Kaelith’s eyes narrowed, her fingers tightening around the hilts of her daggers as she took a cautious step back. Her gaze flicked between Erik and the strange symbols glowing on his skin. "What did it show you, Erik?" she demanded, her voice sharp, tinged with suspicion. There was no mistaking the edge in her tone. The very air around them seemed to vibrate with tension.

  Erik struggled to find the right words, but they slipped through his mind like water. The images were still vivid in his mind flashes of a dark, shattered world, an endless abyss stretching beneath a blood-red sky. A figure cloaked in shadows stood at the center, speaking of a reckoning, a moment when Erik would be bound to face something he couldn't escape. The figure's voice echoed in his mind, distorted and hollow, but it spoke with certainty. Erik couldn’t make sense of it. None of it made sense.

  "I don’t know," Erik finally replied, his voice distant, as if he were speaking from far away. "It was... like a dream. A warning. But it felt real."

  The hunger stirred inside him again, a gnawing, insidious feeling that seemed to spread through his chest, like an infection. It wasn’t just an emotion; it was a presence. It was something that had found its home inside him, a parasite feeding on his fear, his confusion, and perhaps even his doubt. It clawed at him from the inside, pushing against his ribs like it wanted out. The more he tried to suppress it, the more powerful it became. He wanted to tear it out, rip it from his soul, but every instinct he had screamed that doing so would be his undoing.

  "Whatever it was, we need to figure it out," Davin said, his voice steady, though a tremor lingered in his eyes. He took a small step closer to Erik, a hand outstretched, though uncertain. "We can’t let it control you."

  Edrin, ever the tactician, had already begun scanning the chamber. His sharp eyes darted over the glowing symbols on the stone walls, his expression unreadable. "This place," he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else, "it’s not just a room. It’s a warning."

  Erik could feel the weight of the atmosphere pressing down on him, suffocating him with its heavy, ancient energy. The air was thick, alive with something he couldn't grasp, like the chamber itself was breathing in time with his every movement. The stone beneath his feet seemed to pulse, vibrating with a strange energy that felt too ancient, too powerful. He could almost hear it, a faint hum deep in his bones, as though the very earth was aware of his presence, waiting for him to make a move.

  “We need to get out of here,” Kaelith said suddenly, her voice low, but filled with a kind of finality. Her grip on her daggers tightened, and she took another cautious step back, her eyes never leaving Erik. "There’s something wrong with this place."

  But Erik couldn’t move. The pull of the chamber the pull of the energy swirling around him was far too strong. The symbols on the walls, the flickering light, the pulsing energy they were all overwhelming him. He reached out a hand, not consciously, but instinctively, as if drawn by an unseen force. His fingers brushed against the stone wall, and the sensation was like a jolt of electricity running through his body, almost as if the wall itself was calling to him. The hunger inside him responded, a sickening, primal urge to feed.

  “No,” Erik said, his voice shaking, almost a whisper. “I can’t leave. I need to understand. I need to know what’s happening to me.” His words were ragged, torn from his chest. He could feel the hunger clawing at his insides, drowning out his reasoning. It wanted to consume him. And for a fleeting moment, he wanted to let it.

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  The others hesitated, exchanging uncertain glances. Concern flickered in their eyes, but none of them moved. There was a fear in the air now fear not just of the unknown, but of Erik himself. They didn’t understand what was happening, and neither did he. But one thing was clear: he couldn’t leave until he understood what this was.

  “I think we should stay,” Davin said quietly, his voice soft, but resolute. He took a step closer, his hand resting gently on Erik’s shoulder, offering a steadying presence. “There might be answers here.”

  Kaelith’s expression hardened, but she didn’t argue. She knew that Erik’s determination was not something that could easily be swayed. But she was also the most wary of them all, ever cautious, ever prepared for the worst.

  Edrin, ever watchful, remained silent, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, though he didn’t draw it. He was always ready for what might come, and his instincts told him that whatever Erik was experiencing, it wasn’t good.

  Suddenly, the symbols on the walls flared brighter, casting long, sinister shadows that stretched across the stone floor like reaching fingers. The ground beneath their feet trembled lightly, and a low hum filled the air. The hunger inside Erik surged again, growing stronger, more insistent. His skin prickled as the energy in the chamber seemed to heighten, intensifying with every passing second. The pulsing power in the room was responding to him no, not to him, to the hunger within him.

  A voice echoed in his mind, faint but clear. It was not his own voice, but something older, colder, as though it had always been there, buried deep within him.

  “The truth is a double-edged sword,” the voice whispered, its tone heavy, like the weight of centuries. “To know it is to be bound by it. But to turn away is to lose yourself.”

  Erik’s breath caught in his throat, and he staggered back, his hand clutching his head as the words reverberated inside his skull. He tried to focus, tried to block out the voice, but the hunger it was becoming unbearable. It clawed at his chest, burning through him like a fever, urging him to give in. The words echoed in his mind again, sharper this time.

  “To know it is to be bound by it…”

  The hunger responded to the voice, a gnawing, insatiable presence that pulsed in time with the words. Erik felt it rise within him, felt his control slipping. It wanted to take over. It wanted him to surrender, to let go, to embrace whatever this force was that had claimed him.

  “Erik?” Kaelith’s voice broke through the haze, laced with concern. “What’s happening to you?”

  Erik opened his eyes and locked gazes with her. For a moment, he saw something in her eyes a flicker of trust, of hope. She was trying to believe that he could still control this, that he wasn’t lost. But Erik didn’t feel in control anymore. Not of the hunger. Not of himself. Not of anything.

  “Get back,” Erik whispered hoarsely, his voice trembling. The hunger was overwhelming now, clawing at him from the inside. “The hunger... it’s too much.”

  The symbols on his skin were glowing brighter, burning with a fierce intensity. The energy in the chamber flared in response, as though the very walls of the place were alive, feeding off the power Erik was releasing. The stone floor vibrated with an almost painful resonance, and the air thickened with the scent of ancient power.

  Kaelith stepped back, her daggers still ready, but her eyes never left Erik. She was prepared to fight, but she was also prepared to watch, to wait. Edrin stood beside her, his expression grim, his hand still hovering near his sword, though it was clear that no weapon could fight what was happening now. Davin stepped closer, his presence steady, offering whatever small semblance of calm he could, but even he seemed uncertain.

  The chamber hummed with power, and Erik felt it, deep in his bones. The pull was unbearable now, like gravity itself had intensified. The truth, whatever it was, had been awakened. And he was the vessel.

  He couldn’t escape it. He couldn’t hide from it.

  In that moment, Erik realized something that shook him to his core the door hadn’t just opened a path to this strange place. It had opened something within him. Something ancient. Something that had always been there, buried beneath the surface. The hunger had always been inside him. He had just never known it.

  And now, it was awake. And it was hungry.

  The truth had been revealed. And with it, Erik knew, there could be no turning back.