ECHOES OF THE FORGOTTEN ISLE

THE JUNGLE WATCHES

Chapter 4 

The rain had stopped, but the sound didn’t.

The jungle never slept—it breathed, whispered, shifted.

Kael sat by the dying fire, soaked to the bone. The others slept—or tried to. Mira’s silhouette was barely visible behind the flap of her tent, her flashlight flickering like a heartbeat. Reeve sat on watch with his rifle, motionless except for the slow drag of his cigarette.

Elara’s tent was closed, though he could hear her restless movements inside.

Kael hadn’t closed his eyes once. He couldn’t.

Every time he blinked, the dream tried to crawl back.

A temple.

A circle of flame.

And the voice whispering from the dark—

Seal it again, Guardian.

He rubbed the mark under his sleeve. It glowed faintly blue, like it was alive. He half expected it to answer when he breathed.

“Still up?” Reeve’s voice cut through the quiet.

Kael didn’t look at him. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Reeve exhaled smoke through his nose. “You’re not the only one. This place doesn’t feel right. The trees… they’re listening.”

Kael’s gaze drifted to the treeline. The fog hung low, swallowing the camp in a silver blur. “You think the island’s alive?”

“I think,” Reeve said, “that if it is, it doesn’t like us here.”

A long silence followed. The wind sighed through the leaves, low and human.

Then—

Snap.

Both men froze.

Reeve’s hand tightened around his rifle. He motioned silently. Kael moved toward the sound, boots sinking into wet soil. The firelight behind them flickered, painting the fog gold and red.

Another sound. Closer now.

Kael’s heart pounded. He scanned the shadows between the trees—nothing but endless green and mist. He turned back—

—and stopped.

Something stood behind Reeve.

Tall.

Thin.

Its shape barely visible through the fog.

“Reeve,” Kael whispered.

The captain turned. The thing was gone.

But the air where it had stood still rippled—like heat haze, bending light around something invisible.

Reeve cursed softly. “We’re not alone.”

Kael moved forward slowly, knife drawn. Every sound in the jungle seemed amplified—the drip of rain, the rustle of branches, the steady hum that pulsed through the ground.

He felt it again the same vibration from before.

The same rhythm as the mark under his skin.

The jungle knew he was here.

Mira stumbled out of her tent, flashlight trembling in her hand. “I heard voices!”

Reeve hissed, “Lights off! Now!”

But it was too late.

Her beam sliced through the fog and caught movement.

A figure.

Standing at the edge of the clearing, back turned.

Its body shimmered like smoke caught in glass. Its head tilted slowly, as though hearing them from miles away.

“Is that” Mira began.

The figure turned.

Its face was human.

And not.

Eyes black and hollow. Skin pale as ash. The same spiral mark burned on its forehead—the same as Kael’s.

Mira screamed. The creature dissolved instantly into mist, swirling into the trees. The fog around the camp erupted into motion—shadows darting between trunks, circling them.

“Defensive line!” Reeve barked. “Weapons ready!”

Elara burst from her tent, clutching her notebook instead of a weapon. “What’s happening?”

Kael’s mark burned. “They’re here.”

“Who ?”

“Whatever’s watching us.”

The shadows closed in. The fog thickened until Kael could barely see his hand. A whisper moved through the mist—hundreds of voices overlapping in a haunting murmur.

 You came back.

The seal broke.

Guardian.

Kael staggered, clutching his head. The voices weren’t just around him—they were inside him. His vision blurred.

He saw fire again.

An island burning.

A crowd kneeling before a colossal figure of smoke.

And his own voice—calm, commanding.

 You will sleep beneath the roots.

The vision shattered. Kael gasped, stumbling to his knees. The mark on his arm was glowing bright now, visible through fabric and skin. The ground around him cracked with blue light, spreading like veins through the earth.

The fog recoiled instantly. The whispers turned to shrieks.

Reeve swung his rifle toward the trees. “What did you do?!”

Kael could barely breathe. “I don’t know”

The light pulsed once—then exploded outward in a ring. The fog dispersed like smoke under flame. For a moment, the jungle was silent again.

