Chapter 13
The silence inside the crypt wasn't dead.
It was waiting.
Elira stood frozen before the open coffin, her heart hammering beneath her ribs. The air was thick with the scent of old magic—dust, blood, and something… scorched.
Inside the coffin, her body lay perfectly preserved. No decay. No signs of age. Dressed in white ceremonial robes stitched with runes she couldn't read—but felt in her bones.
Eyes open.
Breathing.
Just barely.
It was like watching herself sleep beneath a curse woven from ancient fire.
Kael moved beside her, sword unsheathed, his gaze darting between the priest and the coffin. "What trick is this?"
"No trick," the masked priest murmured. "That is Eliendara—the first. A vessel made to bear power too great for one soul."
"She's me," Elira whispered.
"No," the priest corrected gently. "She was you. Before the second soul was grafted. Before the seal fractured the truth into pieces."
Kael's jaw clenched. "You mean she's a—"
"A fragment," the priest said. "A living shard. The part of her that never passed on."
Elira couldn't tear her eyes away. The face was hers—but calmer, softer. And wrong. Too still. Too perfect.
"What do I do?" she asked, voice hoarse. "Do I… wake her?"
The priest turned to her, his mask now reformed over his face, voice deeper. "To awaken her, you must offer something precious. Magic. Memory. Or identity. You can give her part of your power… or take hers back entirely."
Kael stepped forward, voice sharp. "And what happens if she wakes?"
The priest's voice echoed like wind in a hollow grave.
"She will remember everything.You will become whole.Or you will become war."
Elira stared into her own eyes—still glowing faintly, faintly aware. And in them, she saw a flicker.
Not fear.
Recognition.
The coffin creaked.
Kael moved to pull her back, but she didn't budge. "If I don't do this," she said quietly, "I'll never know the full truth. I'll never be ready for what's coming."
She extended her hand over the coffin.
The priest murmured a word—one not meant for mortal tongues.
A sigil of light formed between her palm and the breathing corpse.
Kael grabbed her shoulder. "You don't have to do this now."
"I already am," she whispered.
The sigil pulsed. Energy flowed.
Pain split through her chest like a spear of lightning.
Her memories flashed in waves—
Hands wrapping around her throat.
Fire pouring from her veins.
Screams—hers, and not hers.
The reflection in the mirror—smiling with blood on its lips.
The world spun—
And then—
Stillness.
The glow in the coffin faded.
The eyes closed.
Then opened again.
But this time, they were not distant or trapped.
They were awake.
The other Eliendara blinked once.
Then sat up.
Elira staggered back.
Kael caught her just before she collapsed.
The priest knelt at the coffin's edge.
"She is returned," he whispered. "And now… she remembers."
The second Eliendara looked around, her gaze slowly finding Elira.
"You… look like me," she said.
Elira's voice trembled. "Because I am you."
"No," the other said calmly. "You're what I became when they broke me."
She stood with unnatural grace.
And smiled.
"But now, we're whole again."
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 14: Two Queens, One Throne
The two Eliendaras walk the same path—but only one can wield the true power of the Gate.
As the priest begins the final ritual of merging, visions of seven cloaked figures flash through their minds.
The Seven Sealing Lords are awakening.
And one of them… lives inside the Dravencourt Manor.