Episode 5 + 2 - Find Me
506 Words
The necklace pulsed once against my chest. Cold. Warning.
Then the forest ahead went silent. Every bird. Every insect. As if the land itself was holding its breath.
Exhausted.
I trudged across the bridge. Stone cold under my boots. The castle rose ahead, black teeth against the night. Nothing less than steps away. Home. Or what used to be home.
Guards lined the gate. Statues in steel. All armour-clad. But they straightened when they saw me. Spears hit the ground. Thud. Thud. Respect. Old habit. None dared speak. None dared ask why the heir of King Asher was out past curfew, drenched, weary, sigil-less.
I passed them. Quiet. Head down. Making like the prince I used to be. Arrogant. Nonchalant. Proud. But the act only lasted till I passed by.
Bare skin hidden under soaked cloth. Each step felt heavier than the last. Human weight. Human weakness.
Almost to my room now. Corridor empty. Torches sputtering.
Then I felt it. Presence. Behind me. Watching.
I swerved. But too slow. This human body was betrayal. Eleven-year-old me would've caught them. Whoever who dared to stalk the "Unstoppable". Or so I was. Now I just spun into empty air. Heart hammering.
No one there.
I didn't chase it. Couldn't. Didn't have strength left for ghosts. I slipped into my room. Door clicked shut. Silence. I sighed.
Mind overwhelmed with many feelings.
Then the necklace woke.
Light exploded. White-hot. It poured from the stone like water from a cracked dam and swallowed the room whole. Walls vanished. Air thinned. Cold bit my lungs.
Vision hit me like a blade.
Desert. Endless. Sand red as rust. Sky bruised purple. No sun. No wind. Just heat that pressed down like a god's palm.
And him.
Mirror-me. Standing alone. Bare chest. Arms folded. Sigil burning bright on his shoulder. Not gone. Not faded. Alive. Elemental fire curled around his fingers. Wind whipped his hair. Earth shifted under his boots.
All four gifts. Whole. Alive. Complete.
He looked straight at me. Straight through me. Eyes nonchalant like the first time. Waiting. Like he'd been standing there for years.
"Find me," he said. Voice dry as sand. Certain as stone.
The word echoed. Bounced off dunes. Sank into my bones.
Then snap.
Light cut off. Room returned. Dark. Quiet. My chest heaved. Sweat cold on my neck. The necklace cooled, heavy as guilt against my throat.
I fell back onto the bed. Face up. Ceiling spun.
"This is real," I whispered. Not a question anymore. Truth. Heavy. Unavoidable. I sighed.
Somewhere, a sigil still burned. Somewhere, I was still Elemento. Just not here. Not in this skin.
My eyes drifted closed. One second. Two.
I didn't see the eye.
But it saw me.
A thin line of shadow at the keyhole. Unblinking. Watching the prince who'd lost his fire. Watching the heir who'd been given a command by a ghost in the desert.
The eye narrowed. Then vanished.
Outside, the wind picked up. And far, far beyond the castle walls, sand began to move.
- Writer
