Chapter 76: Echoes of Fire and Void
The figure with Echo's face stepped closer, bare feet silent on the stone.
She moved like oil over water—fluid, too fluid. There was something deeply wrong about her presence, something that curled in Echo's gut like a warning long ignored.
Kael's hand hovered near his blade. Lumen's flame-globe flickered, nearly extinguished. Nerya's sharp whisper: "She's not you."
But Echo… wasn't so sure.
The resemblance was uncanny. Not just physical—soul-deep. This shadow version knew her. Moved with her rhythm. Smiled with her doubts.
And then it spoke.
"I've been waiting for you."
The voice was her own.
But empty.
Like it had been hollowed out and filled with ash.
"I know what you're thinking," the shadow said, eyes glinting with cold flame. "You're trying to figure out how to defeat me. How to protect them." A casual gesture at her friends. "But deep down, you know the truth."
"I know a lot of things," Echo said quietly. "I know you're not real."
The shade tilted her head, amused. "Then why do I feel more real than you?"
Kael stepped forward. "Echo—"
"I have to face her," Echo said, raising a hand. "Alone."
Kael's eyes flared with worry, but he nodded once, tightly.
She stepped forward.
The chamber darkened, the Void Flame humming behind the doppelgänger's shoulder.
"You're everything I buried," Echo said. "Everything I was afraid to become."
"No," the shadow said. "I'm everything you were meant to become."
A pulse from the Void Flame twisted the air.
"You could've ruled the ashes of Emberhold. You could've taken the Cold CEO down without mercy. You could've made him kneel."
She smirked.
"You still can."
"No," Echo whispered.
"I'm not here for thrones."
"Lies," the shade snapped. "You wanted power. You needed it. And when you had it, it felt good, didn't it? That fire burning in your veins? That moment when no one could control you again?"
Echo's eyes burned with memory.
Yes. It had felt good.
Too good.
But that power came with a cost.
Kael had pulled her back once.
But she had chosen to stay.
"I didn't fight to become feared," Echo said. "I fought to be free."
The shadow's eyes narrowed. "Freedom is an illusion. Power is the only truth. You deny me, and yet—"
She lunged.
They collided like stars.
Flame met void.
Every movement mirrored.
Every strike a question.
Every block an answer.
Their bodies blurred, fire erupting between them, cracking the chamber walls. The shadow fought with ruthless precision, fueled by rage, greed, and unshackled ambition.
But Echo fought differently.
Not to dominate—but to protect.
Not to destroy—but to redeem.
And it showed.
The shadow began to falter.
Breathing harder.
Eyes darting.
"You're weakening," Echo said, voice steady despite the bruises blooming beneath her armor. "Because you don't understand what makes me strong."
She pointed—not at herself, but behind her.
Kael.
Nerya.
Lumen.
Dace.
"They do."
The Void Flame surged, reacting violently to her defiance.
It struck out, a tendril of darkness aimed at Kael.
Echo turned—too late.
But the shade did something strange.
She paused.
Watched the arc of the attack.
Then stepped in front of it.
She took the hit meant for Kael.
And screamed.
She collapsed to the ground, tendrils of black fire curling around her chest.
Echo rushed to her—because of course she did.
Even now.
Even still.
The shadow looked up, eyes dimming.
"I didn't think…" she whispered, coughing ash. "I didn't think it would hurt this much… to protect."
Echo touched her shoulder.
"You were never meant to be the enemy. Just the part of me that got lost."
The shade blinked. A single tear, dark as ink, slid down her cheek.
"I was… afraid."
"So was I."
The Void Flame pulsed once more.
But this time, Echo rose.
And she wasn't afraid.
She raised her hands—not to fight.
But to command.
"Enough."
Her voice echoed across the chamber.
The Void Flame recoiled.
Then—shrank.
Into a flickering coal of dark light.
It dropped to the floor, harmless.
Waiting.
Not gone.
But quiet.
Kael ran to her. "You okay?"
She nodded slowly.
"Yeah," she said. "For the first time… I really am."
Behind her, the shadow faded.
Not in pain.
But in peace.