The Road to the Mountain
Rain fell like needles.
Elias stared out the window of the rusting military van as it carved through dirt roads toward Mount Samat, its peak barely visible under thick storm clouds.
Kael drove. Maya sat beside him, sharpening her blade in rhythm.
None of them spoke.
They were heading toward the Eclipse Vault, a classified location where Alden Reyes had been entombed—sealed by Project Silencer in 2001 and never opened since.
Until now.
---
The Door That Breathes
The mountain's base looked like nothing more than ruins of a WWII memorial site. But Kael led them deeper—past fake fences, false tombstones—until they found a slab of metal embedded in rock, covered in black chains.
Maya touched it.
"It's warm."
Kael nodded grimly. "It's been pulsing like that since the last solar flare. Like it's… waking up."
Elias reached out. His shadow crawled toward the door.
It reacted.
The chains broke on their own.
The door creaked.
Opened.
And a sigh escaped—like the vault had been holding its breath for decades.
---
The Vault of Alden Reyes
Inside was a spiral staircase that led deep into the mountain.
No lights.
Only a sound. A low, pulsing hum. Like a heart. Like memory.
The walls were lined with:
Burned photographs
Notes written in multiple languages
Bloody handprints
They descended for nearly ten minutes.
At the bottom: a chamber of glass and bone.
At the center: a coffin suspended in midair, wrapped in dark energy like vines.
And inside…
Alden Reyes.
Still young. Still breathing. Unaged.
His body floated in black fluid, unmoving.
---
Not Quite Dead
Elias stepped closer.
His shadow writhed.
Maya's hand went to her chest—her shadow trembled.
Even Kael fell to his knees, dizzy.
A screen lit up on the wall behind the pod:
> Subject A00 – ALDEN REYES
> Status: Containment Breached: Internal Consciousness Active
> Warning: Proximity triggers resonance.
Suddenly—
Alden's eyes opened.
Pure violet.
His voice filled the chamber—not from his mouth, but inside their minds:
> "It's time."
---
Psychic Communion: The Truth of the First Shadow
They weren't in the chamber anymore.
Elias blinked—and saw stars.
Endless void. Time broken.
He stood in Alden's memory—a shared vision realm.
Alden stood before him, wearing tattered white clothes, his veins glowing black.
> "I didn't survive the eclipse. I became something else."
He gestured behind him.
A giant eye opened in the sky, weeping darkness.
> "It came from outside time. It needed a vessel. I was the first to say yes."
> "But it's not satisfied anymore."
> "It wants a king."
> "It wants you."
---
Return to the Real
Elias gasped, falling back as the vision ended.
The chamber shook violently—dust falling from above.
Kael shouted, "It's destabilizing! He's not contained anymore!"
Maya reached for Elias. "We have to get out—now!"
But Elias didn't move.
He stared at Alden's body, now twitching, the fluid boiling.
His shadow wrapped tighter around his arm, almost possessive.
> "You have three days," Alden's voice echoed.
> "Before the next eclipse. That's when it breaks through."
> "You can fight it…"
> "Or become it."
---
The Escape
They barely made it to the surface.
As they exited the bunker, the mountain behind them groaned—like something ancient turned in its sleep.
The clouds above began to spiral unnaturally.
Elias looked up.
And for a second…
The sun flickered.