Home / Fantasy / Tides Of Eternity / Episode 9: Shadows of Betrayal
Episode 9: Shadows of Betrayal
Author: Kaiza
last update2025-01-16 00:30:07

The forest was quiet, unnaturally so, as Kaiza, Mina, and Oran continued their journey. The aftermath of the Trial of Fire lingered in their minds, a mix of triumph and unease. Kaiza led the way, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, ever vigilant. Mina followed closely, her eyes scanning the trees for any sign of danger. Oran trailed behind, his expression troubled.

“How far until the next trial?”Mina asked, breaking the silence.

Kaiza glanced back at her. “Not far. But the trials aren’t just physical. They test your mind and spirit as well.”

Oran frowned. “What does that mean? Are we supposed to solve riddles or something?”

Kaiza didn’t answer, his focus shifting to the path ahead. The forest seemed to close in around them, the trees growing denser and the shadows deeper. Mina felt a chill run down her spine.

By midday, they came upon a small village nestled in a clearing. The houses were simple, made of wood and thatch, but there was something off about the place. No one was outside, and the air felt heavy with tension.

“Stay alert,” Kaiza said, his voice low.

They entered the village cautiously, their footsteps echoing in the eerie silence. Mina’s eyes darted to the windows of the houses, where curtains twitched as if someone was watching. Oran’s grip tightened on the makeshift spear he had fashioned.

“Hello?”Mina called out. “Is anyone here?”

A door creaked open, and an elderly woman stepped out, her face lined with age and worry. She eyed the group warily. “You shouldn’t be here,” she said. “This place is cursed.”

Kaiza stepped forward. “We mean no harm. We’re just passing through.”

The woman shook her head. “Passing through won’t save you. The shadows will find you, just as they found us.”

Mina’s heart sank. “What shadows?”

Before the woman could answer, a low growl echoed through the village. Kaiza drew his sword, his eyes scanning the surroundings. The shadows seemed to shift and move, taking on shapes that weren’t entirely human.

“Get inside,” the woman hissed. “Now!”

They followed her into her small home, the interior cramped but warm. The woman barred the door and lit a lantern, its flickering light casting long shadows on the walls.

“What’s happening?”Mina asked, her voice trembling.

The woman sighed. “The shadows are the remnants of those who sought power in this forest. They were consumed by it, and now they hunt anyone who enters their domain.”

Kaiza’s expression darkened. “How do we stop them?”

The woman hesitated. “There’s a shrine deep in the forest, said to hold the key to their rest. But no one who’s gone there has ever returned.”

Oran crossed his arms. “Great. Another death trap.”

Kaiza ignored him, turning to Mina. “We don’t have a choice. If the shadows are tied to the trials, we have to face them.”

Mina nodded, though fear gnawed at her. “We’ll make it through. We have to.”

As night fell, the group prepared to leave for the shrine. The woman gave them a small talisman, its surface etched with ancient symbols.

“This will protect you from the worst of their influence,” she said. “But it won’t last forever. Use it wisely.”

Kaiza took the talisman, his expression unreadable. “Thank you. We’ll return if we can.”

The woman’s gaze lingered on them as they stepped out into the night. The village was eerily quiet, the shadows stretching long and dark under the moonlight. Kaiza held the talisman tightly, its faint glow offering a small measure of comfort.

The journey to the shrine was fraught with danger. The shadows grew bolder, their forms twisting and shifting as they pursued the group. Kaiza’s sword flashed in the moonlight, cutting through the creatures as they lunged. Mina stayed close to him, her heart pounding with every step.

Oran fought valiantly, but his fear was palpable. “How much farther?”he shouted, his voice tinged with panic.

“Not far,” Kaiza replied, though he wasn’t sure if it was true. The forest seemed endless, the shrine always just out of reach.

Finally, they broke through the trees into a small clearing. At its center stood the shrine, a stone structure covered in moss and vines. Its surface glowed faintly, the same light as the talisman.

“We’re here,” Kaiza said, his voice filled with relief.

But their respite was short-lived. The shadows surged forward, their forms coalescing into a massive, writhing mass. It towered over them, its glowing eyes filled with malice.

“Protect Mina!”Kaiza shouted, charging toward the creature.

