Hunter of the Lost Gates-Chapter 81
Sai’s boots **pressed into the fractured stone** of the mountain pass, his steps slow but steady as he led the group forward. The jagged peaks loomed overhead, their craggy faces **scarred by time and battle**, sharp edges cutting into the sky like the broken teeth of some ancient beast.
The wind howled faintly through the ridgeline, carrying with it the **bitter cold of the highlands**, but Sai barely felt it.
Because the **Abyss still clung to him.**
The black mist **curled softly** around his legs, **moving with him**, trailing behind him in a slow, restless coil. It pulsed faintly with his heartbeat—**an extension of him** now, no longer wild or erratic.
No longer a **foreign force.**
It was **his shadow.**
And it would **never leave.**
He didn’t have to **summon it** anymore.
It simply **was.**
And even as he walked forward, his mind **focused on the path ahead**, the Abyss was **watching.**
**Listening.**
Waiting.
---
### **The Faint Pulse of Power**
Ezren moved ahead, his dagger **glinting faintly** in the dim light. His golden abyssal eyes flickered **sharp and steady**, his movements **quick and fluid**—silent as a ghost.
He scanned the ridgeline with **careful precision**, tracking every subtle shift in the shadows, every ripple in the mist.
And Sai could **feel** what Ezren was sensing.
Because **he felt it too.**
A faint, distant **pull** in the air.
Not from a **gate.**
Not from the **Abyss itself.**
But from something else.
**Older.**
**Stronger.**
Ezren’s voice was low, sharp with caution.
"You feel that?"
Kael’s heavy boots **crunched over the broken stone** as he approached from behind, his massive frame casting a **long shadow** over the jagged path.
His greatsword rested loosely across his back, but his hand **never left the hilt.**
His golden eyes **narrowed faintly** as he glanced toward Sai.
"Yeah," Kael muttered. **"I feel it."**
Lena, walking behind them, slowed slightly.
Her steps **softened**, but her hand drifted toward her chakrams, her fingers **curling around the familiar weight.**
She didn’t ask what they were sensing.
Because she already **knew.**
Her gaze **flickered briefly** toward Sai, and **her chest tightened faintly** at the sight of him.
At the way the **Abyss clung to his shoulders**, moving with him like a living thing.
At the way he **didn’t even notice it anymore.**
Her throat **tightened**, but she said nothing.
She just **kept walking.**
Because no matter how much she **wanted to stop**, to ask him if he was **still himself**—
She knew **she wouldn’t get the answer she wanted.**
---
### **The Forgotten Ruins**
The mountain pass **widened** as they moved further in, the narrow trail opening into a broader plateau—a stretch of **flat, broken ground** surrounded by jagged cliffs.
And at the center of the plateau stood the **remnants of a lost city.**
Sai’s breath **caught slightly** as he took it in.
The ruins were **ancient**, far older than the dungeons he had seen before. The buildings were **carved from black stone**, etched with faded runes that pulsed faintly with **abyssal fire**, barely clinging to the remnants of their power.
Crumbled towers **jutted toward the sky**, their spires broken and fractured, half-consumed by time.
Massive statues of **forgotten beings** loomed over the crumbling streets, their features **eroded beyond recognition**, their faces blurred by the weight of ages.
And yet—**the power remained.**
Sai could **feel it pulsing** in the stone.
Faint, but still **alive.**
Ezren’s golden eyes **flickered sharply** as he scanned the ruins, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his dagger. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
"This place is wrong," he murmured softly.
Kael exhaled sharply, his voice low and flat.
"Yeah," he muttered, **rolling his shoulders**. **"I don’t like it either."**
But Sai **kept walking.**
His boots pressed into the **blackened earth**, the Abyss **coiling softly** around his ankles, shifting with each step.
And with every heartbeat, he could **feel the city stirring.**
It wasn’t alive.
But it wasn’t **dead, either.**
It was **waiting.**
Lena’s voice was barely above a whisper.
"...What is this place?"
Sai exhaled slowly, his golden eyes **flickering faintly** as he stared at the ruins.
His voice was **low but certain.**
"**A memory.**"
---
### **Echoes of the Past**
As they moved deeper into the ruins, Sai felt the **familiar pull of the Abyss** dragging at the edges of his mind.
But this time—it wasn’t trying to **consume him.**
It was **showing him.**
The mist around his boots **swirled softly**, and suddenly—the world **shifted.**
The ruins flickered.
For a moment—**they were whole again.**
Sai’s eyes **widened slightly** as the city **came to life** around him.
The broken towers were **restored**, their jagged spires reaching high into the sky. The crumbled streets were **solid once more**, filled with **shadowed figures** moving in the haze of memory.
**Hunters.**
No—not hunters.
**Warriors of the Abyss.**
They **walked the streets**, their eyes burning with golden fire, **clad in abyssal armor**, their forms **blurred by time**.
They moved with **purpose**, their faces **grim and sharp**, carrying blades and staves **etched with runes of power**.
And at the heart of the city—
**The Throne.**
Whole again.
Standing tall and **unbroken**, carved from abyssal stone, its edges sharp and jagged, pulsing faintly with **raw, blackened power.**
Sai’s breath **caught.**
Because he knew this place.
He had seen it **in the visions** the Abyss had shown him.
**The First Kingdom.**
Before the Abyss had become a prison.
Before it had become **a curse.**
This was what it **once was.**
A kingdom of power.
A kingdom of **monsters.**
And he could **see himself** standing among them.
A figure with **golden eyes**, draped in black armor, the Abyss **coiling around his limbs** like a living crown.
And he knew.
This was **what he could become.**
If he **let it take him.**
The vision **flickered violently**, the echoes of the past **fading** into nothingness, and Sai found himself **back in the ruins**, standing among the crumbled stone.
But his heart **still pounded.**
Because he knew now.
The **Abyss didn’t forget.**
And it didn’t forgive.
---
### **The Abyss Stirs Again**
The ground beneath Sai’s boots **trembled faintly**, and the black mist around him **thickened.**
Ezren’s eyes **narrowed sharply**, his voice low and flat.
"...We need to move."
Kael’s grip **tightened around his sword**, his knuckles white.
"Yeah," he muttered darkly. "I don’t want to be here any longer than we have to."
But Sai didn’t **move.**
His golden abyssal eyes **stared out** over the ruins, watching the distant towers crumbling into the mist.
And he knew.
The **Abyss wasn’t done with him.**
Not yet.
Lena slowly **stepped closer**, her voice soft but strained.
"Sai..."
He didn’t look at her.
He **kept walking**.
Because he knew **if he stopped now**, he might not be able to keep moving.
And the **Abyss was still watching.**
**Still waiting.**
And **this time—it wouldn’t let him go.**
---
### **The Road Ahead**
They left the ruins behind, the crumbled city **fading into the mist**.
But Sai could still **feel it.**
Lingering at the edges of his senses.
And he knew **it was never truly gone.**
Because the **Abyss did not forget.**
And no matter how far he walked, **it would follow him.**
Not as a burden.
Not as a curse.
But as **part of him.**
Forever.
