Consciousness came like a tidal wave slow, but crashing hard when it arrived.
Lyra awoke in a place she did not recognize. She was lying on cold stone, her body damp from a mist that clung to her like a second skin. The air around her was dark, but not the kind of darkness she knew. This was a living dark an entity that breathed with the shadows.
Around her, dark violet grass glowed faintly, and above... there was no sky. Only a swirling vortex of black overhead, occasionally flickering with purple lightning deep behind the fog.
She stood slowly, her body weak. Dizziness danced in her head, and when she looked at her left wrist, she froze.
The winged spiral symbol now glowed faintly. It wasn't a wound. Not a scar. But a living tattoo, pulsing in sync with her heartbeat.
And strangely, it didn't hurt anymore. In fact, it felt... warm. Like the embrace of something deeply familiar, yet never met.
"Where... am I?" she murmured.
Footsteps echoed in the distance not sneaking, not rushing, but steady. Even without looking, Lyra knew who it was.
Kael.
The dark-cloaked man emerged from the fog. His face was partially visible now sharp jaw, burning red eyes, skin pale as a dead moon. Yet there was something in his gaze that wasn't just cold it was... tragic.
"Welcome to Vanyir," he said, his voice deep, like the ringing of iron. "The realm between the human world and the world of shadows. This is where your inheritance was sealed."
Lyra swallowed. "So... this isn't the real world?"
Kael stepped closer and offered his hand. "Real... is what your blood remembers. The human world only housed you. But this this is where you came from."
Lyra didn't take his hand. She looked around. "Why were you always watching me?"
"Because since the day you were born, many have desired your blood. You are the daughter of Lethira the last Shadow Queen and the only heir left. They will hunt you, claim you, or... destroy you."
"Then why now? Why didn't you speak before?"
Kael's eyes softened, almost... mournful.
"Touching your fate too early would have shattered you. You had to choose. And now... you've touched your shadow. You've broken the first seal."
"Seal?"
Kael nodded. "There are seven seals on your body. Seven symbols. Each one unlocks a part of your power. But each also opens a door to the past including your mother's, your father's... and the reason our world was torn apart by war."
Lyra touched her wrist. The symbol called to something deep within her. But it still felt unfamiliar.
"What do I have to do?"
Kael looked at her, gaze piercing. "You must choose to open the remaining seals, and learn who you are, or return to your old world and live a normal life... always feeling incomplete."
"You know I can't just go back," Lyra whispered.
Kael didn't respond with words. Instead, he lifted a hand and traced the air before them. Black-purple light formed a circle that unfolded into a portal.
Through it, Eldric could be seen, sitting by the window in her room. His hair was disheveled. His face full of regret.
"You can return now, Lyra," Kael said. "But once the second seal opens, there's no going back. And I won't be able to protect you from everything."
"Why do you protect me?" she asked quietly.
The question lingered in the air.
Kael lowered his gaze. "Because... I'm bound to you."
Lyra frowned. "What does that mean?"
He looked into her eyes. No smile. No warmth. But no lies either.
"Your mother's blood saved me. Your blood tied my soul to yours. I am your shadow, Lyra. And as long as you live... I cannot leave."
Her body weakened at his words. The strange connection she'd always felt it wasn't her imagination. There was a thread, invisible, connecting them both.
"What if I die?" she whispered.
Kael didn't answer. But his eyes said everything: If you die, I vanish with you.
•••
They walked across a blackened field that led to ancient ruins. Scattered stone pillars bore the same symbols as the one on Lyra's body. At the center stood a massive mirror made of jet-black stone.
Kael stopped in front of it. "This is where the second seal will be unlocked. But to do so, you must face the reflection of your own soul. Your deepest shadow. Your fear. Your desire. Your hidden pain."
The mirror looked dead. But as Lyra stepped forward, its surface began to shift.
She saw herself.
But not her as she was now. A darker version. Eyes entirely black. Bloodied lips. A cruel smile.
"What is this...?"
"Your deepest shadow," Kael replied. "You must face it without running. If you fail, she will take your place."
The shadow in the mirror raised a hand, and Lyra felt pressure crush her chest. The air spun. She was pulled into the reflection and in an instant, she stood in a colorless world, surrounded by thousands of versions of herself smiling. Judging.
From the center, the darkest version of herself stepped forward.
Identical in form. But with hollow, cunning eyes.
"You finally came," it said in Lyra's voice but colder. "Always pretending to be strong, but you're afraid of being abandoned. Afraid of being meaningless. Afraid... to love."
"Shut up!" Lyra shouted.
"But you know I'm right, don't you?" the shadow continued. "You don't know who to trust. You don't know who you are. And the darkest part of you... wants to burn it all down. You enjoy that power, don't you?"
"No!"
The shadow laughed. "Don't lie. Even when Kael looks at you you feel it. That pull. That desire. But also fear. Because you know... you could fall. And never return."
Lyra trembled but stood tall.
"Yes. I'm afraid. But that doesn't make me weak."
She gripped the symbol on her wrist. Slowly, light spread. The mark traveled up her arm and onto her collarbone, merging into a second sigil.
"There's one thing you don't know," she said, staring down the shadow. "I am not you. And I will never surrender to the darkness inside me."
A blinding light burst from her body, and the mirrored world shattered in a soundless explosion.
•••
Lyra stood once more before the obsidian mirror, breath ragged. Kael caught her as she stumbled.
"You... did it," he said softly.
On her chest, the second seal had appeared an open eye within a ring of shadow.
Kael stared at her for a long moment.
"Your power is awakening. But remember every seal you break draws the attention of those who crave your mother's legacy."
Lyra nodded. Though her body was exhausted, her spirit was beginning to take shape.
"I'm ready."
Kael gave the faintest smile for the first time.
"Then our journey... has only just begun."