Eventually they cross a clearing with a boulder at its center. Siyu lead his two companions forward, kneeling and touching the stone surface, feeling the surrounding ego. He takes a deep breath and knocks a few times against the stone. A deep rumbling resounds and the boulder begins to sink slowly.

After the boulder sinks into the ground, a roughly three meters wide space could be seen in its absence, revealing a door.

Siyu observes the door for a moment before calling out, “Come. Let’s go.” He jumps down into the open space and Elizabeth and Frey follow with a leap. As they approach the door, another rumbling resounds, and the door opens up. Siyu walks forward and finds himself in a deep and lightless tunnel, causing him to pause. Siyu gives himself a moment to take a deep breath before stepping forward once again.

They walk on and on. As they walk further they start to lose their sense of their surroundings, and Siyu begins to question whether his body was still walking forward.

“How long have we been in here?” Elizabeth’s voice calls out. Siyu could not see her figure, but her voice calms his heart.

“I’m not sure, but there’s no end in sight,” Frey says.

“Just keep walking,” Siyu answers, before stopping abruptly. His senses felt a strange occurrence. “What happened?” He asks in bewilderment.

“What? What are you talking about?” Elizabeth asks with confusion.

“Nothing happened.” Frey states.

“Did either of you do anything in the last two seconds?” Siyu asks, certain that something occurred.

“I tried to look behind us, to see if I could see where we entered from, but I couldn’t see anything,” Elizabeth says.

As I Siyu hears those words something clicks into place and his eyes widen. “Do not look back again. I’m warning you. If anyone looks back, we will never find ourselves out of this tunnel.” He warns in a grave tone. “Do you understand?” He asks.

“Okay, I understand,” Elizabeth says admitting defeat. “It was just a look.” She mumbles as they walk forward.

They continue to walk on for hours, perhaps days. Siyu did not allow anyone any breaks, or time to eat or drink. A great fear had taken over him, and he urgently wished to escape this tunnel.

After a time, his inner panic increased, and he felt his control loosening. Will I never get out of here? He asks himself.

***SLAM***

As that thought occurred, Siyu's face hit a wall. He stares forward blankly, and as the situation sinks in, a rumbling resounds and the wall begins to move, revealing a large space beyond.

Siyu walks into the open space, observing the white stone pillars and the tiled floor. At the end of the room, he sees an altar, where an egg lays nestled upon a pillow.

Siyu gestures to Frey and says, “Lead the way.”

Frey gives Siyu a strange look and begins to move forward. The sound of their steps lingering through the air as they walk down the hall, and eventually they find ourselves before the altar.

As Frey gazes at the egg, Siyu explains to him, “This egg is tied to you by fate. It is a remnant of a great and powerful beast; a beast that was not allowed to exist. But even then, it left behind an inheritance.”

Frey raises an eyebrow in doubt before reaching out his hand to take a closer look. “Don’t,” Siyu says, grabbing hold of Frey's hand. “There are multiple traps on this altar. You should not move carelessly.” He says.

Siyu releases Frey’s hand as he calmly pulls his hand back. “To receive the egg, you must offer a blood sacrifice,” He says solemnly.

Frey looks to Siyu and nods. Frey pulls out a dagger and makes a deep cut into his palm. He holds out his blood-filled hand above the egg and makes a fist. The blood falls and marks the egg. Then the blood ignites, the flame spreading to the rest of the egg, engulfing it in a crimson flame.

Siyu waits calmly for the ceremony to end, but at that moment he felt a change and his senses heighten. Something was approaching. He looks back to the entrance of the room and hears the lingering sounds of footsteps. As Frey and Elizabeth watch the burning egg in a trance I turn back and face the entrance.

***STEP***

***STEP***

The steps grew louder with each repetition and a figure finally appears. It was a sword-wielding man dressed in grey robes. His long, unkempt hair paired with his piercing eyes gave him the look of a wild beast. In the determination Siyu found in his gaze, he could see purpose; he could see the will to kill.

The man looks at Siyu for a moment, and with a gust of wind his figure disappears, appearing in the middle of the hall. In the next moment he will be before me, Siyu's mind quickly calculates. Siyu lift his staff before forcefully slamming its end back to the ground. With his mind, he guides the force to the altar, and with the remnants of that energy, a subtle force pushes the egg from the altar’s surface before it settles back into place.

Siyu watches the quickly approaching figure and sees the faltering of his determination. Siyu's mind hesitates, but things were already set into motion; the soft sound of a taut string being released could be heard and the man reaches within striking distance of Siyu, his arms readying themselves to strike, but before he can act an arrow shot down from above, plunging into the man’s shoulder. Whatever poison lingering in that arrow travels through the man’s body quickly, making him lose control of his body. A hopeless look fills his eyes as he looks at Siyu. “Why?” He asks with forlorn pain before his knees bend and his body sways, his figure finding the ground and his mind entering an eternal rest.

As Siyu stares at the resting figure, a great fear overcomes his mind. What have I done? He asks himself.

A great and unknown force impacts Siyu, invading his mind and causing his body to go limp. He collapses to the floor hearing his companions calling out him.

“Siyu!”

“Siyu!”