Vathis: Ashes of the Forsaken

The temple walls were never silent.

Even when the priests slept, even when the torches flickered and the corridors seemed empty, something within the stone breathed. It was as if the structure itself was a living, rotting thing—an ancient beast pretending to be a temple, its veins made of corridors, its bones carved into statues of false gods, its hunger stretching into the void.

Aeron had lived here his whole life.

And he knew—nothing in this place ever truly slept.

That night, the walls listened.

That night, the air watched.

And that night, his father would break him.

---

A Pact in the Dark

They were running out of time.

Selene sat across from Aeron in the abandoned wing of the temple, where no priests dared tread. The place smelled of old parchment, mildew, and something far worse—something that had been rotting for centuries but never truly died. The statues here were… wrong. Their faces had been worn down, too smooth, too expressionless, as if they had been watching too much, knowing too much.

Selene didn't care.

Her hand gripped his—tight, too tight, as if letting go meant death. Her breath was uneven, her body trembling, but her eyes burned with determination.

"Aeron, listen to me." Her voice was a whisper, but it cut through the heavy air like a blade. "We leave tonight. No more waiting."

He wanted to say yes.

He wanted to stand, take her hand, and run.

But something inside him… stopped.

It wasn't fear.

It was something worse.

The seal.

That damned seal his mother had placed on him before she died. A lock on his true abilities. A shackle around his soul. A final, desperate act of a mother trying to save her son from something far worse than death.

And now, it weighed down his every decision.

"Aeron."

He looked up.

Selene's face softened, just a little. "You're not broken." She lifted his hands to her lips, pressing a kiss against his knuckles. "We'll escape. Together. And your father will never touch you again."

Aeron wanted to believe her.

But deep down, he knew.

No one left this place alive.

---

The Descent into Madness

Midnight.

The temple corridors stretched too far.

The space was wrong. The walls seemed closer, breathing, pressing in on them. The torches flickered with colors they shouldn't have—blue, green, sickly violet. The air was damp, thick with whispers neither of them could understand.

Selene squeezed his hand.

"Almost there."

They ran.

The grand doors were ahead. No guards. No priests. Too easy.

Aeron hesitated.

"Selene—"

Then—

The door melted.

The wood screamed as it sagged, black ooze pouring from its frame, the archway becoming a gaping maw of pulsating flesh.

And from the darkness beyond—

He stepped through.

Malik.

His father.

The torches died.

The shadows grew.

His presence crushed the air itself. The temple groaned, the walls shivered, as if begging for mercy.

Selene moved.

Fast. Too fast.

A dagger flashed in her grip, a streak of silver aimed for Malik's throat.

It never reached him.

He didn't move.

He didn't speak.

The blade stopped midair.

Selene froze.

Her entire body lifted from the ground, arms bent backward at a grotesque angle. A sharp, wet pop.

She didn't scream.

She couldn't.

Her body snapped inward.

Her ribs cracked as her chest caved unnaturally. Her fingers twisted, veins blackening, skin splitting open as Malik's magic infected her.

Her mouth opened—eyes wide in terror.

No sound came out.

Aeron tried to move.

He couldn't.

He could only watch.

Malik sighed.

"You disappoint me, son."

The shadows swarmed Selene's body.

Her veins blackened. Her skin peeled. Tendrils of darkness crawled into her mouth, her nose, her eyes, swallowing her from the inside.

Aeron screamed.

Something inside him snapped.

The seal burned.

The torches erupted in black flames. The temple shook.

The walls cried out.

Malik's eyes widened.

For the first time in Aeron's life—

His father looked afraid.

Then, Malik ripped Selene apart.

Not with a weapon.

Not with magic.

With his hands.

Flesh and bone peeled apart like wet paper.

Blood painted the ceiling, the walls, the floor—soaking Aeron.

Her eyes were still looking at him.

Still smiling.

Something inside Aeron broke.

And then—

Everything burned.

The temple collapsed inward.

Reality screamed.

And Aeron—

Became something else.