Days went by gently at her grandmother Maeve's place, but there was no hollowness to the quiet—there was the quiet after the tempest. Afternoons were spent outdoors with Maeve, planting flowers and herbs with fingers buried in the ground. Nights, she held the pendant in her palm, tracing the runes, feeling its heartbeat like a soft rhythm against her hand.
But one evening, when the lanterns groaned outside her window, the pendant's light began to flash.
Lila sat up in bed, clutching it. "What is it?" she whispered.
The light pulsed more rapidly, brighter, illuminating the room with a soft light. Shadows on the walls stirred, and for a moment, she could have sworn she saw Eron's face in the mirror, his eyes boring into hers, his expression desperate.
Lila, a voice whispered low, as the wind in leaves.
She stood, opening her window wide. Lanterns outside danced, and a breeze carried the scent of woodsmoke and lavender—the scent of Auraleaf.
She ran to the attic, the light of the pendant guiding her, its light matching the faint shining where the hidden doorway had been.
"Lila?" Her voice called up from the landing, but Lila did not move back to it, instead turning to see her grandmother at the foot of the attic stairs.
Maeve's eyes were serene, though pride and sadness were intertwined within. "The door is calling you again, isn't it?"
Lila nodded. "They need me."
Maeve stepped forward, placing her fingers against Lila's cheek. "Then go. And remember that you are never alone.".
The glow grew stronger, the runes glowing as the pendant fell into place with symbols on the hidden door. The room was filled with light, the attic gone, and Lila walked through once more—
She was in Auraleaf, but it wasn't the same.
Lanterns continued to float in the air, but the mood was tense, heavy, the once peaceful wind now tainted with smoke. The villagers stood along the river of lanterns, their masks twisted, their eyes containing fear and hope.
Eron was at the forefront, his cloak torn, his face smeared with soil, but his eyes shining as he spotted Lila.
"You came," he spoke, his voice coarse but relieved.
What has occurred?" Lila insisted, stepping forward.
Eron led her through the village, where she saw burn marks across the ground, some of the lanterns smashed, the trees at the edge of the forest blackened as if by hellfire.
"Without the protection of Morgana's darkness holding them back, other forces have begun to awaken," Eron explained. "Something primeval, older even than Morgana, is agitating in the Shadowlands.".
They had come to the Heartstone Chamber, now moved to Auraleaf's center, its light steady but faintly flickering, as if there were a vacuum absorbing its energy.
Elin pushed forward, her hand on Lila's shoulder. "The Heartstone is in danger, Lila. It chose you once before. It must have you again."
Lila looked down at the pendant, its light harmonizing with the Heartstone's beat.
"What is it?" she asked.
Eron regarded her, the lines on his face more pronounced, his eyes reflecting the lanterns. "We do not know yet. But there are old seals within the Shadowlands that were never to be opened. Something has found them."
Lila cinched the pendant in her fist, the warmth anchoring her as she breathed in deeply.
"Then we find out what it is," she said firmly. "And we stop it."
A New Path
That night, Lila sat with Eron and Elin at the lantern river, charting the path into the deepest corners of the Shadowlands. The villagers pulled out maps on yellowed parchment, traced in ink that had been eroding for centuries.
"Beyond the Dark Mire," Eron showed, marking a smudged spot where the ink had worn away, "lies the Seal of the Ancients. We believe that's where the trouble began."
The sprites fluttered around them, carrying bits of glowing moss to light the maps, singing softly, their voices mixing with the wind.
As Lila studied the map, she felt the pendant warm again, a soft whisper brushing her mind:
You are the light.
She looked up at the lanterns drifting above, her reflection in the water below merging with the glow of the Heartstone.
"I'm ready," Lila whispered to herself.
In the darkness beyond the lantern's rays, the Shadowlands waited, but so did the promise of hope.
And Lila, lightbringer, waited to take a step into darkness once more.