Reya awoke with a start, her breath coming in sharp, jagged gasps. For a moment, she could not remember where she was. Her heart thudded wildly, her mind clouded by the remnants of the dream that clung to her like a heavy fog. But then, as the surroundings came into focus, she realized she was back at the Sanctuary.

But something was wrong.

The air felt wrong.

The ground trembled beneath her, a low, ominous rumble that grew louder by the second. She rose from her bedroll, disoriented and terrified, barely able to steady herself as the very earth seemed to shudder beneath her feet. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the walls groaned in protest. The Sanctuary, the once sacred place of refuge, was crumbling.

"What's happening?" she whispered, her voice lost to the tremors.

Suddenly, her mind flashed back to the dream. The woman, bathed in light. The man, cloaked in shadows. They had fought—violent, destructive, their powers clashing like lightning tearing the heavens asunder. And then, that moment. The woman, falling to the ground, her body broken, her blood seeping into the earth.

And her last words.

Kail'dar. Find. Kali'dar.

Reya’s breath caught in her throat. The words echoed in her mind, repeating over and over as though they were carved into the very fabric of her being. But what did it mean? Who were these names? And why had the woman’s dying breath been for them?

The Sanctuary shook again, this time with enough force to send her stumbling across the room. She reached out to steady herself, her hands grasping a stone pillar, but the building around her groaned in protest. The stones cracked, and with a deafening roar, part of the wall collapsed.

"Everyone!" Reya cried out, her voice nearly drowned by the rumbling chaos. "Get up, we need to move!"

The others were already scrambling to their feet, their faces wide with alarm. Amaya, Lina, and Kai—all of them seemed to be shaken, but there was something else in their eyes. Something urgent. Like they, too, had been touched by the same vision.

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Amaya, her fiery hair wild, stepped toward Reya. "What’s happening? I felt something—like the earth itself is... dying."

Reya nodded, her mind racing. "The earth is trembling, but I—" She hesitated, the remnants of the dream still fresh in her mind. "I saw something. A woman and a man. They were fighting... their powers clashing in the sky. There was a bright light, and when it faded..." She trailed off, remembering the moment of stillness. "The woman, she was dying, and then she spoke."

"Kail'dar... Kali'dar." Kai, his fists still slightly clenched from the last battle, furrowed his brow. "What does that mean? Is it... a name?"

"I don’t know," Reya admitted, frustration creeping into her voice. "But I know she was important, and I think she was trying to protect us."

Lina, who had been silent until now, spoke with a quiet determination. "What happened to the man? The one in the shadows?"

Reya felt her stomach churn at the thought. "He vanished. When the light consumed everything, the shadows were gone, and the woman... she was broken. Her blood seeped into the ground, and she whispered those words."

The entire room shook again, harder this time. More of the walls cracked, dust filling the air like a suffocating fog. Reya felt the weight of the moment, the urgency pressing down on her.

"We need to get out of here," she said urgently, her voice rising above the noise of the crumbling building. "Sarlon—where’s Sarlon?"

The others looked around, their faces pale, but it was clear that the advisor was nowhere to be found.

"Sarlon... she’s gone," Amaya murmured, her voice thick with worry.

"We need to leave!" Lina shouted, stepping forward. "Now!"

Without another word, they made for the exit. But as they rushed out into the open air, they were met with an eerie silence. The once-bustling Sanctuary grounds were now devoid of life, the air thick with the tension of something far darker than any of them had ever felt before.

The world around them was beginning to change.

And the sense of doom that had once felt distant now seemed imminent.

The ground beneath their feet rumbled again, louder this time, and it felt as though the earth itself was breaking apart, as though it had felt the woman’s last breath, her final plea. The earth trembled not only from the quake but from the very presence of the darkness she had foreseen.

Sarlon was gone. The Sanctuary was crumbling. And in the distance, Reya could feel the weight of her words pressing upon her, pulling at her like a distant storm.

Kail'dar. Kali'dar.

It was a call to action. A warning. A plea.

They had no time to waste.

With a shared glance, the four Guardians stepped into the unknown, each of them unsure of what awaited them. But one thing was clear—they would not be able to turn back. Not now. Not after seeing the dream. After feeling the earth tremble beneath them.

Together, they would have to face what was coming.

And they would have to find the answers that Sarlon had left behind.