Oran hesitated, his fear rooting him in place. Mina grabbed his arm. “We have to help him!”

Together, they moved to the shrine. Mina placed her hands on its surface, feeling a surge of energy flow through her. The talisman glowed brighter, its light pushing back the shadows.

“Keep going!”Kaiza yelled, his sword slashing through the dark tendrils that reached for him.

Mina focused, her mind racing. The shrine’s symbols began to shift, forming a pattern she recognized from the hermit’s teachings. She traced the symbols with her fingers, her voice steady as she recited the words that came to her.

The shadows let out a deafening roar, their forms dissolving into the air. The clearing grew still, the oppressive weight lifting. Kaiza lowered his sword, his chest heaving with exhaustion.

“We did it,” Mina said, her voice filled with wonder.

Kaiza nodded, his gaze softening as he looked at her. “You were incredible.”

Oran sat on the ground, his hands trembling. “Let’s not do that again.”

Kaiza helped him to his feet. “We’ll rest here for now. The next trial can wait.”

As they settled in the clearing, the shrine’s glow remained, a beacon of hope in the darkness. But Kaiza knew their journey was far from over. The trials would only grow more dangerous, and the shadows of betrayal still lingered, waiting for the right moment to strike.

The shrine’s glow faded with the dawn, leaving Kaiza, Mina, and Oran to face the forest once more. Though the shadows were gone, an unsettling silence lingered, as if the forest itself was holding its breath. Kaiza’s gaze swept the treetops, his instincts on edge.

“We should move,” he said, his voice low. “The next trial won’t wait for us.”

Mina nodded, her fingers brushing the edge of the talisman she now carried. The warmth of its faint glow gave her courage, though the memory of the shadows still haunted her. Oran trailed behind, his usual sarcasm replaced by a wary quiet.

“Do you know what’s next?”Mina asked as they walked.

Kaiza shook his head. “The trials are unpredictable. But they’ll test more than our strength. Be prepared for anything.”

The path twisted and turned, leading them deeper into the forest. The trees grew taller, their branches intertwining to form a canopy that blocked out the sun. The air grew cooler, and the faint sound of running water reached their ears.

By midday, they arrived at a wide ravine. A river roared far below, its waters dark and churning. A narrow stone bridge spanned the gap, its surface slick with moss. On the other side, the forest gave way to a vast, open plain shrouded in mist.

“This is it,” Kaiza said, stepping onto the bridge. “Stay close and watch your footing.”

Mina followed cautiously, her heart pounding as she glanced down at the rushing water. Oran hesitated at the edge, his face pale.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered. “This thing doesn’t look stable.”

“It’s the only way across,” Kaiza said, not looking back. “Unless you want to swim.”

Oran groaned but stepped onto the bridge, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge for balance.

Halfway across, the wind picked up, howling through the ravine. The bridge swayed under their feet, and Mina’s breath caught as she stumbled. Kaiza reached out, steadying her with a firm grip.

“Keep moving,” he urged.

A low rumble echoed through the ravine, and the air grew heavy. The mist on the far side began to shift, coalescing into dark shapes. Figures emerged, their forms indistinct but menacing. They moved with an unnatural fluidity, their eyes glowing faintly.

“What are those?”Mina whispered, fear creeping into her voice.

Kaiza drew his sword, the blade gleaming in the dim light. “The trial,” he said grimly. “Stay behind me.”

The figures advanced, their movements eerily silent. Kaiza stepped forward, his stance steady as he prepared to meet them. The first figure lunged, its form shifting like smoke. Kaiza’s blade sliced through it, dispersing the shadow with a hiss.

“They’re not solid!”Oran shouted, his voice rising in panic. “How do we fight them?”

“We don’t,” Kaiza said, his eyes fixed on the remaining figures. “We get to the other side. Run!”

Mina and Oran didn’t need to be told twice. They sprinted across the bridge, the figures closing in around them. Mina clutched the talisman, its glow intensifying as she held it aloft. The shadows recoiled, their forms flickering.

“It’s working!”Mina shouted, her voice filled with hope.

Kaiza fought his way toward them, his blade flashing as he cut through the shadows. The bridge shuddered under their feet, cracks spreading across its surface.

