POV: KAELIS
Timeline: Arrival
Location: The Shadowlands
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The Shadowlands are wrong.
That's the first thing I notice.
Everything is just… wrong.
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The sky is the wrong color—purple and black swirled together.
The ground is the wrong texture—soft and hard at the same time.
The air tastes wrong—like metal and decay.
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"Stay close," Ravion warns. "Reality is unstable here. Your senses can't be trusted."
"Great. Love that."
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We move forward.
There's no clear path. Just twisted landscape that shifts when I'm not looking directly at it.
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"How do we find Kieran?" I ask.
"Blood magic tracking." Ravion pulls out the vial again.
The blood drop rises.
Points ahead.
"That way."
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We walk.
Or try to.
The ground keeps changing.
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"This is impossible," I mutter after we've walked in circles for what feels like hours but was probably minutes.
"The Shadowlands reject linear navigation," Nyx explains. "We need to think non-linearly."
"What does that even mean?"
"It means—" He stops. "Did you hear that?"
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We all freeze.
Laughter.
Distant.
Echoing.
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"Shadow Court," Ravion says grimly.
"They know we're here."
"Of course they do. We walked into their trap." His shadows writhe. "They're probably watching right now."
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A voice booms from everywhere and nowhere.
"Welcome, Dark King. Sea God. And little chaos prince."
Mira's voice.
"We've been expecting you."
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"WHERE'S KIERAN?!" I shout.
"Close. So close. But to reach him—"
The landscape shifts.
A building appears in the distance.
Black stone.
Covered in runes.
"—you'll have to go through us."
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Shadow Court members materialize around us.
Dozens of them.
Maybe hundreds.
All armed.
All powerful.
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"This is the trap," Nyx says.
"I know," Ravion replies.
"We're outnumbered."
"I know."
"Probable death."
"I. KNOW."
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Ravion's shadows explode outward.
"So let's make them work for it."
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The Shadow Court attacks.
And we fight back.