The Marsh of Ularis was dead quiet.
No birds. No bugs. No wind. Just breath — yours and your demons'.
The locals called it the Mirror Mire — a cursed swamp that showed you the truths you tried hardest to bury.
Which meant bringing Liora was either a terrible idea…
Or the most honest one.
---
Kaelith led the way, blade in hand, wading through knee-high black water.
Liora followed with her boots slung over her shoulder, bare feet not even rippling the surface. She hummed a tune — off-key and somehow ancient.
Elliot trailed behind them both, pulse drumming.
The air felt heavy. The kind that made you sweat even when you weren't moving.
And then, the visions began.
---
He saw Kaelith, sobbing in chains, whispering:
> "I wish you'd died instead of becoming this."
He turned and saw Liora, standing on a mountain of charred bodies, laughing as the sky cracked open behind her.
> "There is no peace for what we are."
Elliot shut his eyes. It's not real.
But it felt real. Every image. Every word.
---
By nightfall, they made camp beneath a twisted tree, its roots forming a natural shelter.
Kaelith sat apart, sharpening her sword with controlled, angry strokes.
Liora approached Elliot quietly.
> "They say this place brings clarity," she whispered. "But all I feel is like someone peeled off my skin and made me watch myself bleed."
He looked at her — and for once, she wasn't smiling.
> "You said you melted last," Elliot said. "What did that look like?"
Her gaze didn't waver.
> "Me. On fire. Laughing."
Then softer:
> "Because if I didn't laugh… I would've begged them to kill me."
---
She moved closer.
Too close.
> "Do you really think she understands what you are now? She still thinks you're redeemable."
Elliot didn't answer.
He didn't move when Liora leaned in.
Didn't stop her when her lips brushed his.
---
The kiss was fast.
Hot.
Tainted.
And he pulled away a second too late.
Kaelith was already standing.
> "So that's what this is?" she asked, voice shaking.
> "Kaelith—" he started.
> "No," she cut in. "Don't explain. You don't kiss someone like her by mistake."
Liora didn't even look guilty.
> "I warned you," she said sweetly. "He's already burning."
Kaelith looked at Elliot — and in that look, there was hurt, not just betrayal.
> "You could've told me if you were slipping."
He stepped toward her, hand out.
> "I didn't mean to—"
> "But you did." Her voice cracked.
> "And that's what scares me."
---
That night, she slept apart.
So did Liora.
And Elliot sat awake between them — a boy caught between a girl who loved him…
And a girl who might understand the monster he was becoming.
---