“Move!”Kaiza yelled, pushing Mina and Oran ahead.

They reached the far side just as the bridge gave way, the stones crumbling into the ravine. Kaiza leapt to safety, landing hard on the ground. He rolled to his feet, his sword still in hand.

The shadows hesitated at the edge of the ravine, their glowing eyes watching. Then, one by one, they dissolved into the mist.

The group stood in silence, catching their breath. Mina’s hands trembled as she lowered the talisman, its glow fading once more.

“That was too close,” Oran said, his voice shaky. “I thought we were done for.”

Kaiza sheathed his sword, his expression unreadable. “The trials are meant to push us to our limits. They’ll only get harder from here.”

Mina looked out at the plain before them, the mist swirling like a living thing. “What’s next?”She asked softly.

Kaiza’s gaze hardened. “We keep moving. The answers we seek are out there, but so are the dangers. Stay sharp.”

As they stepped into the mist, the air grew colder, and the sense of unease returned. The Whispering Abyss was behind them, but the path ahead remained uncertain. Together, they pressed on, their bond tested yet unbroken.

Related Chapters

  • Tides Of Eternity    Episode 10: The Veil of Echoes

    The mist enveloped Kaiza, Mina, and Oran as they ventured deeper into the plain. It clung to their clothes and muffled their footsteps, creating an eerie silence that heightened every creak of leather and rustle of fabric. Mina held the talisman close, its faint glow their only source of light in the oppressive fog.“This place feels… wrong,” Oran muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. “Like it’s watching us.”Kaiza’s grip on his sword tightened. “Stay alert. This mist isn’t natural.”As they pressed forward, the landscape shifted subtly. Shadows loomed in the fog, hinting at structures or figures just out of reach. Mina’s heart raced as she thought she saw movement, but when she turned her head, there was nothing there.“Do you hear that?”She asked, her voice trembling.The others stopped, listening. At first, there was only silence. Then, faintly, a whisper carried on the wind. It was indistinct, like a chorus of voices speaking just beyond comprehension.“It’s the mist,” Kaiza

  • Tides Of Eternity    Episode 11: The Weight of Sacrifice

    The chill of the night air settled over Kaiza, Mina, and Oran as they made their way down the valley from the Sanctuary. The golden light of the stars overhead provided some comfort, but an unspoken tension lingered between them. The shimmering figure’s warning about the cost of the ritual echoed in their minds, each of them grappling with the uncertainty of what lay ahead.Mina broke the silence first, her voice barely above a whisper. “What do you think it meant? About the cost?”Kaiza glanced at her, his expression somber. “If it’s tied to balance, the price won’t be small. It’ll demand something significant something that we may not be ready to give.”Oran let out a dry laugh, shaking his head. “Great. Another cryptic warning. As if we haven’t had enough of those.”Kaiza shot him a look, but there was no malice in it. “This isn’t a game, Oran. Whatever that sacrifice is, it could mean one of us doesn’t make it out of this.”Oran’s grin faded, replaced by a grim determination. “Yea

  • Tides Of Eternity    Episode 13: Oran’s Trial

    The light from the altar swallowed Oran whole, plunging him into a suffocating void. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the forest. Instead, he stood in the middle of a vast battlefield, the air thick with the metallic tang of blood and the cries of the dying.He recognized this place immediately it was the Plains of Jurok, where the last great rebellion of his tribe had been crushed. The sky above was a sickly gray, and the ground beneath him was littered with shattered weapons and bodies of his kin.Oran’s hands clenched around the spear he now realized he still carried. “Why this place? Why now?” he muttered, his voice echoing unnaturally in the empty expanse.A familiar voice answered, sharp and accusing. “Because you’ve never let it go.”Oran spun around to see a figure emerging from the mist. It was his brother, Kalen, the warrior who had once been his greatest rival and his greatest shame. Kalen’s expression was hard, his eyes burning with anger.“You abandoned us,” K

