the golden inscription

At the break of dawn, Noah woke to the gentle sound of waves crashing against the shore. His modest home stood on the outskirts of a small village, where he lived with his father and younger sister. His love for adventure was not merely an escape from reality; he was chasing a truth that had haunted him ever since his mother's mysterious death.

Noah was nearing his sixteenth birthday, with only a week left to go. Despite his young age, years of fishing had given him a well-toned, athletic body. His eyes shimmered with a relentless curiosity, a hunger for the unknown—a secret that had followed him since his mother's passing.

His father, a lifelong fisherman, was a quiet man, his eyes carrying the wisdom of experience. His little sister, with a laughter that always reminded him of their mother, was a source of warmth and strength.

But beneath his strong exterior, countless unanswered questions lay buried.

His mother's death had never seemed natural. In her final days, she had displayed strange symptoms—her skin turning pale green, her eyes flickering with an eerie glow, and a silence that consumed her. No one could explain these signs, but in Noah's heart, he knew her death was no ordinary illness. It was a hidden mystery waiting to be unraveled.

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The streets of Alexandria bustled with life. Street vendors displayed their goods in vibrant colors, the voices of merchants blending with the melodies of the oud drifting from nearby cafés. The air was thick with the scent of spices and the sea.

Noah, a simple boy with strong features, moved hesitantly through the crowded streets, the noise of the market merging with the crashing waves in the background.

At twilight, Alexandria danced to the rhythm of the sea. The golden sunlight kissed the waves, whispering secrets lost since the time of the pharaohs. The market overflowed with ancient scents, the clamor of traders, and the harmonious notes of the oud.

Weaving through narrow alleys, Noah's gaze flickered between the hidden corners, searching for something—though he did not yet know what.

Little did he realize that his steps would soon lead him into a labyrinth from which there was no return.

When he stood before the Great Library of Alexandria, he did not feel as though he was merely facing a building. It was as if he stood before something older than time itself.

The air here was different—heavy with knowledge, scented with aged paper and sacred dust. A force deep within him pushed him forward.

As he stepped inside, silence enveloped him, cutting him off from the outside world. The long marble corridors stretched endlessly, lined with golden columns engraved with forgotten stories. Towering wooden shelves housed thousands of books and scrolls, some so ancient that even time itself seemed reluctant to touch them.

A mysterious energy pulled him toward a shadowed corner on the second floor. There, on one of the shelves, a book awaited him.

Its cover bore no title, only an enigmatic symbol—a pyramid with an eye at its center. Its black, cracked leather looked as if it had been touched by an inhuman hand centuries ago.

As Noah reached for it, a shiver ran down his spine.

He tried to pull it out, but it didn't budge. He tugged harder, and his hand slipped, leaving a small cut on his palm.

A single drop of blood fell onto the cover.

At that moment, it was as if the entire world took a slow breath.

The book trembled—faintly, as if it had just awakened. At the same time, Noah felt an unusual warmth gathering between his eyebrows—right where the third eye would be.

When he descended to the first floor, the library had changed. The walls seemed taller, the shadows deeper, and the air thick with the scent of something… old.

As he walked past another shelf, his gaze landed on another ancient book—its red and gold cover drawing him in.

He didn't understand the language inside, yet it spoke to him.

As he traced the hieroglyphic symbols with his fingers, a whisper slithered into his ears:

"Not everything that is read is understood… and not everyone who seeks will find."

Suddenly, an unfamiliar heat surged through his hand, as if the book was transferring an invisible energy into him.

Startled, he dropped it.

But instead of falling, the book floated in the air for a fleeting moment before settling gently onto the ground.

In that instant, an elderly man watched him from afar.

Dressed in simple gray robes, his face etched with deep wrinkles, he possessed piercing eyes that shimmered with an uncanny glow—eyes that seemed to see right through Noah.

The old man approached, his steps measured, and spoke in a hushed tone:

"That book does not choose easily… It chooses you."

Noah gaped at him, but before he could ask anything, the man vanished into the rows of shelves—gone, as if he had never been there.

Noah felt his perception of the world shift. He began to see details invisible to others—faint specters or shadows flickering at the edge of his vision, only to disappear when he tried to focus on them.

Curious, he opened the red book again and ran his fingers over its aged pages. His gaze landed on an unfamiliar sentence, yet his mind read it effortlessly:

"Everything visible has a price, and everything hidden carries a burden."

As he whispered the words, time seemed to freeze.

A blinding flash surged through his eyes… and suddenly, visions erupted in his mind:

Dark-cloaked figures standing beneath the earth, speaking in a language beyond human comprehension.

His mother, running through the desert under the moonlight—turning her head as if she could see him. Her lips moved, but he couldn't hear the words.

She bore the same symptoms that preceded her death, growing more severe with each step.

The mysterious book, opened to a page filled with strange symbols… symbols identical to the markings that had appeared on his mother's body before she died.

A searing pain pierced his head, as if something was trying to claw its way into his mind.

The book slipped from his grasp.

He clutched his temples, his breath ragged.

What had he just seen? Were they visions or memories?

Had his mother known a terrible secret?

Had she died from a curse… or an experiment gone wrong?

There was no longer any doubt.

The answers to his questions lay within this book.

Noah took a trembling step back and picked up the book once more.

On the floor where he had stood, a symbol had appeared—an Egyptian eye, weeping… and within the tear, a single drop of blood.

"Noah…"

A whisper, barely audible, brushed against his ears.

He hadn't noticed it.

But he knew—his life, from this moment on, would never be the same.