The forest remained still in the aftermath of Serana's vanishing—too still.
The scent of the Ashen Bloom lingered faintly in the air, like burned incense during a forgotten ritual. Liam stared at the ground where Serana had stood, his heart pounding with a rhythm that didn't belong to him. It felt… ancient. As if the soil beneath had begun whispering in another tongue.
"Did anyone else feel that?" he asked, rubbing his chest where the energy had pulsed moments ago.
"I felt something," Kael muttered, leaning heavily on his blade. "Like someone reached inside me and stirred my blood."
Nyra crouched beside the cracked earth. Her eyes were narrowed, focused. "It wasn't just Serana's presence. She triggered something when she said Elira's name."
"She said this was where Elira sealed a fragment's echo," Aeris whispered. "But… what does that mean? I thought we already had the first fragment."
"We do," Liam replied. "But Serana made it sound like there was more to it. Maybe a memory or… something that was left behind."
As if on cue, the ground where the Ashen Bloom had grown shimmered faintly—like moonlight on black water. The soil cracked, revealing a spiral symbol carved into a flat, stone surface.
Aeris knelt and brushed away the ash. "This is a seal."
"Can you open it?" Kael asked.
"I… think so. But not without help."
Liam stepped forward. "What kind of help?"
Aeris looked up at him, her expression softer now. "You."
The group circled as Aeris pressed her palm to the seal. Her other hand reached for Liam's, intertwining their fingers. "This seal responds to both flame and tether. Your energy and mine… together."
Liam nodded. "Let's do it."
Their hands glowed—hers with flickering gold, his with shifting violet—and the moment their joined palms touched the center of the symbol, the stone vibrated. Lines spread outward like veins, glowing brighter with each pulse.
The ground trembled again.
The stone groaned as it slid open, revealing a stairwell descending into darkness.
A faint breeze rose from within—carrying with it a voice.
Not a scream, not a whisper. A memory.
"Elira…" it breathed. "Forgive me…"
The voice was male. Broken. Drenched in regret.
Nyra's eyes widened. "That… that sounded like Nytherion."
Kael stiffened. "We've never heard his voice before. How do we know?"
Liam's hand tingled. "Because… I recognized it too. From the vision. From the dream."
Aeris nodded. "It's a memory fragment. An echo that remains after the original was sealed or destroyed. If Elira locked something down here… then it's not just magic. It's personal."
Without waiting, Aeris stepped onto the first stair. "We need to see."
One by one, they followed.
The descent felt longer than it should have been. The stairs twisted unnaturally, like coiling through a spiral that bent space. Liam felt dizzy—his thoughts flickering in and out of other moments. His mother's voice. The mirror. A crackling fire. A field of white flowers turning black.
At last, they stepped onto solid ground.
A vast chamber stretched before them—glowing with floating crystals that pulsed like heartbeats. At its center was a pool of silver liquid, still as glass. Above it hovered a broken mirror frame, its glass cracked in five places.
"Is that…" Nyra began.
Aeris finished for her. "The memory anchor."
Liam stepped closer. The pool rippled as he neared it. His reflection shimmered, shifting—becoming not himself, but Elira.
She was kneeling, covered in blood, cradling something.
Or someone.
A man.
His body torn, but his face gentle. Smiling.
Nytherion.
"No," Liam said, breath catching in his throat.
Elira's voice rang in the chamber, echoing from the anchor.
"I had no choice," her image cried. "They were going to take you. Twist you. I sealed the part of you that remembered me. Forgive me… please…"
The memory twisted.
A black shape coiled behind her—a monstrous shadow with Nytherion's voice.
"You took my love. You took my mind. Now I take the world."
The chamber quaked.
Cracks split across the floor, and the mirror anchor pulsed wildly.
"We need to get out—now!" Kael shouted.
"No," Liam said firmly. "We need to finish this."
He stepped into the light of the pool—and the fragment surged into his chest.
The world bent.
He saw Elira, younger, laughing. He saw Nytherion holding her close. He saw the betrayal of a false god, the monster in disguise that whispered in Nytherion's ear. He saw Elira tear herself in two—one part sealing the truth, the other surviving.
And then—he saw the spell.
The one Elira left behind.
A way to bind Nytherion—not destroy him.
When Liam awoke from the vision, his knees buckled.
The chamber was falling apart.
"Liam!" Aeris caught him.
"I saw it," he gasped. "The spell. Elira's last gift. We can stop him. Not kill—but bind."
"Then we need to move," Kael said, slashing at falling debris. "Now!"
They raced up the staircase, the chamber collapsing behind them. The mirror anchor shattered, releasing a final pulse that struck Liam's back and embedded in his mark.
When they reached the surface again, the Ashen Bloom was gone.
Only a field of scorched earth remained.
Liam fell to one knee, clutching his chest. "She sealed it… not to protect herself. But to protect him."
Aeris looked away. "What do we do with that kind of truth?"
Kael answered with a grim smile. "Use it. Because if we don't—Nytherion wins."
The wind howled through the forest.
And far in the distance, a low, echoing roar answered.