There are objects that hold power, artifacts that shape kings and wars, relics that whisper secrets best left buried.

And then…

There is the Mask of the Faceless God.

A mask that does not have a face of its own—
Because it is meant to be worn by those who seek to see beyond themselves.

To wear it is to borrow the sight of forgotten gods.
To see the world as they once did.

But there is a reason the mask was sealed away.

Because once you look through the eyes of a god that no longer exists…

You might never find your way back.

I know this because I wore it once.

And for a moment, I saw everything.

The Relic That Should Not Have Been Found

It began, as most dangerous stories do, with a whisper.

A merchant in the far east spoke of a vault that predated kings.
A scholar in the north claimed to have seen visions of something watching him.
A warrior, trembling with fear, muttered of a mask that had no face—and a god that no longer had a name.

I ignored the rumors at first.

But the mask… it found me anyway.

The Hall of Forgotten Relics

It was hidden beneath a city older than memory, buried in a temple so ancient that even the gods had abandoned it.

I stepped through its ruins, my lantern casting flickering light across stone carvings of deities with no faces.

Figures that had been worshiped and then erased.

Gods that time itself had chosen to forget.

And at the center of the chamber…

On an altar of blackened stone, untouched by dust or decay…

The mask waited.

No mouth.
No eyes.
No features at all.

A perfect, smooth void, reflecting nothing.

And yet—

I could feel it watching me.

The Mask That Saw Too Much

I have encountered many relics in my time.

Cursed blades.
Books that write their own endings.
Mirrors that show things that should not be seen.

But this…

This was different.

It did not call to me with whispers of power.

It did not radiate dark magic or hum with hidden spells.

It simply… waited.

And that, perhaps, was the most unsettling thing of all.

Because the most dangerous objects do not need to lure you in.

You find them because you are already looking.

And I, fool that I was, was looking.

The Moment I Put It On

The first rule of ancient artifacts?

Do not touch them.

The second rule?

Definitely do not wear them.

But knowledge is a hunger.

And sometimes, even when you know better, you still take the bite.

So I lifted the mask.

Turned it in my hands.

And, slowly…

I placed it against my face.

And the moment I did,

I was no longer in my body.

The Vision of the Forgotten Gods

I was everywhere.

I was nowhere.

I saw a thousand worlds at once, their histories unraveling before me.

A civilization of golden-skinned beings worshiping the stars.
A land where the rivers ran backward, flowing into the past instead of the future.
A temple where an entire nation stood frozen in time, locked forever in their final moment.

And then…

I saw them.

The Faceless Ones.

The forgotten gods.

Beings of incomprehensible form, shifting between light and shadow, speaking in words that were never meant for mortal tongues.

They did not look at me.

Because I did not exist to them.

I was merely a whisper in their world, a fleeting presence in something vast beyond all measure.

And then—

One of them turned.

And it saw me.

The Eyes That Should Not Have Seen

Have you ever been looked at by something that should not know you exist?

It is not fear.

Not terror.

It is an unraveling.

A realization that you are less than dust in the presence of something that does not comprehend mortality.

And yet—

It reached for me.

Not with a hand, but with a thought so immense it bent reality itself.

“You should not be here.”

The voice was not sound.

It was weight.

An unbearable pressure against my soul, pressing down on my existence, threatening to erase me completely.

I tried to pull away.

But I could not move.

Because I was no longer a body.

I was simply sight.

And if I did not escape soon…

I would forget what it meant to be Merlin at all.

The Escape That Left a Mark

I do not remember how I tore myself away.

Only that I did.

The mask fell from my face, clattering to the stone floor, its surface shimmering like liquid darkness.

I staggered back, gasping, my mind burning with knowledge I could not contain.

For the briefest moment, the temple was silent.

And then…

I heard the whisper.

Not from the mask.

Not from the temple.

From within my own mind.

“You have seen us now, Merlin.”

“And we have seen you.”

Merlin’s Final Words

I left the mask where it had fallen.

Some things are not meant to be worn.
Some visions are not meant to be seen.

But the worst part?

I remember.

Not the images.
Not the gods.

But the feeling.

The sensation that, even now, when I close my eyes…

Something is looking back.

And one day…

It might decide to find me again.

So if you ever come across a mask with no face…

Do not wear it.

Because once you see through the eyes of a forgotten god…

They might never stop watching you.