The walk had been peaceful, but the weather changed suddenly. The once clear sky was now covered with heavy, dark clouds. The wind began to howl, and soon, the rain started pouring down torrentially, with large, icy drops punishing the travelers.

  “It looks like it’s going to get worse. We need shelter.” Tekime, her eyes filled with concern, quickened her pace.

  Hitory nodded without saying a word, his gaze fixed ahead as he searched for any sign of refuge. Within minutes, they spotted an opening in the rocks. A cave.

  “This should do.” Hitory said, stepping inside without hesitation. Tekime followed, and soon after, Anon, who was no longer as excited as before, did the same.

  Inside, the air was cold and damp. The sound of rain hitting the rocks was muffled by the cave’s thick walls, creating an oppressive silence. They searched for a drier spot to settle in, leaving their belongings on the cold earth.

  “Let’s rest a bit before continuing?” Tekime suggested, already lying down on the ground and closing her eyes.

  Hitory looked around, feeling a slight unease. Something about the cave didn’t seem right, but exhaustion quickly overtook him, and he lay down as well, closing his eyes in an attempt to rest.

  The sound of rain outside, once constant, soon faded into silence. However, their sleep was far from peaceful. During the night, the atmosphere grew even heavier. They were far from the safety of the road, and the place carried a strange sense of something forgotten—something forbidden.

  Darkness wrapped around Hitory like a thick, cold, suffocating mist. He found himself in an absolute void, where not even the sound of his own breathing seemed to reach his ears. The only thing he could see was a figure in the distance—a familiar shadow slowly approaching.

  As the figure came into full view, Hitory recognized édros. But something was wrong. The aura around him was different—burdened with a heavy, ominous energy, as if the darkness itself was consuming him.

  édros, with a serious expression and a deep voice that reverberated through the darkness, spoke:

  “You shouldn’t have used that power, Hitory. Not like that…”

  Hitory looked down at his hands, still marked by the shadowy energy. A cold shiver ran down his spine. He didn’t fully understand what was happening. He was back in this nightmare—once again being confronted.

  “I… I didn’t know what else to do. I had to save Tekime. I had no choice,” Hitory replied, his voice filled with anguish, trying to justify his actions.

  édros took a step closer, his expression stern but laden with sorrow.

  “There are moments when the choice seems obvious, but the real question is: are you willing to pay the price for using a power you don’t fully understand? Are you willing to lose what little of yourself remains?”

  Hitory swallowed hard. He knew exactly what édros meant. That sensation of losing a piece of himself every time he used that power. But he couldn’t stop—not while Tekime was in danger.

  édros continued, his voice now firmer, like a desperate mentor giving a final warning:

  “This power is not a gift, Hitory. It’s a curse. A force that, if used recklessly, will devour you from within. It’s not a solution—it’s a prison. A prison that can only be broken when you learn to respect your limits. Power should only be used when there is no other choice, when survival itself depends on it. And even then, with a heart weighed down by regret.”

  édros’ figure began dissolving into the mist around him, as if he were fading away, but his voice echoed, clear and piercing:

  “Remember, Hitory… A true guardian is not the one who surrenders to the darkness, but the one who resists it.”

  Hitory tried to move, to reach out his hand, but édros was already gone, and the darkness closed in around him, swallowing him whole.

  When he woke up, the environment had changed. He sat up abruptly, sensing something strange in the air. The cave was no longer the same. The darkness was now filled with something else—something that could not be easily explained.

  Looking around, the first thing he noticed was the vegetation. Not the kind one would expect in an underground location. Moss and strange plants covered the walls, with bioluminescent flowers casting a soft glow on the damp stone. The roots of the plants intertwined with the rocks, as if nature itself was reclaiming this eerie place.

  At the same time, something about the scene was unsettling. The air was dense, and an overwhelming unease settled over him. This wasn’t an ordinary cave. And it was definitely not just some forgotten crypt. Everything here seemed alive—yet somehow corrupted, as if the vegetation was growing in an unnatural way.

  A chill ran down Hitory’s spine. He stood up, carefully observing his surroundings, trying to make sense of what was happening. The plants around him seemed to move—not as if swayed by the wind, but by their own will.

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  Something was wrong. And Hitory knew that, just like before, they were in a place where they couldn’t trust anything. The unknown was watching them now, and he couldn’t simply ignore the feeling that they were being tested.

  “Tekime,” he whispered, glancing at where she was still lying, lost in sleep. “Wake up. We need to get out of here.”

  Tekime shot up, her body trembling as an overwhelming sense of danger washed over her. She looked around, her eyes wide with fear at the strange vegetation moving as if it had a life of its own. The ground beneath her feet seemed to pulse, and the air was heavy—like the very atmosphere was watching them.

  She didn’t hesitate. She ran to Hitory, throwing herself into his arms, clinging to him tightly, seeking comfort in his presence. “What is this?! Where are we?!” Her voice was shaky, almost desperate.

  Feeling Tekime’s fear, Hitory held her firmly, trying to remain calm in the midst of the chaos. He scanned the surroundings, his senses sharpening as he tried to find an explanation for this place. He knew they had to tread carefully, but Tekime’s fear only added to the tension.

