispel the bone-deep chill and weakness.
"What did you see?" Thalia's voice was low and urgent.
Her gaze was fixed on Raine's pale face.
Raine leaned heavily on Karrion, gasping as he tried to sort through the jumbled thoughts in his mind.
After a long while, he managed to recover enough to speak, his voice weak but urgent.
"There... there's a path… hidden behind that black goo… a crack… leading downward... with runes… they need to be touched in a specific sequence to open…"
He described the clear image, including the general locations and characteristics of the runes that needed to be activated.
Karrion furrowed his brow as he listened.
"Downward? There's a below in this cursed place?"
But he didn't question further, just memorized the details Raine had described.
"But..."
Raine's voice faltered, a deep fear and doubt creeping into his pale face.
"I also saw some... other things…"
He struggled to describe the unsettling fragments.
The shadow of Marcos, Lilia's eerie smile and words.
"I... I'm not sure... if that path... is really safe… or if it's… another trap…"
He looked up at Thalia and Karrion, his eyes filled with confusion and fear.
"This power… it's consuming me... and... deceiving me? What I saw… is it the future... or the whisper of the Void?"
The ability to foresee the future now felt more like a curse.
Each use pushed him closer to the brink of collapse.
And the prophecies themselves were no longer reliable, filled with deadly temptation and deception.
It was as if the threads of fate were being pulled by an invisible hand, guiding them into a web already set.
Thalia remained silent for a moment, the shadow under her hood deepening.
"Prophecies are always vague, Raine," her voice remained cold, but there was a trace of exhaustion.
"The stars only show possibilities, the choice… is in our hands."
She paused, adding, "But Marcor... he is skilled at twisting the truth and weaving lies."
Karrion snorted and patted Raine's shoulder, the pressure much lighter than usual.
"Damn the fate or traps!" the dwarf growled in his usual rough tone.
"We only have this one path left! Better than sitting here waiting for those Church mad dogs to catch us!"
He stood up, his gaze sharp as he scanned the ominous forest ahead.
"As for traps… Hmph, I've dismantled more traps than you've eaten bread! Even if it's set by the Void's prophet, my hammer will have a word about it!"
Raine looked at Karrion's determined back, then at Thalia's face hidden in the shadows, his heart steadied.
Yes, no matter if the road ahead was a path to life or death, they had to keep moving forward.
He struggled to stand, but his legs felt like lead, a wave of dizziness hitting him again.
Karrion noticed his condition, his brow furrowing deeper.
He crouched down and carefully examined the nearly extinguished starlight on Raine's wrist and felt his weak pulse.
The dwarf's face grew solemn.
He glanced at Thalia, as if about to say something but ultimately muttered to himself, as if reminding Raine.
"Kid, you've overdrawn yourself too much this time."
Karrion's voice was low, carrying an unprecedented seriousness.
"This Starlight blood of yours... it's both a gift and a curse."
He paused, his gaze shifting to Raine's pale wrist, his expression complicated.
"If... if we have to face even stronger enemies... if we need to forge a weapon to fight those damned things…"
He stopped, seemingly choosing his words carefully.
"Like... if we need to use your 'Starborn blood' as a catalyst..."
Karrion's voice dropped lower.
"With you in this state... you might not even have the qualification for sacrifice. One drop of blood... could cost you your life."
Raine's heart sank.
Starborn blood... sacrifice?
Karrion's words felt like an icy key, unlocking a long-forgotten corner of his memory.
The legends of ancient Starborn heroes forging divine weapons to fight the darkness... always accompanied by great sacrifice.
He had never imagined that the price of such a sacrifice might fall on him.
And now, in his current state, he couldn't even bear that cost.
A deeper chill spread up his spine.
It wasn't just his physical weakness; it was the heavy, suffocating premonition of the future.
The road ahead wasn't only filled with unknown dangers and Marcos's traps, but with a cost he could hardly bear.
"Don't think too much about it for now." Karrion interrupted his thoughts, pulling him up from the ground and supporting him.
"Let's get out of here first. Thalia, can you still walk?"
Thalia nodded slightly, her voice still calm, though Raine could see her fingers gripping the tree with a slight whiteness.
"Yes."
"Good!"
Karrion wasted no more time.
"Let's go, kid. Find that crack. I'll clear the way!"
The dwarf supported Raine, one hand tightly gripping his warhammer, and stepped toward the ominous black goo ahead.
Thalia followed closely behind, her steps still light, though each breath seemed heavier than before.
They stepped into the eerie, silent place.
The black moss beneath their feet absorbed all sound, leaving only the dripping of goo and the weight of their breathing echoing in the air.
Raine leaned against Karrion, each step excruciating.
The pain from the Starlight backlash and the fear of the future gnawed at his will.
But he knew they had to move forward.
For Lilia, for Thalia, for Karrion, and perhaps for that faint, elusive glimmer of hope outside the shards of prophecy.
No matter how the threads of fate intertwined, they had no choice but to bite down on their teeth and take each step.
Even if the end of this path led to a deeper abyss.