  • Tides Of Eternity    Episode 14: The Veiled Sanctuary

    The path revealed by the altar stretched ahead like a silver ribbon, shimmering faintly in the moonlight. The forest around them had changed no longer dark and oppressive, but eerie and unnervingly silent. The trees here were ancient, their gnarled roots twisting into the ground like claws, and a faint mist coiled lazily around their feet.Kaiza led the way, his expression grim but resolute. Mina followed close behind, her hand resting on the hilt of her dagger, her sharp eyes scanning the shadows for any signs of danger. Oran brought up the rear, unusually quiet, his usual bravado replaced by a contemplative air.“You think that altar trick was the last of the weirdness, or are we in for more surprises?” Oran finally broke the silence, his voice low.Mina glanced back at him, her lips quirking into a small, wry smile. “This place hasn’t exactly been predictable so far. I wouldn’t count on it getting easier.”Kaiza’s gaze remained fixed on the path ahead. “It won’t. The altar called t

  • Tides Of Eternity    Episode 15: Shadows in the Mist

    The path beyond the Veiled Sanctuary was shrouded in dense mist, twisting and winding like it had a mind of its own. The air carried a heavy tension, as if the forest itself was holding its breath. Kaiza, Mina, and Oran walked in silence, their footsteps muffled by the thick layer of moss underfoot.Kaiza’s grip on the obsidian fragment tightened as he replayed the confrontation with his shadow in his mind. The cold, biting words still echoed in his ears, but he pushed them aside. There was no room for doubt now.Oran broke the silence, his voice tinged with unease. “Is it just me, or is the forest... watching us?”Mina glanced around, her sharp eyes scanning the shadows. The trees loomed closer than before, their twisted branches arching overhead like skeletal fingers. “It’s not just you. Something’s out there.”Kaiza nodded. “Stay close. Whatever it is, it’s waiting for the right moment.”The group moved cautiously, the mist curling around them like living tendrils. Strange whispers

  • Tides Of Eternity    Episode 16: The Abyss Beneath

    The tunnel stretched deeper, its walls growing tighter as they ventured farther into the heart of the ancient ravine. The air grew thick with the scent of rust and decay, mingling with the oppressive weight of centuries of silence. Kaiza kept the obsidian fragment close, its faint glow casting erratic shadows against the jagged stone walls. The battle with the serpentine guardian still echoed in his mind, but there was no time for reflection. They had only just begun to uncover the truths hidden beneath this forsaken place.Behind him, Mina’s cautious footsteps were barely audible, yet Kaiza could feel the steady presence of her gaze on him. He stole a glance over his shoulder, meeting her eyes. Her expression was resolute, but there was a flicker of concern in her gaze. She was worried about him; he could sense it. He couldn’t afford to let her down now."Stay close," he said softly, his voice barely a whisper. "Whatever’s ahead, we face it together."Mina nodded, her hand instinctiv

  • Tides Of Eternity    Episode 17 The Heart of Darkness

    The tunnel grew darker still as they moved deeper into the heart of the ancient labyrinth. The air was thick with moisture, and each step seemed to sink deeper into a chilling abyss. Kaiza’s hand tightened around the obsidian fragment, its glow casting weak shadows on the walls around them. The oppressive silence of the underground world weighed heavily on him, each crack in the stone and distant echo making his nerves burn with anticipation.The death of the creature, that monstrous amalgamation of shadow and stone, had only momentarily silenced the place, but Kaiza knew better than to believe they had escaped. The world they had stepped into was ancient, tied to forces much older than anything they had encountered, and the heart of the labyrinth was still ahead.Behind him, Mina’s cautious footsteps barely echoed, but he could feel her presence, her silent strength. She wasn’t just the girl he was sworn to protect anymore. She was something more. Something that tied him to his human

  • Tides Of Eternity    Episode 18: Shadows of the Labyrinth

    The walls of the ancient labyrinth seemed to pulse with an unseen heartbeat as Kaiza and Mina pressed forward. The air was thick, a mixture of musty earth and the faint scent of blood, a scent that lingered from the wraith’s brief yet violent assault. Though the creature had been vanquished, the oppressive weight of the tunnel seemed heavier, as though the very stones had been soaked in malice for centuries.Kaiza felt it deep in his bones, the sensation of being watched, of being pulled deeper into the heart of something far older and far more dangerous than anything they had yet encountered. Each step was heavier, the air thicker, and he knew the worst was yet to come. His grip on the obsidian fragment tightened, its dim glow casting long shadows on the walls, offering only a small comfort in the crushing darkness.Mina walked beside him, her eyes narrowed, scanning their surroundings with a focus that belied her previous naivety. The girl he had once protected from the dangers of t