When the light faded, the shapes were gone.

All except one.

A woman stood at the treeline, barefoot, drenched, staring at them. Her eyes were bright blue, glowing faintly.

Elara whispered, “She’s one of the missing expedition.”

The woman stepped forward slowly. “Help… me…”

Her voice was raw, distorted. Kael took a cautious step forward. “We’re here to help. What happened to your team?”

The woman blinked. “It… feeds…”

“What does?” Elara asked.

The woman’s eyes rolled back. “It remembers you…”

Her body convulsed, spine arching unnaturally. The mark burned on her chest now, brighter than Kael’s.

Reeve aimed his gun. “Kael, back up—”

Too late.

The woman screamed. Her body twisted into smoke, dissolving into the air. The trees shook violently. The fog returned, thicker, darker.

Something massive moved in the distance—a shape bigger than the trees, sliding between shadows.

The ground trembled.

Mira dropped her flashlight. “Oh god… it’s coming.”

Reeve grabbed her and Elara. “Fall back to the ridge! Now!”

Kael stayed still, watching the tree line. The glowing blue veins on the ground had formed a perfect circle around him.

He realized—

They weren’t random.

They were a seal.

And he was standing inside it.

The humming deepened into a low rumble. The soil beneath him cracked open, releasing a breath of cold air that smelled like ash and old stone.

From the darkness below, a single hand reached out. Pale. Human.

Kael stumbled backward. “No… no…”

Elara grabbed his arm. “Kael! Move!”

The hand withdrew. The earth closed over it as if nothing had happened.

Then silence.

The fog thinned. The wind stopped. Even the insects fell quiet.

Only the hum remained.

Slow. Steady.

Like breathing.

They didn’t stop running until they reached higher ground. The rain started again, light and cold.

Reeve paced, furious. “What the hell was that?!”

“No idea,” Elara said breathlessly. “But Kael—your mark—it reacted to them. It scared them off.”

Kael stared at his arm. The glow was fading again, leaving faint black lines beneath the skin. He felt hollow, like the energy had drained him.

“They called me something,” he said quietly. “Guardian.”

Elara frowned. “Guardian of what?”

Kael’s jaw clenched. “I don’t know. But whatever’s sealed here—it’s waking up.”

Mira hugged herself, eyes wide. “Then we need to leave. Tonight.”

Reeve looked toward the fog-choked valley below. “Try if you want. But look.”

They turned. The jungle below had shifted again. The river had changed direction. The cliffs had moved. The island’s shape was different.

Mira whispered, “It’s like it’s rearranging itself.”

Kael felt it too—the subtle tilt under his boots, the low heartbeat beneath the soil. The island wasn’t just alive. It was aware.

And it wanted him to stay.

Thunder rumbled above. The storm gathered again, clouds swirling unnaturally fast.

Elara zipped her jacket, trembling. “We make camp here. No fires. No light. We stay quiet till dawn.”

Reeve nodded. “And Rynor?”

Kael looked up. “Yeah?”

“You’re on first watch. If that mark of yours starts glowing again…” He chambered a round. “…wake me before you explode.”

Kael didn’t answer. He just sat in the mud, watching the jungle sway below like a living thing.

As the others retreated to their tents, the night deepened.

He felt the island again—breathing beneath him. The heartbeat in the soil matched his own. The whisper brushed the back of his mind.

 It remembers you.

You sealed it once.

Can you do it again?

His vision blurred. The mist thickened at the edge of camp, shapes forming briefly before dissolving again—faces half-remembered, mouths whispering his name.

Kael gripped his knife tighter. “If you want me,” he muttered under his breath, “then come take me.”

The jungle answered with silence.

Then a single leaf drifted to the ground—burning faintly blue.

Kael’s eyes widened. The mark on his arm pulsed once more.

He looked toward the valley. The fog was glowing faintly from below.

And in the distance—rising slowly through the trees—he saw it.

A tower of stone.

Half-buried.

Awakening.