The wind howled through the ancient forest, carrying with it the faint echo of something lost — something once pure. Elara stood beneath the skeletal remains of a withered oak, her cloak fluttering like torn shadows. The moonlight painted her pale face in silver sorrow.
Lucien had not returned.
It had been three nights since his last message, three nights since the flames of their shared magic flickered out like a dying ember. The silence between them now felt heavier than grief itself — it was the kind that carved hollows inside your soul.
Elyndra's heart was fading. The once-luminous sky was now veiled in ash, and even the rivers whispered in mourning. The bond between Guardian and Keeper was weakening, and Elara could feel it — in her pulse, in the tremor of the earth beneath her feet.
She wandered through the ruins of their sanctuary, each step echoing memories. The books they once read together lay in tatters, the sigils on the walls faint and broken. A candle still burned on the old marble table — barely — as if refusing to die.
She approached it, her trembling fingers brushing against the flame. A single tear rolled down her cheek, sizzling as it fell onto the candle's edge.
"Lucien…" she whispered, her voice cracking. "You promised me you'd never fade."
A sudden gust blew through the chamber — and the candle went out.
The world plunged into darkness.
But within that darkness, a faint pulse of blue light shimmered — drifting toward her from the far end of the hall. Her breath caught. It was his magic, faint and broken, but still alive. She followed it, her steps hurried, desperate.
The trail led her to the Mirror of Veins — the same relic that once connected their souls. But now, the glass was fractured, blood-like light leaking through the cracks.
In the reflection, she saw Lucien — chained, bleeding, trapped in a world between life and death. His eyes met hers, and in them burned a quiet plea:
"Don't come for me."
But Elara's heart refused obedience.
Her tears turned to resolve. "I've already lost too much to stop now."
She pressed her hand to the mirror, feeling the sting of the shattering glass slice into her palm. Blood met light — and the portal awakened, swirling like a storm of stars and sorrow.
The voice of Elyndra itself echoed through the air:
"To save him, you must lose something greater."
Elara closed her eyes, whispering into the storm, "Then take everything."
And with that, she stepped through — into the unknown realm where love and pain would become indistinguishable.