--
Kade staggered through the flickering corridors of the Underwalks, Lira still cradled on his back. The obsidian knife pulsed against his belt, its silent hum guiding his every step like a whisper in the dark.
The air was denser here—every breath like inhaling old dust and forgotten oaths. Strange glyphs glowed faintly along the walls, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.
"Where are we?" he whispered.
Lira stirred. "This… place is wrong," she murmured. "It's not part of the city."
"It's under it," Kade said. "Under everything."
They emerged into a vast cavern—an underground dome filled with shattered statues, each one faceless and crumbling. At the center, atop a raised dais, hovered a single mirror, cracked and glowing.
Kade drew closer. The obsidian knife grew warm.
The mirror shimmered… and spoke.
"Kade Virell. You left yourself behind. Will you claim it… or shatter?"
Kade stared into the mirror—and the reflection changed.
Not him.
Not now.
But before.
He saw himself: older, eyes like storms, body marked by ancient glyphs. He stood in front of a crumbling city, sword raised as time itself bent around him. Behind him… corpses. A city on fire.
He flinched. "That's not me."
The mirror didn't answer.
Then—a hiss.
The statues cracked.
One moved.
Stone fell away from its chest as it breathed. A half-formed creature of stone and shadow lurched to life, runes glowing along its limbs. It had no face—only a mirrored surface in place of its head.
"Guardian of Memory," the mirror intoned. "Defeat it. Or lose what remains of yourself."
Kade stepped forward, drawing the knife.
The monster roared.
It was fast.
Too fast.
It swung a massive stone arm—Kade barely rolled aside. The impact cracked the floor behind him.
He slashed with the obsidian blade—but it bounced off.
"Great," he muttered. "Unkillable mirror monster. Just my luck."
Lira whispered from behind a crumbled column, "Strike its reflection. That's where your memory lies."
The mirrored face.
Kade ducked a second swing and slid under the beast's arm. With a cry, he plunged the knife into its head.
The mirror surface rippled.
And shattered.
The creature froze. Light spilled from the wound as it collapsed into dust.
Silence.
Kade stood there, panting.
Then—
A surge of memory.
Flashes.
A sword duel in the snow. A girl crying in the rain. A secret pact made beneath a dying star. A whisper: "Burn the timelines before they burn you."
He dropped to his knees, gasping. The knife pulsed brighter.
Then dimmed.
Lira crawled to him, placing a hand on his back.
"What did you see?" she asked.
"Pieces," he murmured. "Just pieces."
He turned to her.
"You called it. Reflection was the key."
"I felt it," she said. "Like part of you was missing. You're… different now."
Kade looked down at his hands.
They shimmered faintly.
New ability unlocked: Echo Step.
A flicker through space, tied to memory. He could move—briefly—where he had been, two seconds ago.
"Not bad," he whispered.
The mirror cracked again.
"One piece reclaimed. Six remain."
Then it shattered, and the path forward opened.
---
Elsewhere...
In the floating fortress, the Archon watched the mirror fade.
The cloaked acolyte returned.
"He retrieved the first shard."
The Archon said nothing.
"Shall I prepare the Harbingers?"
"No," the Archon finally answered. "Let him think he's winning. Let him gather strength. We need him to become… before we break him."
---
Back beneath the city...
Kade and Lira walked onward, deeper into the shifting ruins.
"Why me?" he asked.
"Hm?"
"All this. The memory blades. The shadows. The timelines. Why me?"
Lira looked away.
"You think this started with you?" she said. "You're not the first. Just the only one who came back."
"What do you mean?"
"There were others. Before you. Chosen by the Veil. They either broke… or became monsters."
Kade's throat went dry.
"What happened to them?"
She met his eyes. "You killed them."
---
End of Chapter 13