  Before he could respond, an unexpected sound cut through the air: Anon—usually so full of confidence—was now clutching at Hitory’s legs. The elf was visibly pale, his eyes wide, his usual composure completely shattered.

  “Boss! Boss! What the hell is happening?! This isn’t normal—this isn’t possible! I don’t wanna die here!” Anon’s voice trembled with terror. He clung to Hitory’s legs with all his strength, as if afraid that any movement would leave him behind.

  Hitory looked at the two of them, both just as scared as he was. But his posture remained firm—unwavering. He knew he couldn’t afford to give in to fear. It was time to take control.

  Hitory let out a short, humorless chuckle, then spoke in a firm, unwavering voice:

  “Get off me, you cowards!”

  With a sharp movement, he pried Anon off his legs and pushed Tekime away from his chest. Both of them, still trembling with fear, hesitated for a moment before finally letting go. The tension in the air was palpable, but Hitory’s reaction seemed to act as a small antidote to the rising panic.

  "Now, let's try to understand what's going on." Hitory took a brief look around, analyzing the environment. The plants nearby seemed to shift subtly, and the air was thick, heavy with an eerie energy. The ground, covered by a thin layer of moss, seemed to absorb all sound, leaving behind an unsettling silence.

  "Maybe a catacomb..." Hitory muttered under his breath, more to himself than to the others. "Judging by the roots and vegetation, it looks older and... more alive than any I've ever seen."

  He took a few steps toward the center of the room, observing the moss-covered walls and the plants that pulsed with a faint, supernatural glow.

  "But this doesn't make sense." Tekime, still tense, spoke, her voice laden with uncertainty. "A catacomb... but it doesn't seem... normal."

  "I know," Hitory replied, his eyes scanning every corner of the place. "And that's what bothers me." He turned to them, briefly glancing at Anon, who still stood beside him, paler than ever. "Let's stay calm and keep moving. We don’t know how long we have before this becomes even more dangerous."

  Anon, still with a nervous edge in his voice, spoke up:

  "I... I don’t know, boss. This place… it's all wrong."

  Hitory stared at the elf for a moment, his expression turning firm with determination. "Stay calm. If this thing tries to swallow us, I'll get us out of here. But for now, we need to find out what's behind this."

  They exchanged glances, each with their own concerns, but they all knew there was no choice but to move forward. The catacomb—or whatever this place was—would not let them go until they uncovered the truth.

  Hitory, his expression unyielding, looked at Tekime and Anon, both visibly shaken. He knew the only way to handle the situation was to take control now, to not let fear consume them.

  "Stay back," he said, his voice firm but calm. "I'll go ahead. If anything happens, you retreat immediately."

  Tekime and Anon exchanged a nervous glance but, without a word, took a step back, watching Hitory closely. Even if they didn’t want to admit it, their leader was taking charge, and it was exactly what they needed at that moment.

  Hitory moved forward, his footsteps heavy on the moss-covered floor, which seemed to swallow the sound of his movements. He approached the corridor ahead, stretching into the shadows—darkness so dense it seemed to consume the light around it.

  With a defiant look, he stopped and, with all the strength he could muster, shouted into the corridor. His voice echoed through the space, cutting through the suffocating silence.

  "Hey! Whoever's there, show yourself!"

  But the response he expected never came. Hitory’s shout dissolved into the darkness, followed by nothing—no echo, no movement. The void ahead was absolute, swallowing even sound itself.

  Hitory frowned, an uneasy feeling creeping up his spine. The silence that followed was oppressive, far more unsettling than any noise.

  "There’s nothing. No response. Nothing," he murmured, turning back to Tekime and Anon. His gaze was tense, more worried than he wanted to admit. "This isn’t normal."

  Anon, already on edge, spoke with a trembling voice:

  "Maybe we should just leave, boss. There’s nothing here. Nothing but silence."

  But Hitory wasn’t ready to give in. He looked at the corridor once more, his stance still firm but now with a more calculated expression. He knew that if they didn't act soon, they might end up trapped in this place without even knowing what was watching them.

  "No, we’re figuring this out. Move forward, now." He stepped ahead once more, leading without hesitation. "This silence… is the only thing we need to understand."

  The tension in the air was palpable as the three ventured deeper into the catacomb. The silence continued to crush every step, creating a suffocating atmosphere. Hitory, Tekime, and Anon knew that every second spent there could be fatal. Something was wrong, and they knew the only way to survive was to uncover the truth—even if it meant facing the unknown.

  The pulsing vegetation around them seemed to tighten as they moved forward, as if the very environment was reacting to their presence. The roots entwined along the walls, forming a web of life that moved but made no sound. The moss beneath their feet felt stickier now, making each step more difficult, as if the ground itself was trying to pull them down.

  Hitory took the lead, keeping the other two close, his eyes sharp and senses alert. He had the unsettling feeling that something was watching them—but whatever it was, it refused to reveal itself. As they reached the next opening in the wall, Hitory signaled for them to stop.

  There, within the shadows, something unusual was visible. A body.

  End of EP 19: "Shadows in the Darkness"