The world was quiet again — too quiet.
The battlefield lay in ruins, shrouded in drifting ash and silver mist. The air still hummed with the echo of magic, as if the ground remembered the fight. I could feel it beneath my boots — a faint tremor, like the heartbeat of something buried deep.
Liora stood a few paces away, staring into the crater where Raven had vanished. Her cloak fluttered softly, catching stray embers of light.
"He's really gone," she whispered. "For now."
I joined her, my eyes following the cracks that spread from the impact zone like black veins. "You think he'll come back?"
Her jaw tightened. "If he spoke the truth… he's already beyond coming back. He's part of it now."
"The Shadow Sovereign." I said the name quietly, and the air seemed to flinch.
A shiver ran through me. I didn't know why, but just saying it made my flame dim.
---
We gathered what little strength we had and made camp among the fallen columns. The light from the broken moon bled through the cracks above, washing everything in a pale blue glow.
Liora sat by the remains of a brazier, her hand hovering above the faint fire she'd conjured. The flames struggled to stay alive in the heavy air.
"You're unusually quiet," I said, sitting opposite her.
Her silver eyes lifted. "Because I'm afraid."
I blinked. "Afraid?"
"Of the silence," she said. "When a great evil stirs, the world usually screams first. But this—" She looked around at the stillness. "This feels like it's waiting."
The wind shifted, carrying a faint whisper. For a moment, I thought I heard my own name in it.
> Gautam… heir of dusk…
I tensed. "Did you hear that?"
Liora nodded slowly. "It's starting."
---
The ground rumbled. Dust fell from the shattered arches above.
I rose, hand instinctively on Ardent Edge. The sword's flame flickered erratically — blue, not red.
"That's… new," I muttered.
Liora stood beside me, eyes wide. "Blue flame… that's the Sovereign's resonance."
Before I could ask what she meant, a deep, resonant hum filled the air. The cracks across the battlefield began to glow, threads of crimson and shadow weaving together like veins beneath translucent skin.
The mist thickened, swirling toward the crater.
Something was forming there.
A shape — tall, regal, ancient.
Liora grabbed my arm. "Don't look directly at it!"
But I couldn't look away.
The figure rose slowly from the mist — not flesh, not shadow, but something in between. Its form towered above us, cloaked in writhing tendrils of black light. Where its face should've been, there was only a crown of shifting flame.
When it spoke, it wasn't one voice — it was many.
> "The Shard has awakened. The chain of dusk is broken."
The words echoed through my bones. My knees trembled. I could feel my mark burning under my skin again.
Liora raised her staff. "Shadow Sovereign! You were sealed beyond the Rift—by the gods themselves!"
The figure tilted its head.
> "The gods are dust, child of light. Only echoes remain. And now… my heir returns."
My heart stopped. "Your what?"
Its gaze—or what passed for it—turned toward me.
> "The fire you wield is mine, reborn through mortal flesh. The shard inside you is a fragment of my heart."
My vision blurred. The mark on my chest blazed, light spilling through my shirt. "That's impossible—"
Liora's hand shot out, gripping my shoulder. "Don't listen! It lies!"
But deep down, something inside me knew it wasn't lying.
Memories not my own flashed through my head—cities of light burning, an ancient battlefield, a god made of fire standing against a god made of shadow.
And in the center of it all—me.
Or someone who looked like me.
---
The Sovereign extended a hand, palm open. Shadows coiled around it, forming a black sphere that pulsed like a heart.
> "Come, vessel. Return to me, and I will make you whole."
Liora stepped between us, light flaring from her staff. "You will not have him!"
The Sovereign's presence darkened the air. "You defy your creator's will?"
"I defy monsters who call themselves gods!" she shouted, thrusting her staff forward. "Radiant Seal—!"
A beam of white light burst forth, striking the Sovereign's chest. The ground trembled. For a second, I thought it might actually work—
Then the light shattered.
The shockwave sent both of us flying. I hit the ground hard, rolling through dust and shards of stone. My sword skidded out of reach.
