Ethan stood frozen, his eyes locked onto the ancient characters etched into the seal. Everything else—Bongo's mockery, the flickering firelight, the faint rustle of wind—faded into nothing.
The words of the second part of the prophecy echoed in his mind:
'Four seals unite, the King appears.
The sand sea unified, now at hand.
Eight years to break the void and return to the sky. One hundred years, the sand sea becomes a forest.'
He had never truly grasped their meaning until now. But seeing this seal—feeling its quiet, terrifying weight—everything clicked. That's what it meant. That's what they were talking about. But who had left those words behind? And just how long ago had they been spoken?
