Sovereign of the Forsaken Path

Darkness swallowed Ezra whole.

For a moment, he felt nothingno weight, no breath, no body. Just an endless, suffocating void.

Then, a sensation like fire and ice slammed into his skull.

Memories that weren't his flooded in.

Chained beneath the earth for centuries.

Writhing hunger that never faded.

The Sigil, burned into bone, whispering promises of Ascendance.

A voice, distant and cruel: "You were not meant to be."

Ezra gasped back into existence.

Pain exploded through his chest as he felt himself thrown backward, his body crashing against stone. His vision blurred, his limbs trembling as his mind reeled from what had just happened.

And then

The corpse moved.

Ezra's breath hitched.

The massive, skeletal being twitched violently, its ruined form jerking upright in unnatural, bone snapping movements.

Its hollow eye sockets burned, not with light, but with an unbearable hunger.

Ezra's instincts screamed. Run. Run now.

But the Sigil on his chest throbbed, anchoring him in place.

And in the space between heartbeats

The corpse lunged.

A clawed hand the size of a grown man swept toward him.

Ezra moved on instinct, twisting just in time to avoid being crushed. The air howled as the impact shattered the ground where he'd stood, sending a shockwave through the ruined temple.

"Alright," Ezra wheezed, scrambling back. "So much for hoping you'd stay dead."

The creature roared, a horrible sound that wasn't quite physicalmore like something reaching into the world from beyond.

The Sigil on Ezra's chest reacted instantly.

A hunger that wasn't his own clawed at his ribs, a wordless instinct rising from deep within his bones.

It wanted him to take.

To devour.

Ezra clenched his teeth, gripping his lantern like a lifeline. "Nope. Nope. Not doing that. Not today."

The creature lunged again.

This time, Ezra wasn't fast enough.

A skeletal limb slammed into his side, sending him crashing through a crumbling pillar. His vision flashed white, pain ripping through his body.

Something cracked. Maybe a rib. Definitely his dignity.

Ezra coughed violently, spitting out dust. "Okay. So, dodging? Not my strong suit."

The hunger surged.

The Sigil burnedhot, demanding, merciless.

Ezra barely had time to think before something inside him snapped.

A force not entirely his own flooded through his limbs.

And in the space of a single breath

He moved.

Not like a normal person. Not with panic or hesitation.

But with unnatural precision.

One second, he was on the ground. The next

He was standing.

The lantern in his hand burned brighter, its blue flame flaring like something had awakened.

Ezra felt the hunger now, not just in his chest, but in his veins, in his bones.

And for the first time, he realized:

It wasn't just the Sigil wanting to devour.

It was him.

The realization hit like a blade to the gut.

But before Ezra could dwell on it

The creature lunged one final time.

And this time, Ezra didn't dodge.

He reached out.

The moment his fingers touched the creature's form

The world snapped apart.

Something ancient and terrible flowed into him.

The corpse withered instantly, its massive frame crumbling to ash and dust.

And Ezra

Ezra stood there, shaking.

He could feel it now. The thing he had just absorbed. Its memories. Its essence.

Its hunger.

Ezra clenched his jaw, willing the nausea down.

Then, he looked at his hands.

The Sigil on his chest had changed.

It was more complete now, its jagged lines branching outward, the spiral at its center twisting deeper.

Something inside him had shifted.

Ezra exhaled. "…That felt like a bad idea."

No response. Just silence.

The whispers were gone.

The hunger remained.

Ezra dragged a hand down his face. "Well. That's probably going to bite me in the ass later."

He had taken his first step into the Forsaken Path.

And there was no going back.