Sovereign of the Forsaken Path

The passage sloped downward.

Ezra's footsteps echoed too loudly , swallowed by the endless dark ahead. His lantern's blue flame flickered, barely illuminating the rough stone walls.

There was a feeling in the air something watching, something waiting.

He ignored it.

After everything that had just happened, he was too tired to be afraid.

His mind kept circling back to the Sigil now burned deeper into his chest.

He could still feel the remnants of the thing he had devoured.

Not a presence, not a voice just… knowledge.

The way it moved. The way it hunted.

The way it had once been shackled here, forced to linger in starvation.

Ezra sighed, rubbing his face. "Great. I'm absorbing the tragic backstories of my meals now. Love that for me."

The passage finally opened into another chamber.

This one was smaller, less grand than the temple but it held something far more unsettling.

At the center of the room stood a stone pedestal.

And on that pedestal lay a book.

Ezra hesitated.

It was old. The leather binding was cracked and blackened, the edges of the pages yellowed with age. But what made him uneasy was the Sigil burned into its cover.

The same Sigil on his chest.

The moment he stepped closer

The pages flipped on their own.

Ezra froze. "Alright. That's normal. That's fine. Who doesn't love a self reading book?"

The pages stopped.

And on the open spread, in dark, ink like script , words began to appear.

Ezra swallowed and read.

"To the one who has devoured…

You have taken the first step into the Forsaken Path.

You are no longer bound by the limits of the weak. But nor are you free.

The hunger will only grow.

And it will not be denied.

Embrace it, or be consumed."

Ezra stared at the words.

Then he sighed. "You know, you could just say 'congrats, here's your cursed upgrade' and save us all some time."

The words on the page shifted.

More ink scrawled itself across the parchment, forming a single, ominous line.

"We are always watching."

Ezra's skin crawled.

The flame in his lantern flickered violently , casting shadows that seemed to move on their own.

And then

The book snapped shut.

The entire room shuddered , as if something in the air had just changed.

Ezra stepped back instinctively, muscles tensing.

Then, from the darkness beyond the chamber , a voice rasped:

"Another has taken the Path…"

Ezra's heart slammed against his ribs.

Because that voice?

It wasn't alone.

He could hear more. Many more.

Whispering, murmuring, approaching.

Ezra exhaled sharply. "Okay. That's enough creepy for one day."

His instincts screamed at him to run.

And for once, he didn't argue.

He turned and bolted

Just as the whispers turned into screams.