Kael didn't know how long he lay on the cold stone floor, his body wracked with violent tremors. His mind was a haze of confusion, thoughts swirling, caught between the surreal sensation of power coursing through him and the terrifying emptiness that seemed to creep into his every breath.
The room around him felt distant, as if it existed in a different reality altogether. The walls were cracked and worn, the remnants of an age long past. Yet, for all its decay, there was a strange, eerie beauty to it—a relic from a time before the fall of the gods.
But Kael couldn't focus on the room, not with the Echo's presence pressing against his mind.
Ruin.
The voice of the Echo was like a whisper in his ears, cold and unyielding. Every time it spoke, Kael's body tensed, as though the words themselves carried weight enough to crush him. It was no longer just an echo of the past; it was alive. And it was now a part of him.
You will live. For now.
The words replayed in his head like a broken record. He had no idea what it meant. The Echo of Ruin—the God of Destruction—had chosen him. But what did that mean for someone like Kael, someone who had never been anything more than a sickly, forgotten boy from the lowest floor of the Spire?
His hand moved instinctively to his chest, where he could feel the pulse of the Echo inside him. It wasn't like anything he had ever felt before. It was raw power, more than he could handle, yet it was undeniably intoxicating. He could feel it whispering to him, a constant presence in the back of his mind, urging him to embrace it fully.
"Ruin… What have I done?" Kael's voice was barely a whisper, his throat dry. His mouth tasted of metal, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Something had changed. He had felt his humanity slip away the moment he touched the Echo, and now, it was like the world around him had shifted in a way he couldn't fully understand.
He pulled himself up, his legs unsteady beneath him. The room seemed to tilt as if it were breathing, alive with energy. Kael steadied himself, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he tried to make sense of the situation. What was he supposed to do now?
Suddenly, the air grew heavy, thick with the weight of something ancient. He could feel it in his bones—the presence of something far greater than anything he had ever known. The Echo of Ruin was not just a power source. It was a force of nature. A god.
"I can feel you," Kael muttered, his voice trembling. "You're still here…"
The darkness in the room seemed to deepen, swirling around him like a storm. The Echo responded, its voice clearer this time, its cold tone cutting through his thoughts.
You are mine now, Kael. Do not mistake this for a blessing. It is a curse.
Kael froze, his heart pounding in his chest. A curse?
The Echo's words felt like a weight pressing down on his soul, suffocating him. But there was no time to dwell on it. Kael had to focus. He had to survive.
He took a step forward, but his legs buckled beneath him. A wave of dizziness hit him like a tidal wave, and he collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. The room spun, the world around him blurring into a haze of shifting shapes and shadows.
Kael's hand shot out, grabbing onto the pedestal for support. He couldn't understand what was happening to him. The power was growing inside him, but so was the pain. Every part of his body felt like it was being pulled apart.
And then, just as suddenly as it had come, the pain stopped. The world settled. Kael's breath steadied, and he slowly rose to his feet. His mind felt… clearer. The darkness around him was still there, but it was no longer suffocating. It had become a part of him, a constant presence in his thoughts.
This is only the beginning, the Echo whispered.
Kael's eyes widened. "The beginning of what?"
The voice didn't respond. Instead, the ground beneath him shook, a deep rumble that seemed to come from the very core of the Spire. The walls cracked further, and Kael barely had time to steady himself before the ceiling above him collapsed, sending debris crashing down around him.
Instinct took over. Kael darted to the side, narrowly avoiding a falling beam. His body moved faster than he thought possible, his reflexes sharp and precise. He could feel the Echo inside him—its power, its rage—and it was guiding him. The more he resisted, the more it burned. The more he gave in, the more strength he gained.
It was intoxicating.
Kael sprinted through the room, his eyes scanning for an exit. The ceiling above him cracked again, and a massive chunk of stone came hurtling toward him. Without thinking, Kael raised his hand, and the air around him shimmered. The stone slowed, hovering in the air before it dropped to the ground with a resounding thud.
His heart raced. The power… it was real. It was his.
But at what cost?
Kael glanced down at his hands, his palms trembling. His skin had started to change—dark veins pulsed beneath the surface, like something ancient was slowly overtaking him.
The Echo's voice echoed in his mind again, This is the price of power, Kael. What you gain, you lose. You will never be the same.
A cold chill ran down his spine. He looked around the room, his thoughts racing. What had he done? What had he unleashed?
He had to get out of here. But the door was blocked, the way forward uncertain. And the world beyond the crumbling walls of this forgotten room was far more dangerous than he had ever imagined.
Kael stepped back, his eyes searching the room for a way out. That's when he saw it—a faint flicker of light beyond the wreckage. Without a second thought, he pushed forward, his body propelled by a force he didn't fully understand. The power of Ruin surged inside him, guiding his every move.
As he reached the exit, Kael felt something shift deep within him—a tremor that rattled his very soul. Something was coming. Something far worse than the gods' war. The end of the world was just the beginning.
And he was the one who had set it in motion.