The last thing I remembered was the roar—fire swallowing the air, a storm of light and darkness crashing together. Then silence.
When I opened my eyes, the sky was gone.
I was lying on cold stone, drenched in mist that moved like living smoke. Shadows pulsed across the floor, shifting in rhythm with something unseen above me. My breath came in shallow bursts. The ache in my chest felt like a heartbeat that didn't belong to me.
"Where… am I?" My voice echoed back, hollow.
The air here wasn't just still—it was watching. Every whisper of wind carried fragments of voices I couldn't understand.
> Welcome home, heir of the fractured flame.
I jolted up. That voice didn't belong to anyone I could see. It felt like it came from inside the mist.
Home? No, this wasn't home. This was something ancient. Older than memory itself.
I took a step forward, but the ground rippled beneath me like liquid shadow. A faint light flickered in the distance—pale blue, soft as moonlight. Drawn to it, I started walking. My boots made no sound.
Each step pulled me deeper into the strange rhythm of this realm. My heartbeat matched the pulse of the shadows.
And then I saw her.
A figure stood by the edge of a broken archway, her back to me, white hair glowing faintly under the shifting darkness. She wore a cloak made of torn light, edges fading into shadow.
She turned slowly. Her eyes glowed silver, and for a moment I forgot to breathe.
"You survived," she said softly. "Good. The realm rarely spares its prey."
"Who are you?"
"Someone who remembers your name, even when you do not."
Her words struck something in me. "You know me?"
She smiled faintly. "I knew what you were, long before you became this."
Confusion twisted in my mind. The storm, the fire, the voices—they all blurred together. "What I was? I don't understand—"
"You will." She stepped closer, hand outstretched. "But not here. This place listens."
The moment her fingers touched my wrist, the mist reacted. It screamed.
Waves of black wind exploded around us, shredding the ground like glass. She pulled me close, her cloak flaring with light.
"Hold on!" she shouted.
The world broke apart.
---
We fell through nothing. Shadows became light, light became sound. When the chaos faded, we were standing in what looked like an abandoned temple—pillars half-buried in roots, glowing runes circling the floor.
My knees gave out. I hit the ground, gasping. "What… was that?"
"The storm between worlds," she replied calmly, brushing ash off her cloak. "You tore a path into the Shadow Realm when your core awakened. The boundary doesn't like intruders."
"My… core?"
She crouched beside me. "The mark on your chest. It's not a wound—it's a seal."
I looked down. Under the ragged remains of my shirt, faint lines glowed across my skin, pulsing in rhythm with my heart.
"I saw it flare when the fire took you," she continued. "You're carrying something that shouldn't exist. Something the realm calls the Shard of Dusk."
The name alone felt heavy, ancient. "And that means… what?"
"It means you're not supposed to be alive."
She said it so matter-of-factly I almost laughed—until I saw the sorrow behind her eyes.
---
We rested for a while, long enough for my breath to steady.
"Why did you save me?" I asked finally.
She didn't look at me. "Because you're part of the story I failed to end."
"What does that even—"
The temple shook.
The ground split as something massive slammed into the outer wall. A shriek echoed through the ruins—metal scraping against bone.
Her expression hardened. "They've already found us."
"Who?"
"Shadow beasts. Fragments of what's left of the old gods' hunger."
Before I could ask again, the first one burst through the wall—a creature of blades and smoke, its eyes like molten obsidian.
Instinct screamed run, but something in me burned instead.
The mark on my chest ignited, flooding my veins with fire. I staggered, gripping the floor. My reflection in the cracked marble glowed with red lightning.
She saw it too. "You can't control it yet—"
"I'll try!"
The creature lunged.
I moved before I could think. My hand rose, and shadow answered. A blast of black flame erupted from my palm, slamming into the beast. It screamed as its body dissolved into smoke.
Silence fell again.
I stood there, trembling, the mark dimming back into faint light.
She stared at me, disbelief flickering across her face. "That shouldn't be possible…"
"What shouldn't?"
"The Shard responding to you. It only answers to its master."
"And who's that?"
Her eyes met mine. "You."
---
We escaped the ruins before more shadows arrived. She led me through narrow tunnels beneath the temple, her steps never faltering.
Finally, we emerged onto a cliff that overlooked an endless ocean of mist. Far in the distance, faint islands floated like shattered pieces of the world.
"The Shadow Realm," she said. "It mirrors the mortal one—but twisted, incomplete. Every choice echoes here."
"Why bring me?"
"Because the Shard woke early. The ones who sealed it will come for you. Unless you learn to wield it first."
"Then teach me."
Her silver eyes softened. "You don't even know my name, Gautam."
I hesitated. "Then tell me."
"Liora," she said after a long pause. "Once, I guarded the Shard. Now… I suppose I guard you."
Something in her tone hinted at guilt, or maybe regret.
"Why do you sound like you hate that?"
"Because I failed the last one who carried it."
---
We made camp by a glowing lake at the base of the cliffs. The water shimmered like liquid glass, reflecting the fractured moon above.
She sat across the fire, silent, tracing patterns in the dirt.
"You said the last one—what happened to them?" I asked.
Her gaze darkened. "They tried to master the Shard. It consumed them instead."
A chill crawled up my spine.
"And you think the same will happen to me."
"I don't think," she said. "I know."
"Then why save me?"
"Because maybe… this time, fate chose differently."
Her words lingered between us. For a moment, the air seemed almost peaceful.
Then the water rippled.
A whisper rose from the lake, distant and melodic. "Bearer of Dusk… return what is ours…"
Liora was on her feet instantly. "No—too soon—"
Before she could finish, the lake exploded upward.
From the depths emerged a colossal hand made of shadow, dripping liquid night. It seized the shore, dragging itself toward us.
I stumbled back as the ground quaked. The fire died, snuffed out by the wind.
"Run!" Liora shouted.
But my body refused to move. The mark on my chest burned like molten iron. The same voice that had called me before now roared inside my skull.
> Embrace the flame, heir of Dusk.
I screamed as the energy surged. The world warped—the sky split, the lake turned to mirror and ash.
Liora's voice cut through the chaos. "Gautam! Stop—if you give in now, it will claim you!"
But I couldn't stop. The power wasn't listening.
It poured out of me in a wave of black fire that devoured everything. The shadow beast disintegrated, the ground shattered—and then, silence again.
I dropped to my knees, gasping, smoke curling from my hands.
Liora approached cautiously. "You… survived again."
I looked up. "What's happening to me?"
She knelt, her face pale. "The Shard is awake—and it's choosing its master."
Her eyes widened suddenly, and before I could react, she pushed me aside. A blade of pure light struck the ground where I'd stood.
From the mist stepped a man clad in dark armor, his presence heavy enough to crush the air.
"So," he said, voice cold as steel, "the heir of Dusk finally rises."
Liora froze. "No… it can't be you."
He smiled, drawing his sword. "Did you really think death could hold me, sister?"
---
To be continued…