THE STRANGER'S WARNING
1381 Words
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The man with the golden eyes stood at the end of the corridor as if he belonged there.
As if he had always been there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Smiling.
The storm outside crashed against the palace walls, but somehow the silence inside the corridor felt louder.
Lucien stepped in front of me.
Protectively.
The movement surprised me.
The stranger noticed too.
His smile widened slightly.
"Still trying to stop fate, Lucien?"
The prince's body went rigid.
My eyes widened.
The stranger knew his name.
Not only knew it.
He spoke it like someone who had known him for years.
Maybe centuries.
Lucien's voice turned cold.
"Who are you?"
The stranger laughed softly.
"You already know the answer."
The corridor temperature seemed to drop.
The guards exchanged nervous glances.
One of them quietly stepped backward.
Then another.
Fear was spreading.
And I didn't understand why.
The stranger's golden eyes shifted to me.
The moment they did, the crest on my wrist burned.
Pain shot through my arm.
I winced.
His expression immediately changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
"You carry it."
My pulse quickened.
"Carry what?"
"The mark."
His gaze remained fixed on the crest.
For the first time since appearing, he looked serious.
"Impossible."
Lucien took a threatening step forward.
"Enough."
The stranger ignored him.
His eyes never left me.
"What is your name?"
I frowned.
"You already know my name."
A strange smile touched his lips.
"Say it anyway."
Something about the request felt wrong.
Yet somehow I found myself answering.
"Aria."
The stranger closed his eyes.
Almost as if he was listening to something.
Then he whispered,
"Yes."
The single word sent chills down my spine.
"What does that mean?"
His eyes opened again.
Golden.
Ancient.
Terrifying.
"It means the stories were true."
Nobody spoke.
The storm outside exploded.
Thunder rattled the palace windows.
The stranger looked toward the ceiling.
Listening.
Waiting.
Then his expression darkened.
"It's happening faster than I expected."
Lucien's hand tightened around the hilt of his sword.
"What is happening?"
The stranger finally looked at him.
For a moment, neither man spoke.
The tension between them felt almost physical.
Then the stranger said,
"The prison is failing."
My blood ran cold.
The prison.
The black door.
The broken chains.
The visions.
Every memory slammed into me at once.
The stranger noticed my reaction.
"Ah."
His gaze sharpened.
"You've already seen it."
Lucien immediately turned toward me.
"What?"
I cursed internally.
The last thing I wanted was another interrogation.
The stranger saved me from answering.
"The door."
The corridor fell silent.
"The chains."
He took a slow step forward.
"The darkness beneath the kingdom."
Every word felt like a stone dropping into water.
Ripples spreading outward.
Lucien's face paled.
Actually paled.
And that terrified me more than anything.
Because Lucien never looked afraid.
Never.
The stranger continued.
"Tell me, Aria."
His voice softened.
"When you saw the door..."
My heart pounded.
"...did it speak to you?"
The crest burned again.
I swallowed.
The memory returned instantly.
The whispers.
The laughter.
The voice calling my name.
My silence gave him his answer.
A look of grim understanding crossed his face.
"Then we're out of time."
Before anyone could ask what he meant, a violent tremor shook the palace.
The floor lurched beneath us.
Several guards stumbled.
A distant scream echoed somewhere below.
Then another.
Then another.
The corridor erupted into chaos.
Servants appeared from nearby hallways.
Guards began shouting.
Footsteps thundered through the palace.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
A royal guard rushed around the corner.
His armor was covered in dust.
"My prince!"
Lucien turned immediately.
"What happened?"
The man struggled to catch his breath.
"The lower levels."
Fear flashed across his face.
"They've collapsed."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
The guard swallowed.
"Part of the tunnel system caved in."
The stranger shook his head.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
His golden eyes narrowed.
"It wasn't a collapse."
The guard stared.
"What?"
The stranger's expression became grim.
"Something opened them from the other side."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The guard looked horrified.
I felt sick.
Because deep down...
I believed him.
