The four of them moved by moonlight.
Kael led with quiet precision, his twin blades sheathed but never far from his reach. Sylis walked beside him, tracing symbols into the air with two fingers, whispering softly to the spirits of the old paths. Behind them, Lian and Aure walked in silence words felt too heavy now, too fragile. Their bond pulsed like an ember buried in ash.
They arrived at a hollow tree that had split open like an ancient wound. Inside, the bark had twisted into the shape of a door one that pulsed faintly with silver threads.
"This is where it waits," Kael said, placing his hand against the wood.
"What is it?" Aure asked.
"The Mirror of the Forgotten," Sylis replied, stepping closer. "It doesn't show you who you are it shows you the pieces you cast away."
Aure's hand trembled as they reached out, touching the bark.
The door opened.
Inside was not a tree but a void of starlit smoke. One by one, they entered. The space within bent around them like time itself was folding to watch.
Aure stood alone before the mirror first.
It shimmered not glass, but liquid memory.
And there, reflected back, wasn't his current self.
It was his eyes blazing, wings of shadow and light unfurled, blood on his fingertips and power pouring from every breath. Not cruel, not monstrous… but untamed and Whole.
"I was that?" Aure whispered.
"You still are," the reflection said. "They broke you because they feared what you'd do when you awaken."
Behind him , Lian watched, fists clenched. He remembered this version of Aure,the one who had led him into the fire and refused to let any of them fall. He remembered loving him then, too. Wild,Free and Fierce.
Kael and Sylis stood to either side, but did not speak. Their eyes were wide haunted.
Because they remembered their own reflections too.
And knew what had been stolen.
The mirror shattered.
Aure gasped, stumbling back into Lian's arms. Silver dust settled around them like stardust in mourning.
"They took everything from us," Aure whispered. "But I remember now. And I won't let them take more."
Lian held him tighter.
"They'll try," he said.
"Then let them," Aure replied, voice cold fire. "We're not who we were. We're what they feared."
And with that, the void closed behind them.
And the world began to shift.