Latest Chapter

  • Chapter 112: The Name That Should Not Be Spoken

    The world cracked open.A heavy silence fell over the Hollow City, thicker than death, more complete than the void.For a heartbeat, even the Devourer appeared to pause.The name still lingered; it trembled with an unimaginable heaviness.Azelith.Kaiza barely registered the move before Mina, or whatever was inside her, stumbled one step back, and her blackened eyes widened.Something flared in her face: recognition, rage, fear.The figure in the hood stood still, their sword as dark as a starless night.The blade thrummed, the very air curving away from it as if trying to avoid its touch.Kaiza’s lungs felt like ash, his ribs howling as he pulled himself up from the rubble.The mind was still reeling, trying to make sense of what he had just coursed through.The Hollow King was gone.Eaten.Not dead. Not even erased. Just… unmade.The Unseen Devourer had not slain him.It had merely behaved how it always did, devour.A deity rendered null in mere seconds.And now it loomed, its impos

  • Chapter 111: The Unseen Devourer

    A new presence placed a burden between Heaven and man.It was no mere arrival itas an invasion, a subversion of reality itself.The sky trembled; the Abyss quaked; everything in the Hollow City shook in the embrace of some inconceivable power, as if the very being of things rebelled at what had entered in.Kaiza swayed, ragged for breath, body yelling in wounds already delivered.That thing in Mina had nearly torn him asunder.Where her hand had passed through him, his soul still burned angony beyond that of flesh, beyond the physical.But this… this was worse.The Unseen Devourer didn’t descend from the sky like a deity.It did not emerge from the underworld like a demon.It was a vacuum untilt wasn’t.A crack in the world, a wound deeper even than the broken sky, gaped open like torn flesh. It did not step through. It never existed.It ate its way into being.Kaiza didn’t so much see it as feel it theunger.One that not only wanted to eatbut only wanted to gorge. A kind of energy t

  • Chapter 110: Just Beneath the Surface

    The sky split open.Not a crack, not a tear a WOUND.Reality itself screamed through jagged fractures slicing the Hollow City’s abyssal skyline.The eddying darkness distorted, pulling apart at the frayed edges, spiraling into something worse.Kaiza sensed it before he saw it.A pulse. Not of abyssal energy, not of flame, but something else. Something older than both.And it came from Mina.She was close.Her presence seared his senses, unrefined and unrefined. But something was off.Something within her that’s not supposed to exist.Kaiza gingerly gritted his teeth and sat despite himself.His body objected, the Judicator’s wound still gnawing on his being, but that was irrelevant.Nothing else mattered but reaching Mina.The Hollow King had stood from his throne.His golden gaze raged, but for the first time, it wasn’t trained on Kaiza.Their eyes were fixed on the fractured sky.On her."Impossible." The Hollow King’s quiet voice took on something, not amusement this time.Not with

  • Chapter 109: The Hollow King’s Judgment

    Kaiza had little time to react.The blade arrived faster than was thought possible a silver line, a ribbon of flame and destruction, splitting the air. His instinct screamed to move, but his body, still bruised and raw from the chasm, was too slow.A stabbing pain detonated in his side as the edge of the blade tore flesh, the impact slamming him down onto the vibrating black streets. Blood spattered in all directions, sizzling against the living ground on impact.Not abyssal. Not shadow-forged. Something else.Kaiza ground his teeth, his breaths harsh and erratic as he shoved himself upright, glaring at his assailant.And there they stood.A gauzy figure, draped in silver and fire, their form rippling in the half-light of the Hollow King’s domain. Their armor was not solid but fluid, shifting like seeping metal, pulsing with sinuous lines of deep crimson. As was their sword the weapon that had shredded him, tauntingly, bloodless of the same stuff, swinging between solid steel and liqu

