The forest was a maze of roots and silence.
Kael walked with firm but cautious steps. The LIGA's tracker pulsed slowly, picking up subtle variations in the dimensional field. The vegetation seemed different here – denser, as if time itself bent between the branches.
The air turned cold suddenly.
And then, he saw him.
At the edge of a lake dark as obsidian stood a figure. Tall, draped in a cloak that seemed to absorb the surrounding light. No shadow extended from his feet. It was as if he were a glitch in the logic of that world.
"Kael…" the voice didn't reach his ears. It surfaced straight into his mind, scraping at his thoughts.
Kael didn't reply. He stood firm, analyzing what stood before him.
"You're the Stone, aren't you?" the entity continued. "The one who walks between worlds without unraveling."
Kael stepped forward.
"And you are what, exactly?"
The figure tilted its head slightly.
"A reflection. A warning. An echo of something you call the future… but for me, it's already past."
The LIGA tracker began signaling instability.
Kael raised his arm, activating the defense protocol. A translucent shield enveloped his body.
"Why are you here?"
"Because your presence disrupts the balance. Because your mission… is not the only one in progress." The figure stepped back and began to vanish. "There are others, Kael. Immortals… corrupted. Some have forgotten who they were. Others remember too much."
And then, he was gone.
The forest returned to silence.
But something had changed.
Kael knew the mission went deeper than observation. He wasn't the only Immortal in play. And perhaps, not all were on the same side.