ECHOES OF THE FORGOTTEN ISLE

THE VOICE IN THE RAIN

Chapter 6 

The rain began without warning.

No thunder, no wind—just a slow, steady downpour that blanketed the jungle like a whisper.

By dusk, the camp was drenched again.

Kael sat beneath the ridge, staring at the sealed passage behind them. The black stone shimmered faintly under the rainfall, its spiral mark glowing once every few seconds—like a heartbeat still alive beneath the earth.

Elara worked nearby, scribbling notes by flashlight, muttering to herself about runes and energy patterns.

Reeve paced the perimeter with his rifle, while Mira gathered wet branches, trying to keep a dying fire alive.

No one spoke much since the chamber.

Kael could still feel the mark under his skin, faintly throbbing with every drop that touched him.

The island hadn’t gone quiet—it had gone watchful.

He glanced toward the valley below. The fog there was thicker now, rippling faintly as though breathing.

Mira looked up suddenly. “Do you hear that?”

Reeve stopped moving. “Hear what?”

“The rain,” she whispered. “It’s… whispering.”

Elara frowned. “It’s just wind.”

But Kael knew it wasn’t.

He stood slowly, listening. The rain wasn’t random—it fell in rhythm. Almost like a pattern.

Each drop hit the leaves in a sequence, repeating every few seconds.

Da-dum. Da-dum. Pause.

Da-dum. Da-dum.

His mark responded to it, pulsing in sync.

Then—

 Kael.

The voice was soft, carried on the rain.

He froze.

 You remember me, don’t you?

He turned toward the sound. The rain blurred everything—shadows, movement, even faces. He saw nothing but silver sheets of water and trees swaying in slow rhythm.

“Who’s there?” he called.

Reeve glared. “You hearing things again?”

Kael ignored him. He walked out from under the ridge, letting the rain soak through his shirt. The voice came again, closer now, threading through the sound of water.

 You sealed me once.

You bled for it.

Kael’s heart hammered. The visions started again—flashes of stone circles, torches, the screams of men. His reflection in the firelight—his eyes glowing, his hands covered in blood.

He stumbled forward, gripping his head. “Stop it…”

Elara ran to him. “Kael! What is it?”

He looked up at her, rain running down his face. “It’s talking to me.”

Elara froze. “It?”

“The thing beneath the island. It knows my name.”

Reeve muttered, “Great. He’s hearing ghosts now.”

But Mira’s voice was shaking. “No… he’s right.”

They turned to her. She was staring out into the rain, eyes wide.

“It’s saying my name too.”

Reeve raised his weapon. “That’s enough. Everyone under cover!”

The jungle exploded with sound.

The rain grew heavier, pounding like fists against the leaves. The fog lit up faintly blue—hundreds of faint glowing shapes moving within it.

Elara grabbed her satchel. “We need to move!”

Kael shook his head. “No. It’s not attacking. It’s… watching.”

He stepped into the open again. The rain hit harder, cold and heavy, soaking through his clothes. He could barely see, but he could feel them—dozens of presences surrounding the camp, invisible but near.

> Why did you come back, Guardian?

You should have stayed dead.

Kael shouted into the rain. “What are you?!”

> You know what I am.

You made me.

The words hit him like a blow. His vision fractured again.

He saw himself standing on the same island—only older, wearing armor made of bone and light.

He stood before a storm of black smoke, chanting words he couldn’t understand.

Behind him, hundreds of people knelt, terrified.

He heard his own voice—deeper, colder.

> “You will sleep beneath the roots. The world will forget you.

Then fire.

Then silence.

When he came back to himself, he was on his knees in the mud. Elara and Mira were beside him, trying to pull him up. Reeve stood nearby, scanning the jungle with his rifle, muttering curses under his breath.

Elara shouted over the rain, “What did you see?”

Kael looked at her, pale and shaking. “It wasn’t a memory. It was me.”

“From when?”

He didn’t answer. Because he didn’t know.

