Fragments of Forgotten Power

The morning mist clung to the forest, draping the trees in a pale, eerie veil as Eryn and Eilea moved through the silent woods. It was early, the world around them still sleepy, the earth damp from a passing rain. Eryn had not spoken much since the encounter with the bandits; his usual detachment had deepened into a silence that left Eilea uneasy, yet she kept close, watching him with quiet patience.

Suddenly, the mist thickened, twisting into strange shapes that wove through the trees. Eryn paused, feeling a faint tremor in the air, something almost alive threading through the fog. A chill traced down his spine, a sensation he’d nearly forgotten.

Then, from the shadows, a small, lithe figure appeared.

A girl stood a few feet away, barely visible through the fog, her face framed by loose curls of dark hair, her eyes wide and knowing. She was no older than seven, dressed in simple, tattered clothes, but her gaze held a depth that seemed timeless, like a river cutting through ancient rock.

“Nira…” Eryn breathed, instinctively aware of her identity, though he didn’t know how. Something about her felt painfully familiar, like a forgotten dream resurfacing.

Eilea glanced from Eryn to the child, sensing the strange tension between them. “Do you… know her?”

The child didn’t answer, but instead stepped forward, her bare feet soundless against the damp forest floor. “Eryn,” she murmured, her voice barely more than a whisper, yet it rippled through the air like the toll of a bell. “You’ve forgotten so much. Would you like to remember?”

Eryn felt an involuntary shiver. “Why are you here, Nira?”

“To help you, silly,” she said with an innocent smile, though her eyes were dark and ancient. “You locked away so many things, and now they’re coming back, bit by bit. But memories are funny things… they change everything when they return.”

Before he could answer, Nira raised a small hand, and the fog around her swirled, coiling like mist caught in a storm. Suddenly, Eryn felt a jolt, like a key turning in a lock deep within him. Shadows shifted in his mind, and in an instant, memories began to resurface.

He staggered, clutching his head as the fragments crashed through him—faces, voices, moments from his past emerging all at once.

He was standing on a cliff overlooking a vast, crumbling city. The wind whipped around him, carrying the scent of ash. Beside him was a figure, half shrouded in darkness, a presence both familiar and terrifying. The figure spoke, its voice echoing, soft and cold.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it? A world where you could shape everything to your will.”

Eryn watched, horrified, as the city below twisted, buildings collapsing, the ground splitting open as the figure raised a hand.

“I gave you the power to change anything,” the figure continued, its voice soft and mocking. “But you couldn’t handle the cost.”

The memory ended abruptly, and Eryn gasped, feeling his body tremble. The trees around him blurred and flickered, as if reality itself were straining, struggling to hold onto form. He steadied himself, trying to push back the visions clawing at his mind, but it was no use.

“Nira…” he managed, his voice strained. “What did you do?”

Nira tilted her head, watching him with a look of pure innocence. “I only gave back what you lost. But your memories… they’re part of the world, Eryn. When they come back, they change things.”

As she spoke, the forest around them continued to warp. The ground beneath his feet shifted, as if an invisible force was reshaping it. Trees bent at impossible angles, leaves withering and regrowing, their colors shifting from green to gray.

Eilea, sensing the change, reached for his arm. “Eryn, what’s happening?”

He shook his head, too dazed to answer. The fragments of his past were slipping through his fingers, moments from another life returning with a force that left him shaken. Each memory brought a surge of energy, raw and chaotic, spilling out into the world.

“Nira…” he said, struggling to steady his thoughts. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because it’s the only way you’ll understand,” she replied, her voice soft but firm. “You’re more than just an anomaly, Eryn. You were… meant for something.”

Eryn felt another wave crash through him, and he saw himself in a different place, a vast hall lined with stone pillars, ancient symbols etched into the walls. He recognized it—a place from his past, though he had no memory of how he’d arrived there. In this memory, he was standing before an altar, a strange, pulsing stone in his hands, its energy radiating like a heartbeat.

The figure from before was there as well, its face obscured, its presence filling the hall with an oppressive weight.

“If you take this power, you will never return to the life you once knew,” the figure warned, though its tone held a note of satisfaction. “You will be free from every law, every boundary. But you will know only solitude.”

In the memory, Eryn hesitated, but then, with a grim determination, he reached forward, placing his hand on the stone.

Reality shattered.

The memory ended with a sickening lurch, and Eryn staggered, barely able to keep his balance as the world around him twisted once more. The trees bent and stretched, the air rippling as if a storm had passed through.

Eilea held his arm tightly, her face pale. “Eryn, are you all right?”

He looked at her, his vision still blurred from the onslaught of memories. “No,” he whispered, the weight of his past pressing down on him like a thousand stones. “I don’t… I don’t think I’m all right.”

Nira watched him calmly, her gaze far too knowing for a child. “Every memory you locked away is tied to this world, Eryn. When you remember, you change the past… and the present.”

He stared at her, barely comprehending. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you’re not the only one with forgotten power,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Others are remembering too. And if you don’t, they’ll shape the world in ways you can’t even imagine.”

Eryn felt a chill crawl down his spine. He had thought he was alone, a solitary anomaly in a world that could barely hold him. But now, with these fragments returning, he saw the truth. Others like him existed, and they too carried pieces of a broken past.

Eilea’s voice brought him back to the present. “Eryn, I don’t understand what’s happening, but… whatever you’re remembering, you don’t have to face it alone.”

He looked at her, his gaze softening. But before he could respond, the ground beneath them trembled, and a jagged tear appeared, ripping through the earth with a force that shook the trees.

Nira stepped back, her gaze fixed on the rupture. “The past isn’t a place you can simply visit,” she said softly. “It’s a shadow that follows you.”

Eryn took a step forward, staring into the darkness of the crack, his heart pounding. This tear was more than just a shift in the earth; it was a doorway, a passage into something older and far darker than he had anticipated.

“Eryn…” Eilea whispered, her hand on his arm. “What are you going to do?”

He took a breath, steadying himself. The weight of his memories was heavy, crushing even, but in that weight, he felt a strange kind of purpose emerging. There was something here, something he needed to remember, something buried deep within this fractured world.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, glancing back at her. “But whatever’s waiting for me… I have to face it.”

Nira’s gaze held his, her expression calm and knowing. “Then I’ll guide you, Eryn. But be warned—there’s no going back.”

With a last glance at Eilea, he took a step forward, feeling the darkness of the tear wrap around him, pulling him deeper into the unknown, into the forgotten fragments of his own power.

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