The staircase never seemed to end.
Kael and Selene kept walking down the ancient stone steps, the light from Selene's lantern flickering against the damp walls. With each step, the air grew colder and heavier, as if the world above was being left behind entirely.
Finally, they reached the bottom.
Before them stretched a massive underground chamber. The ceiling was lost in darkness. Giant pillars rose from the ground, covered in old vines that glowed faintly, like veins filled with soft light. At the very center of the room stood an obsidian coffin, resting on a raised altar.
The air was still, but charged with something, something alive.
Kael stepped forward slowly.
"Is this it?" he asked in a whisper.
Selene didn't respond. She stood frozen, eyes wide, staring at the coffin.
"This isn't just the god beneath the ruin," she murmured. "This... this is what's left of him."
As Kael got closer, the pendant around his neck started to glow brighter. It pulsed like a heartbeat.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
He was sure of it now, something inside that coffin was still alive. Or at least dreaming.
Kael reached out and gently touched the surface of the obsidian. It was warm.
Suddenly, the entire chamber shook. Cracks split across the stone floor. The glowing vines writhed back like frightened animals. The pulse in his pendant quickened.
Then, a deep voice echoed inside Kael's mind.
"You are not ready."
Kael stumbled backward, grabbing his chest. His mind was flooded with terrifying images, cities on fire, people screaming, oceans swallowing the land, and skies filled with blood.
Selene caught him before he collapsed. "You heard it too, didn't you?"
He nodded weakly. "It spoke to me."
"The god is not dead," Selene said softly. "He sleeps. And we've just woken him."
Kael looked at the coffin again, fear settling deep in his bones. The legends weren't lies. The god beneath the ruin was real. And now, it knew Kael's name.