The valley of silence
358 Words
The path narrowed as the group descended into a wide, fog-covered valley. Trees stood tall but lifeless. No birds sang, no wind stirred. Even their footsteps made no sound on the mossy ground.
It was as if the world had muted itself.
“What is this place?” Tovin whispered — though his voice didn’t carry.
Jalen glanced around warily. “The Valley of Silence.”
“I thought it was just a story,” Mira said.
Jalen shook his head. “Most truths in Emberveil have been labeled ‘stories.’ That’s how the darkness works — it laughs until you forget the truth was ever real.”
As they walked, the silence grew heavier — not just outside, but inside. Ariah began to feel it like a weight on her chest. Her thoughts slowed. Her memories blurred.
She tried to pray, but no words formed in her heart.
They passed villagers — dozens of them — sitting under trees or on fallen logs, eyes glazed, mouths unmoving. Children clutched toys but didn’t cry. Parents watched with hollow stares. All had the same faded look — not dead, but disconnected.
Cut off from the Word.
Ariah tried to speak to one of the women. “Can you hear me?”
The woman blinked once, then turned away.
Mira reached for her arm. “She’s breathing… but it’s like her soul is asleep.”
“This is what Kael’s lies have done,” Jalen muttered. “Not with swords. With silence.”
They made camp near a still lake at the valley’s center. Its surface was like glass, yet no reflection showed — not of the moon, nor the stars, nor their faces.
Tovin threw a rock into it. It vanished without a sound or ripple.
“I don’t like this place,” he said. “It feels like it wants to erase us.”
Ariah sat apart from them, gripping the scrolls. But even they felt quiet in her hands — like the Words had been bound by fear.
She closed her eyes. Tried to pray. Nothing.
Her flame… was fading.
She opened her mouth and spoke aloud.
- Writer
