The whispering intensified as Lira stepped deeper into the stone chamber. The walls pulsed faintly with veins of blue light, reacting to her presence—ancient runes glowing softly as though awakening from a long slumber.
Kael moved beside her, sword drawn but held low. "This place feels… alive."
"No," Mira said quietly, eyes fixed on the runes. "It feels haunted."
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
A low groan echoed through the corridor behind them, followed by a faint hiss—like steam escaping a deep fissure. Shadows leaked from the cracks in the stone floor, not cast by light, but born from something deeper, older.
"Get back!" Lira shouted, pushing Mira behind her just as a burst of dark mist erupted upward. A figure began to form within it—half-solid, half-shadow. Its eyes were twin red coals, and its mouth stretched in a grin far too wide for any human.
"Who dares awaken the Bound One?" the entity rasped.
Lira stood her ground, summoning her mana. A radiant light encircled her palm—holy, fierce. "I am Lira of Elthoria, Blade of the Phoenix. Speak your name, shadow."
The creature recoiled slightly at her light, but it didn't retreat. "You carry her soul… the warrior who burned us… Her flame still lingers."
Mira clutched Kael's arm. "It knows her. Just like the others did."
Kael nodded grimly. "And it's afraid."
The shadow twisted, reshaping itself, now towering above them with smoky wings. "You should not have come here. The seal is weakened. The curse stirs. And he watches from beyond the veil."
A chill ran down Lira's spine. "Who?"
The creature only laughed—a horrible, broken sound. "The one you failed to destroy. The one reborn in shadows, like you in light."
Arkan.
The name didn't need to be spoken. They all felt it.
With a cry, the shadow lunged toward her, claws stretched wide—but Lira's sword flashed with light as she slashed upward, cutting clean through it. The entity screamed, dissolving into a burst of black mist that was sucked back into the runes.
The chamber fell silent. Then… a rumble. A section of the wall behind the runes crumbled away, revealing a hidden stairwell descending further into the earth.
Lira sheathed her sword slowly. "We haven't seen the true heart of this place yet."
Kael looked at her. "Do we keep going?"
She nodded. "We have to. If the curse is tied to him—if Arkan is involved—we need answers. And we're running out of time."
Together, they stepped into the newly opened passage, the darkness below swallowing them as the whispering resumed—softer now, but no less menacing.
And far behind them, something else stirred in the deep.
The staircase descended into choking darkness. Each step echoed with a muffled thud, as if the very walls tried to smother the sound. The air grew colder, heavier. Even the light from Lira's spell seemed to dim as they moved deeper into the earth.
Mira clung to the back of Kael's cloak, her usual confidence giving way to quiet apprehension. "This place wasn't built for mortals."
"No," Lira replied, her voice low. "It was built to contain something… or someone."
They finally reached the bottom. A vast chamber lay ahead, so large that its ceiling vanished into shadow. Pillars of black stone rose like twisted trees, and between them, a massive circular seal pulsed faintly on the ground—etched with runes in a language older than Elthoria itself.
Lira stepped forward cautiously. The moment her boot touched the edge of the seal, the runes flared to life—red, then gold, then white.
A disembodied voice echoed through the chamber.
"Bearer of the Flame… you return."
Kael raised his sword, scanning the space. "Who said that?"
Another whisper, this time closer. "Do you seek to right the wrong… or repeat it?"
Lira took a deep breath and stepped onto the seal. The world shifted.
Suddenly, she was standing in another place—a memory not hers alone, but one shared across time. A battlefield of fire and ash. Towering shadows clashed with radiant warriors. And at the center, she saw herself—her past self—facing down a man cloaked in shadow.
It was Arkan. His eyes were filled not with hatred, but sorrow.
"You betrayed us," her past self spat.
"I saved us," Arkan replied. "You just never understood."
Then came the strike—fire meeting darkness. The vision cracked like glass.
Lira staggered back into the present, heart pounding.
Kael caught her. "What did you see?"
"The truth," she whispered. "Or part of it. Arkan didn't fall by accident. He made a choice… and I don't think it was as simple as betrayal."
As the others watched her warily, the seal beneath her began to glow more fiercely, the runes reshaping into a single word:
"Judgment."
The chamber shook violently. Cracks spiderwebbed across the seal, and from its center rose a dark crystal obelisk—twisted, humming with energy.
Mira gasped. "That… that's not Elthorian. That's void magic."
Lira stepped closer, transfixed. The crystal called to her—not with whispers, but with a strange warmth, like a heartbeat echoing in her chest.
And then it spoke. Not in words, but in feeling.
He is waiting. Come to him. Before it's too late.
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