The valley trembled like a living creature.From the heart of the Pool of Memory rose a column of black flame that stretched toward the storm-dark sky. Lightning fractured across it, illuminating a colossal shape—Aric's reflection, no longer human.
Its body was made of fire and shadow, its eyes twin suns burning with hatred and sorrow. The same face, the same voice, but twisted by every regret Aric had ever tried to bury.
Lira staggered back. "Is that—?"
"Yes," Aric said quietly. "It's me."
Kael gritted his teeth. "Then kill it before it kills us!"
But Aric shook his head. "No… if I destroy it, I destroy myself."
The reflection stepped forward, each movement echoing with thunder. Its voice rolled through the valley like molten rock."You talk of balance, yet you still fear what you are."
Aric's hands ignited with golden flame, steady and bright. "You're not my enemy. You're the part of me that carried the pain so I could keep walking."
The shadow laughed, a sound that cracked the air. "You call that strength? You denied me. You called me monster while wearing my face!"
The ground shattered as it swung its arm, a wave of black fire surging toward him. Aric raised his hand, summoning a radiant shield. Light and shadow collided, sending ripples of molten stone across the valley.
Lira and Kael dove behind the rocks as sparks rained around them.
"Kael!" she shouted. "We can't stay here—this whole place is falling apart!"
But Kael shook his head. "No. This is his fight. If he fails, none of us walk away."
The storm roared above, lightning feeding the inferno. Aric staggered, his breath ragged. His reflection advanced, unrelenting, each step shaking the mountain.
"You can't control both," it thundered. "Light burns the dark, and dark devours the light. One must win!"
Aric wiped the blood from his lip, his eyes fierce. "Then I'll be both."
He raised his arms, and the two flames answered. Golden fire spiraled from his right hand; black fire coiled from his left. The two forces clashed at first, repelling each other violently—but Aric refused to let go.
Pain tore through him as the heat and shadow battled within his veins. He dropped to one knee, screaming—but he kept his hands locked together.
His reflection lunged, blade of darkness forming in its hand. Aric caught it mid-strike, their blades meeting in a storm of sparks and flame.
"You'll destroy yourself!" the shadow roared.
"Maybe," Aric whispered, pushing back with all his strength, "but I'll destroy our hatred first."
He pressed his palms together—and for a heartbeat, the world went silent.
Then came light.
The flames exploded outward, swallowing both figures in a blinding burst. Lira shielded her eyes as the shockwave swept through the valley. When the light faded, she gasped.
There was only one Aric standing amid the smoke.
Half his body shimmered with gold, the other veined with shadow. His eyes glowed with twin hues—one warm like dawn, the other deep as midnight. The storm had stilled, the Pool of Memory now calm as glass.
The reflection was gone.
Or perhaps… finally whole.
Kael lowered his weapon, staring in disbelief. "So that's what a true Keeper looks like."
Aric's voice was quiet, but it carried the strength of fire and stone. "No… this is what truth looks like."
He looked at his hands—one bright, one dark—and smiled faintly. "The Flame isn't meant to obey or consume. It's meant to understand."
Lira approached cautiously. "What happens now?"
Aric gazed toward the horizon. Beyond the valley, he could feel the pulse of something greater—the ancient core of the world, the place where the first fire was born. "The last seal is breaking. The balance I restored here must reach the source—or everything burns again."
Kael frowned. "You're saying the Flame itself is awakening?"
Aric nodded. "And it's calling me home."
He turned to them both. "Go back to the mountain fortress. Warn the others. If I fail to contain it…" He paused, looking at the flickering light beneath his skin. "…then tell them not to fight it. Tell them to remember."
Lira shook her head, eyes wide. "No! You're not going alone again!"
He smiled, soft but resolute. "I was never alone. Not truly. Every step I took, every mistake I made—they were all part of the same flame. I just had to see it."
The valley began to tremble once more, the Pool glowing brighter. Aric took a step toward it, golden and black motes swirling around him like twin wings.
Lira's voice cracked. "Aric!"
He looked back one last time. "Take care of each other. The world needs people like you more than it needs another Keeper."
Then he stepped into the light.
The pool flared, swallowing him whole. The valley fell silent once again, the storm parting to reveal a single ray of sunlight piercing through the clouds.
Kael exhaled shakily. "He's really gone."
Lira wiped a tear from her cheek. "No," she whispered. "He's becoming what he was meant to be."
Above them, the sunlight pulsed faintly—gold and black intertwining, like a heartbeat in the sky.