Elara's knees buckled, golden blood dripping from the wound in her chest.
But the world around her shifted—the black glass sky cracking, letting in faint streams of dawn-colored light.
The oppressive heartbeat beneath her feet slowed, steadying until it faded into silence.
Her dagger fell from her grasp, no longer a weapon, but a shard of silver crystal that dissolved into her palm.
She staggered forward, breath ragged, when the Keeper appeared again.
His hollow eyes widened—just slightly—as if startled.
> "You chose the harder path," he murmured. "The path of surrender… and of truth."
Elara wanted to answer, but her throat burned. Instead, she pressed a hand to her chest where the golden wound glowed faintly—like a fragile ember struggling to live.
She had not destroyed her darkness. She had weakened it, locked it deeper inside her soul. But she knew: the shadow was not gone. It would wait, whisper, and test her again.
The Keeper extended his hand.
> "Rise, Seeker. The Third Petal awaits. But tread carefully… light this fragile will not survive another betrayal."
And then the ground split open again, pulling her into the next trial.
🌑 Path of the Shadow
The darkness that merged with Elara's veins now pulsed with every breath she took.
The fractured sky above sealed shut, and crimson lightning became her crown.
Her reflection was gone—because she no longer had one.
When she looked into the black glass beneath her feet, she saw not her face, but a mask of flame and shadow grinning back at her.
The Keeper appeared, though for the first time, he seemed… wary.
His voice trembled almost imperceptibly.
> "You have chosen power. But such power does not serve—it consumes."
Elara tilted her head, the smile on her lips both hers and not hers.
> "Then let it consume me. If that is the price of victory."
The Keeper did not argue. He only raised his hand, and the crimson petals surrounding her burst into a storm, binding themselves into her skin like tattoos of living flame.
Her strength surged. Her fear vanished.
But deep inside, a faint golden warmth flickered—distant, fading, like the memory of someone she once loved.
And with that, the floor shattered, pulling her into the next trial… but now she no longer walked as Elara alone.