"Liora!" I coughed, looking up.
She was on her knees, the light around her flickering weakly. The Sovereign hadn't moved.
> "Pathetic," it said. "The line of dawn ends as feebly as it began."
I forced myself to stand. My hands shook, but I grabbed Ardent Edge and raised it.
"I'm not done yet!"
The Sovereign regarded me in silence. Then it extended a finger, and reality bent.
Dark tendrils erupted from the ground, wrapping around my legs and arms. I struggled, but the harder I fought, the tighter they constricted.
> "You are not a hero," it said. "You are my echo. The flame of dusk reborn in mortal ash."
"I'm… not… yours!" I roared.
Flame burst from my body, searing through the tendrils. My sword ignited again—blue fire swirling into red. The light filled the ruins, pushing back the shadow for a heartbeat.
And for that moment, I saw it—inside the Sovereign's form—faces. Countless faces. Souls. All trapped within its darkness, screaming soundlessly.
"Liora!" I shouted. "It's feeding on them!"
She forced herself up, blood running down her arm. "Then we burn it out together!"
---
We moved in sync. She raised her staff, I raised my sword. Fire and light spiraled together, forming a storm around us. The Sovereign raised its arms, its voice thundering through the mist.
> "You cannot destroy what you are made from."
"Watch us try," I hissed.
We unleashed everything.
The explosion tore through the night. Flames roared upward, colliding with the darkness. The world became blinding light and screaming shadow.
The sound was unbearable — like the earth crying out.
And then, silence.
---
When the dust settled, I was on my knees again, lungs burning. Liora lay beside me, barely conscious.
The Sovereign was gone. Or so I thought.
Then, from the crater, a single ember of black light floated upward. It drifted toward me, slow and deliberate.
Before I could move, it touched my chest.
Pain erupted. I screamed as the mark flared brighter than ever. Images flashed — endless night, broken thrones, fire falling from the sky.
Liora crawled toward me, shouting my name. "Gautam—fight it!"
"I can't—"
> You already have.
The voice came from inside my head now — the Sovereign's voice, quiet, calm, poisonous.
> You think you are free of me? You carry my heart, my fire, my will. You are the dawn that ends in dusk.
"No…" I gasped. "I'm… human."
> For now.
The black flame subsided, leaving only faint smoke rising from my skin.
When I looked up, Liora was staring at me — not with fear, but sorrow.
"Gautam," she whispered, "your eyes…"
I touched my face. The reflection in the nearby pool of ashwater showed it — one eye still human, the other burning gold and black.
The mark of the Sovereign.
---
We didn't speak for a long time. The ruins were quiet again, but the silence felt heavier now — not empty, but watching.
Finally, I broke it. "It's inside me, isn't it?"
Liora nodded. "Part of it, yes. But not all. You fought it off — that means something."
"Or maybe I just delayed it."
"Maybe." She looked at the sky, where faint red lightning flickered in the distance. "But delaying the inevitable is how heroes are born."
I laughed weakly. "You think I'm a hero?"
"I think," she said softly, "you haven't decided what you are yet."
I stared at the horizon. The dark sun still flickered there — growing, watching.
The Sovereign's words echoed in my head, cold and certain:
> You are the dawn that ends in dusk.
And deep inside, beneath the pain and the fear… something answered.
A whisper. My own voice — but older, deeper.
> Then let the dusk burn brighter than your night.
The mark pulsed once, faintly — like a heartbeat.
Liora didn't notice. She was looking toward the fallen temple gates. "We should move. This place isn't safe anymore."
I stood, still trembling, still burning.
The wind carried the faint sound of laughter — Raven's laughter, distant and mocking, fading into the shadows.
I gripped my sword tighter. "He's not gone."
"No," Liora said quietly. "And neither is the Sovereign."
The ash began to rise again, forming shapes — whispering, watching.
I took one last look at the crater and turned away.
We walked into the mist together — unaware that behind us, the shadows were beginning to move again.
And far beneath the ruined earth, something vast and ancient smiled in its sleep.