The stranger slowly turned toward me.
"You need to leave this palace."
I blinked.
"What?"
"Tonight."
The command caught me off guard.
Lucien stepped forward.
"That's not happening."
The stranger laughed.
"Still stubborn."
The prince's eyes flashed dangerously.
"Explain yourself."
The stranger's gaze hardened.
"You think these walls can protect her?"
He pointed toward the floor.
"Whatever is beneath us has already found her."
The words struck like a hammer.
My heartbeat quickened.
The stranger continued.
"The crest is a beacon."
The corridor seemed to spin.
"A beacon?"
His expression darkened.
"It calls to things that should have remained buried."
Fear crawled through my chest.
Lucien looked genuinely shaken.
That alone told me how serious this was.
The stranger took another step toward me.
The guards immediately raised their weapons.
He ignored them.
"You've been having visions."
It wasn't a question.
"You've seen places you've never visited."
My throat tightened.
"You've heard voices."
I couldn't answer.
Because every word was true.
The stranger nodded slowly.
"It's begun."
"What has begun?" I demanded.
For the first time, genuine sadness appeared in his eyes.
"The awakening."
The word echoed through the corridor.
The awakening.
The same word from the rumors.
The same word whispered by servants.
The same word connected to the forgotten king.
The stranger looked toward the windows.
Lightning illuminated his face.
For a brief second, he looked exhausted.
Ancient.
As if he had been carrying a burden for a very long time.
Then he looked back at me.
"When the next vision comes..."
His voice lowered.
"Don't open the door."
My blood froze.
The black door.
The prison.
The chains.
He knew.
He knew exactly what I had seen.
"What are you talking about?"
The stranger's gaze softened.
"If you open it..."
A strange sadness crossed his face.
"...everyone dies."
The words slammed into me.
Before I could ask another question, another tremor rocked the palace.
Stronger than before.
Cracks raced across the walls.
Several torches crashed to the floor.
The entire corridor shook.
And then.
The stranger wasn't the only one watching me.
I noticed the guards.
Every single one of them had stepped farther away.
As if standing too close to me was dangerous.
The realization hurt more than I expected.
A few days ago I had been an ordinary girl.
Now people looked at me like I was part of a nightmare.
I folded my arms.
Trying to ignore the feeling.
Trying to ignore the fear growing inside me.
The stranger noticed.
"They're afraid."
I laughed bitterly.
"That's obvious."
His golden eyes softened slightly.
"They aren't afraid of you."
The words surprised me.
"Then what are they afraid of?"
The smile disappeared from his face.
"What follows you."
Silence.
The corridor suddenly felt colder.
My heartbeat quickened.
"What does that mean?"
The stranger looked toward the floor.
Toward the darkness beneath the palace.
For several seconds he said nothing.
Then he quietly answered.
"It means something has been searching for you long before you were born."
The crest burned again.
Not painfully.
Almost eagerly.
As if it recognized the truth.
And somehow that terrified me more than anything else.
The crest on my wrist exploded with pain.
I screamed.
Darkness swallowed everything.
The corridor vanished.
The palace disappeared.
I was somewhere else.
Again.
The massive black door stood before me.
Only this time it wasn't closed.
It was open.
Just slightly.
And through the narrow gap...
I could see a single golden eye staring back at me.
Watching.
Waiting.
Smiling.
Then a voice echoed from the darkness.
A voice older than kingdoms.
Older than history.
Older than fear itself.
"Bring her to me."
The vision shattered.
I gasped.
Reality slammed back into place.
The corridor returned.
The guards.
The storm.
Lucien.
The stranger.
All of it.
But something had changed.
The stranger's face had gone completely pale.
As if he knew exactly what I had seen.
"What happened?" Lucien demanded.
I couldn't answer.
Because at the far end of the corridor.
Beyond the guards.
Beyond the shattered torches.
A second figure was standing there.
Watching us.
And unlike the stranger beside us...
This one had eyes that glowed silver.
Exactly like mine.
- Writer
