ECHOES OF THE FORGOTTEN ISLE

Chapter 1

The ocean stretched endlessly, gray and restless under a bruised sky.

Kael Rynor sat on the edge of the boat, staring at the fog ahead.

Somewhere inside that mist lay the island—the one everyone said didn’t exist.

Thunder cracked.

Lightning painted the waves white.

He barely blinked.

The pilot glanced back. “You sure this is the right place, sir? GPS keeps resetting. It’s like the island doesn’t want to be found.”

Kael didn’t answer. His hands were trembling again, fingers tapping against his knee in a rhythm he didn’t remember learning. Every sound—the crash of the sea, the hum of the engine—felt too loud in his head.

He’d seen the island before.

Not in photos.

In dreams.

“Landfall in five!” the pilot shouted.

Kael’s pulse picked up. The mist began to thin, revealing dark cliffs and towering trees. The island rose like something alive, breathing fog through its valleys.

Captain Reeve Darrow stood beside him, broad shoulders tense. “Eyes sharp, Rynor. We’re not here to play explorers. Our priority is locating Dr. Voss’s lost team and getting the hell out.”

Kael gave a short nod.

He’d heard that before.

Every mission sounded simple until it wasn’t.

Dr. Elara Voss leaned against the railing, her blond hair soaked from the rain. “If this island truly shifted off its original coordinates like the reports say… then something geological—or supernatural—is happening here.”

Reeve scoffed. “Supernatural? I don’t buy fairy tales, Doctor. Nature can be weird without being haunted.”

Elara glanced at Kael. “You buy into fairy tales, Mr. Rynor?”

He hesitated. “Sometimes fairy tales come from something real.”

The words came out before he could stop them.

He didn’t know why they felt… familiar.

The boat hit sand with a soft grind.

Kael was the first to step off. His boots sank into the cold shore. The air was thick, heavy, like it hadn’t moved in centuries. The jungle beyond the beach was dense and dark—trees too tall, roots twisting like veins.

A faint hum pulsed through the ground beneath his feet.

It wasn’t the wind.

It was steady. Rhythmic. Like a heartbeat.

Mira Hale, the team’s botanist, crouched nearby, running her hands along the moss. “This place is wrong,” she whispered. “The air… it feels alive.”

Elara scanned the horizon. “Alive is good. Dead would mean we’re next.”

But Kael barely heard them.

Something deep inside him responded to the hum.

A whisper under his breath.

A pull.

He turned toward the tree line.

For a split second, he saw movement—shadows gliding between trunks, silent and swift.

Then, gone.

“Reeve,” he said quietly. “We’re not alone.”

Reeve raised his rifle. “Wildlife, maybe. Keep your safety off.”

But even he sounded unconvinced.

They moved inland, forming a tight line.

Kael’s senses sharpened with every step. The deeper they went, the louder the hum grew.

And every time he blinked, the jungle shifted—trees turning into pillars of stone, vines curling like serpents carved into ancient walls.

Visions.

Flashes of something buried in his memory.

He stumbled. Elara caught his arm.

“You alright?”

“Yeah.” He forced a smile. “Jet lag.”

But when her hand left his arm, his sleeve slid back—revealing faint lines glowing under his skin.

Like ink beneath flesh.

He quickly tugged his sleeve down.

Elara didn’t notice. Reeve did. His eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

They reached a ridge overlooking the interior of the island. Below them sprawled a maze of trees, rivers, and cliffs swallowed by fog.

In the center, a broken stone tower jutted above the canopy.

“That wasn’t on the satellite feed,” Elara murmured.

Kael’s heart skipped. “I’ve seen that before.”

“Where?”

He hesitated. “Dream. Maybe.”

Reeve checked his compass. The needle spun wildly. “This island’s screwing with magnetics. We set camp here. Mira, get samples. Kael, you’re on perimeter.”

The rain came harder. The jungle hissed with the sound.

Kael walked alone beneath the dripping leaves, scanning for movement.

Every drop of rain seemed to echo. Every gust of wind carried whispers.

Then he heard it.

A voice—soft, distant, calling through the storm.

 “Kael…”

He froze.

No one should know his name out here.

The voice came again.

 “You came back.”

His chest tightened.

He turned toward the sound, pushing through a curtain of vines. The forest opened into a clearing—a small ruin half-swallowed by roots and mud.

A stone slab sat at the center, carved with symbols glowing faintly blue beneath the rain.

He moved closer.

The hum he’d felt earlier was strongest here.

It wasn’t coming from the ground anymore.

It was coming from him.

He knelt and brushed his hand across the carvings. They were warm.

Alive.

The symbols pulsed, one after another, until the slab blazed with light.

Kael gasped as visions slammed into him—

Flames. Chanting.

A temple of stone.

And a man who looked exactly like him, standing before a blinding light chained in darkness.

The vision shattered.

He fell back, gasping.

Behind him, thunder roared. The rain turned icy cold.

Something moved in the mist.

Kael lifted his head slowly.

A shadow stood at the edge of the clearing—humanoid, but wrong.

Its outline shimmered, smoke and flesh twisting together.

He blinked, and it was gone.

He rose to his feet, hand on his knife. “Who’s there?”

Silence.

Then the runes flared again.

This time, the symbols rearranged themselves.

He stepped closer, breath heavy.

One word formed in English letters.

KAEL.

He stumbled back. “What the hell…”

The light faded.

The hum stopped.

The jungle fell silent.

Then, from far off, a scream split the night.

Not human.

Not animal.

A sound that tore straight through bone.

Kael ran toward camp.

Reeve met him halfway, weapon raised. “What happened?”

“There’s something out there!” Kael shouted. “In the jungle!”

Mira’s flashlight shook. “I heard it too! It—it sounded like it was coming from everywhere!”

Elara stepped forward, soaked, shivering. “Kael, what did you see?”

He opened his mouth but stopped. How could he explain the stone, the light, the voice that knew his name?

“I don’t know,” he said finally. “But whatever it is… it’s watching us.”

Thunder boomed again. The ground trembled.

Something deep beneath the island shifted—like a creature turning in its sleep.

They gathered around the fire, weapons close.

The rain turned to mist, clinging to their skin.

Kael sat silently, staring at the flames. The mark on his arm glowed faintly under his sleeve.

Elara noticed his distant gaze. “You’re hiding something.”

He didn’t respond.

Because she was right.

Every instinct in him screamed to leave the island, to get as far away as possible.

But something else—something darker—kept whispering stay.

He didn’t sleep that night.

He couldn’t.

Because every time he closed his eyes, he saw the same vision.

The same man.

The same blinding light sealed beneath stone.

And in the distance, echoing through the storm, came that same voice

 “Welcome back, Guardian.”

Kael’s eyes snapped open.

The jungle was silent.

But the fire flickered blue for just a second—

as if something unseen had breathed against it.