Night had settled over the skies of Nimora, without a single star. The air in this world did not move, yet it weighed down on the shoulders. In the heart of the twisted forest, Adam sat near a small blue flame that did not burn, staring at the Heart of Regret resting in his palms. The spell pulsed slowly, as if it could feel what was inside him.
Zira stood a few steps away, carving a strange symbol into a dead tree.
In a hushed voice, he said,
"You said you were sent by my grandmother… but why didn't you appear to me from the start?"
She didn't turn around, but answered with a sad coldness:
"Because you weren't ready. You were seeing the world with only half an eye… and half blood."
His words froze on his tongue.
"Half blood? What do you mean?"
She turned toward him, her emerald eyes glowing under the light of the flame.
"Adam… have you ever wondered why your powers only awakened after her death? Why you're the only one who can see Labobo? Or why your heart beats faster when you approach the gates between the two worlds?"
He stood up slowly, his hands trembling.
"Stop. Tell me the truth—all of it."
She approached him with quiet steps. She whispered:
"You... are not your mother's son. You're not your grandmother's grandson, as you thought."
His heartbeat sounded like screams.
"Liar."
He said it, but he didn't believe himself.
Zira continued, as if tearing off an old bandage:
"You are a child of Nimora. Your soul was placed in a human body to protect you, because… you are the last of the bloodline of the Makers."
The light flickered, as if the flame itself had dimmed suddenly.
At that moment, Labobo emerged from his chest, breathing like he had been asleep for a thousand years, and spoke in a different voice—wiser:
"It is time, Adam… to know who you truly are."
A deep, thunderous voice echoed behind them.
"But you won't leave this forest carrying the truth."
From between the trees, a creature covered in ash appeared—its face featureless, save for a massive mouth that spoke:
"I am… Kaidra, the Gatekeeper, and the Eater of Secrets."
Adam raised the Heart of Regret, but it did not glow. Zira grabbed his arm:
"It won't work on Kaidra. That creature does not regret."
Adam understood then that he had to use something else… something he had not yet discovered within himself.
He closed his eyes, and his memory opened like a waterfall.
He saw his grandmother, walking down a corridor of light, whispering to him as an infant:
"Inside you is a voice unlike ours… Follow it, and do not be afraid."
He opened his eyes.
"Zira, I'm going to try something."
He stood before Kaidra, and said in a firm voice:
"I am not the Adam I was… I am the voice of the one without a mirror!"
With those words, the ground beneath them began to tremble, as if Nimora itself had heard something that should never have been spoken.
✴️ To the dear reader:
Do you think Zira is telling the truth?
And can Adam accept a past built on a lie that spans generations?
Share your thoughts… who knows what may unfold next.