The rain slowed suddenly. The jungle fell silent.

Reeve lowered his rifle, wary. “What now?”

Kael’s eyes darted toward the fog. The glowing shapes had vanished—except one.

A figure stood alone among the trees. Human-sized. Still.

Elara whispered, “Is that… one of the missing crew?”

Kael took a step forward. The figure turned its head slowly.

Its face was human. Familiar.

Kael’s breath caught. “That’s—”

Himself.

The figure was Kael—identical, same scar, same clothes, same eyes. But its expression was blank, almost calm.

Mira gasped. “What the hell—”

The double tilted its head. Then spoke, voice echoing like it came from a well.

 You’re late.

Kael took a step back. “You’re not real.”

 You left the seal weak.

You let it remember.

“Who are you?”

 The part you left behind.

The double’s eyes flared bright blue. Lightning split the sky. The entire jungle illuminated—hundreds of shadowy forms flickering between the trees, whispering in unison.

 It wakes because you returned.

The island remembers its Guardian.

The light vanished.

So did the double.

Only the rain remained.

Kael stood trembling, staring at the empty space.

Elara’s voice was soft. “Kael… what does it mean?”

He turned to her slowly. “It means I wasn’t supposed to come back here.”

Reeve slung his rifle. “Too late for that. Whatever that thing is—it’s awake now.”

Kael looked toward the valley. The fog was moving again—rolling upward, swallowing trees as it climbed.

“The seal’s breaking,” he said quietly. “It’s not done yet.”

Mira whispered, “Then we reseal it.”

Kael shook his head. “I don’t think I can. Not this time.”

A flash of blue lightning streaked across the sky. For a brief moment, the outline of something massive appeared within the fog—a shape like a tower made of flesh and smoke, stretching into the clouds.

It vanished as quickly as it came.

Elara’s voice trembled. “Tell me you didn’t see that.”

Kael’s mark burned again, hotter than ever. He bit back a scream. The glow spread across his veins, up his neck, his chest.

Reeve shouted, “He’s going critical!”

The rain hit him—and everything stopped.

The water froze midair, suspended like glass. The others were frozen too, eyes wide, unmoving. Only Kael could move.

He looked around, heart hammering.

Then the voice came again.

Clear. Calm. Familiar.

 You can’t stop it, Kael.

You’re just delaying what’s meant to happen.

“Show yourself!”

 I already have.

The world shifted. The jungle melted away, replaced by fire and ash. Kael stood in the ruins of the temple again—the same one from his dreams. The sky burned red, the air thick with screams.

He saw the same obsidian door cracked open, smoke pouring from it.

And in front of it stood himself.

But this time, the double smiled.

 You called me an Entity.

But you’re the one who created me.

Kael’s voice broke. “That’s not true.”

 You took the darkness out of yourself to protect the world. You buried me here.

The double’s eyes glowed brighter. The ground split beneath them.

 But everything buried eventually rises again.

Kael fell backward, reaching out as the world shattered around him—fire, water, whispers, light—

—and suddenly he was back in the rain.

The others were moving again, shouting his name. Elara’s hands were on his shoulders. “Kael! What happened?!”

He looked at her, breath ragged. “It’s not the island that’s cursed.”

She frowned. “Then what”

“It’s me.”

The rain intensified again, falling harder, faster. The jungle trembled as distant thunder rolled overhead.

Mira’s voice was barely a whisper. “Kael… look.”

He followed her gaze. The valley below was glowing blue again—the same pattern of veins spreading outward, pulsing like blood through the land.

Reeve cursed under his breath. “Whatever that thing is, it’s awake.”

Kael’s mark burned one last time, scorching through his sleeve. The ground rumbled beneath them.

He looked toward the horizon, voice quiet.

“No. It’s remembering.”

Lightning tore across the sky again, blinding white.

When the flash faded, the fog below had formed a symbol—massive, circular, the same spiral as the seal.

And at its center… something was rising.

Something ancient.

Something that whispered his name.