The path to the Temple of Echoes was not a road it was a riddle.
Orunfelu walked ahead in silence, staff tapping the ground in a steady rhythm. His cloak barely moved, despite the wind that whispered through the trees. Ayomide and Tayo followed behind, each weighed down by exhaustion and unanswered questions.
The deeper they walked, the more the forest changed.
The leaves glowed faintly silver in the dim light. The trees stretched unnaturally tall, their trunks twisting like rope. Birds no longer sang. Instead, low hums filled the air like a chorus of whispers just beyond hearing.
"Don't speak out loud in this place," Orunfelu warned. "The forest listens. And it remembers."
Tayo rolled his eyes. "Can it remember where the food is? I'm starving."
Orunfelu shot him a look. "Hunger is temporary. Memory is forever."
Tayo muttered under his breath, "So is death."
🛕 Arrival at the Temple
They emerged from the silver woods to find a vast clearing.
At its center stood a temple unlike anything Ayomide had seen before. No walls. No roof. Just twenty stone pillars, each carved with ancient symbols, forming a circle around a glowing pool of water. Mist floated above the surface, and in the center of the pool hovered a single shard of crystal, suspended in midair.
Orunfelu stopped.
"This is the Temple of Echoes. Built by those who first bore the Crown before your line ever did."
Ayomide stepped forward, awestruck. "It's beautiful."
"It is dangerous," Orunfelu corrected. "And it is alive."
Tayo shivered. "Why does everything have to be alive?"
"The Echoes here are not voices," Orunfelu explained. "They are memories—raw and unfiltered. If you enter unprepared, they will devour your mind."
Ayomide stepped closer to the pool. The pendant at his chest pulsed again, brighter than before.
"What do I need to do?"
Orunfelu raised his staff, pointing it at the water.
"Place your hand in the pool. The Echoes will take you back. You will face the truth of your bloodline, and if your will is strong enough, they will grant you the Second Mark."
"And if I fail?"
"You won't know it," the old man said grimly. "Because your soul will never return."
 The Dream of Kings
Ayomide knelt at the pool's edge.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and plunged his hand into the water.
Instantly, the world shattered.
He was falling.
Faster than thought. Faster than memory.
Then stillness.
He opened his eyes to find himself in a grand palace, walled in gold and obsidian. Servants bowed as he passed. Banners bearing the Odanjo sigil, an eagle pierced by flame fluttered in the wind.
A deep voice called out:
"King Ayọdele, the court awaits your command."
Ayọdele?
Ayomide realized he was someone else.
His body felt older, stronger. He wore a crown of woven light and shadow. His fingers bore rings that pulsed with magic.
The doors to the throne room swung open, and he entered.
Sitting at the foot of the dais, staring up with dark eyes full of envy, was a young man his brother. The same face from the vision in IláşąkĂąn-Aiye.
"Kasim," he whispered. "My brother…"
 Memory of Betrayal
The vision shifted.
He was now in a war camp, wounded. His brother knelt beside him, smiling with bloodied hands.
Ayomide gasped as he felt the blade pierce his chest again. The same betrayal. The same fall.
But this time… something changed.
As the light faded from his eyes, a whisper echoed through the dark:
"You will rise again, Prince of Curses. But each rise will cost a piece of your soul."
Ayomide awoke in the Temple pool screaming.
Tayo and Orunfelu rushed to his side.
"You saw him," Orunfelu said, voice grave. "You've unlocked the Second Mark."
Ayomide looked down at his palm. Another glowing symbol had appeared—a circle within a flame.
But something else was there too.
A dark thread like smoke swirling beneath his skin.
 The Curse Deepens
That night, as they camped near the temple, Ayomide sat alone while Tayo slept. Orunfelu remained at the edge of the circle, whispering into the night.
Ayomide touched the pendant again. It was no longer warm. It burned.
"You will rise again, Prince of Curses…"
What did that mean?
How many times had he lived before?
How many lives had he failed?
And what would it cost this time?
As he stood to ask Orunfelu, a sudden wind blew through the clearing.
Then a voice unfamiliar, female, and sharp as glass cut through the silence:
"You've touched the Echoes. Good. Then I don't need to waste time explaining what you are."
A figure emerged from the shadows.
She wore a cloak of midnight feathers and eyes the color of amethyst flame. Two blades hung from her back, and every step she took left a faint echo in the air like ripples in time.
Orunfelu turned slowly. "You're not supposed to be here."
"I go where the fate of the realm is decided," she replied coolly. "And this boy's fate reeks of war."
She looked Ayomide over and smirked.
"You're not ready. But the Bone Riders are moving. The real war has begun. And if you die before the third mark… the entire kingdom dies with you."