The chamber dimmed as the specter of Liora emerged fully from behind the Codex. She was tall and regal, her presence cloaked in ethereal veils that whispered with every breath. Eyes—hundreds of them—floated around her like stars in orbit, blinking in silent judgment.
Kael's fists clenched. His breath grew shallow.
Lin stepped closer, eyes narrowed. "Who is she really, Kael?"
He swallowed, the name tasting like ash. "Liora… was once my guide. My first bond. The one who led me to the path of the Pact."
Aelira's blade shimmered into her hand. "And now she's an enemy?"
Liora's laughter echoed like breaking glass. "Enemy? Is that what you've told them, Kael? That I betrayed you?"
Kael didn't answer. He couldn't.
The truth burned beneath his skin.
Liora stepped forward, her gaze fixed solely on him. "Tell them what happened the day you turned your back on me. Tell them how you severed our bond. Tell them why the gods began to die."
Kael felt the room closing in. "You forced my hand."
"No," she said, her voice suddenly sharp, cutting through the illusions. "You were afraid. Of power. Of what we could become."
Lin turned to him, eyes searching. "Kael… what did she mean?"
He finally spoke, quietly.
"She and I once shared a pact unlike any other. We didn't just draw power from one another—we were one. But her will… it grew darker. She began using forbidden echoes—manipulating time and death. I tried to stop her."
"You severed me," Liora whispered, every syllable heavy with sorrow and rage. "Tore our souls apart. You cast me into the Void… where I died, and woke up different."
The Codex pulsed violently.
Valek's voice returned, but fractured, echoing erratically: "She… she was the beginning of the Fracture. The first betrayal… the last bond. She—"
Liora raised her hand, and Valek's projection shattered into dust.
"I have returned," she said. "And I will reclaim what was mine."
She pointed a single obsidian finger at Lin.
"You've replaced me. But you are nothing but a shadow of what we had."
Lin didn't flinch. "Then you've forgotten what real bonds are. We don't rule each other. We fight beside one another."
The floating eyes around Liora blinked in unison. A tremor ran through the chamber.
"You speak of loyalty," Liora whispered. "Then prove it."
With a flick of her wrist, three rifts tore open behind her. From each emerged twisted versions of Kael—spectral echoes of the past. One bore fire in his hands. Another walked with thunder in his steps. The third… the third bled shadows from every pore.
"They are what Kael was… and what he still could become. Choose," Liora said, her voice like a blade drawn across skin. "Or they will tear this place apart."
Kael stepped forward. "I won't fight them."
"You may not have a choice," Lin said, already drawing her blade.
Aelira's eyes flared. "I'll hold the shadow. Lin, take lightning."
Kael stared at the last echo—the one that burned with the fury of old gods. His own rage given form.
"Then I'll take the fire."
The echoes charged, and the chamber exploded in light and chaos.
Kael met his flame-born past head-on, fire clashing against the resolve of his present. Their fists collided in a shockwave that cracked the dais. Each blow was a memory resurfacing: the blood he had shed, the power he had once embraced.
As they fought, Liora watched in silence—her eyes not on the battle, but on Kael's heart.
She saw it then.
Doubt.
And she smiled.
Because even as Kael fought to protect Lin, even as he battled his darkest past, somewhere deep inside… the bond with Liora still lingered.
Still whispered.
Still wanted.