  • Chapter 108: The Devouring

    Silence.Thick. Absolutely.Not even breath, not even motion, not even time: just a vacuum.Kaiza fell through it.Or maybe he stood still as the rest of the world went on.He couldn't tell.There was no ground, no sky, no up, no down only the suffocating embrace of nothingness collapsing around him like a coffin lined with whispers.Mina was gone.The last thing he heard her make wrenched from her throat, guttural and pained, as the gullet of darkness devoured her.He had reached for her. Clawed at the darkness.But his fingers had encountered only empty space.And then Nothing.Now he floundered in that nothingness, the remnants of his corpse aching, the wounds raw and open.Where the masked figure had touched him, his chest still smoldered, as if something had been clawed out of him or ripped from him, something that was inside him and had been a piece of him, something vital.Was he dead?No. That would have been a mercy.A movement in the void something shifted.A shake, gentler

  • Chapter 107: Unleashed

    The void roared.Black flames licked at the ground, devouring the creatures of the abyss as embers at the end of life are sent out upon the wind.The wails of the damned rampaged ever and ever, ringing in the desolate void, as the horror of noumenon mixed and knotted, their forms rotting in the gluttonous conn.And at the heart of it, standing in the inferno, was Mina.But she was no longer only Mina.Kaiza could hardly stand, his body bruised and bleeding, but his breath caught when he saw her.The fragility of the girl he had vowed to protect was gone.The trembling voice that had called his name in the dark was gone.What was left is something older. Something raw.Her form was still human in outline mostly but the air around her hummed with something worse than abyssal corruption.An ultraviolet light burned behind her eyes, cosmic and blistering, crowded with something incomprehensible to my feeble flesh.Her dark hair lashed in the wind, the energy circling her limbs, a moving t

  • Chapter 106: Dark

    Kaiza barely had time to respond before the form of the abyssal entity washed over him like a tidal wave of pure void.It felt as though an avalanche of darkness was going to consume him whole.The shadows wound tighter, binding themselves around his limbs like living chains, burrowing into his skin and burning with cold fire; his ribs screamed their protest.A cough tore from his throat, thick and wet. Blood trickled down his lips, red on infinite black.His vision swam, fading in and out of consciousness, but his fingers still tightened around his sword.He wasn’t done. Not yet.The figure towered above him, the mask cocked slightly as if in amusement.“Still fighting?” Its voice gliding along, the sound of a thousand voices crawling into his skull.“Pathetic. “Your void does not give, Kaiza. It does not bargain. It only devours.”With a flick of that wrist, a spire of obsidian-black tendrils burst from the ground to skewer Kaiza through the shoulder.He hardly had time to register

  • Chapter 105: The Eclipse of Hope

    The void crackled in unnatural, eerie silence. It was a heavy weight, cold, suffocating in the air. The blue flame of Kaiza’s sword flickered in the stifling dark as his chest rose and fell with every ragged breath. It had been the blast from Mina that very titan that had devoured her that had slammed him down onto the broken earth, the impact leaving him aching from the force of the attack. A single thought raced through his mind.She’s still in there. She has to be.The darkness writhed around him, beating with an unstuck beat. He climbed onto his knees, fighting back the weight of the bottomless well. His gaze darted back to Mina no, no longer Mina but the monstrous, void-soaked shape she’d taken on. Her body shimmered with dark matter, her movements sickly smooth, as if she were a piece of the shadow itself.Her armor, once silvery, was now a collection of black and shadow, a jumbled mess of the power of the void. Her eyes were sick with ancient hunger, a lust for destruction, but

  • Chapter 104: The Fallen Star

    The sky was torn asunder.Mina no, the titan now occupying her body stood in the distance like a dark star. Her once glowing golden armor tarnished a dark, devilish red, and her eyes glistened with a void-like hunger that devoured the very light around her. With each movement, every breath, it was as if she was remaking reality itself, with the void creeping up and crawling from within, claiming her for itself piece by piece.Kaiza stood, frozen, his heart breaking bit by bit. His breath labored; his hand shook on the hilt of his sword. He knew this wasn’t Mina anymore. His praise for the girl who had stood by him, he counseled, the girl that first had shown him the light, was lost. The girl he’d battled tooth and nail to protect was something else now something terrifying, something beyond his comprehension.And yet… her voice Titan’s voice, but still Mina’s still rang in his mind.“The girl is gone, forsaken one. Now, only I remain."Kaiza’s sword shimmered with a ghost of blue flam

Scan code to read on App