The cells kept opening.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Each metallic snick sent a tremor through Sunrei's bones. Lina stood framed in the doorway of her cell, her silver hair dull in the cavern's dim light. She was smaller than he remembered no, not remembered. Felt. His body knew her before his mind did, his pulse hammering against his ribs like it was trying to escape.
Kaelis's knife pressed against his back. That's not your sister.
Sunrei didn't move. How do you know?
Because, Cael said, stepping between them, his missing brand scar pulsing, the real Lina died ten years ago.
Lina's smile didn't waver. Did I?
Behind them, the black lake bubbled.
Harel backed toward the rusted door. We need to leave. Now.
Sunrei couldn't look away from Lina. She wore the same tattered dress from his fractured memories, the one she'd been wearing the day the Eclipse took their village. The day he'd failed her.
You left me here, Lina said, taking a step forward. Her bare feet left wet prints on the stone. In the dark. With them.
The lake erupted.
Hands skeletal, fleshless burst from the water, grasping at the air. Then faces. Then bodies. The Forgotten rose in a wave, their stitched mouths straining against their threads.
Kaelis grabbed Sunrei's arm. We run.
Lina tilted her head. Too late.
The first Forgotten lunged.
Sunrei's brand burned.
He moved without thinking, his dagger finding its mark in the Forgotten's throat. Black fluid sprayed, sizzling where it hit his skin. The creature didn't slow. It grabbed his wrist, its fingers like ice, and pulled.
Memory:
A younger Lina, screaming as the Eclipse dragged her into the dark.
Sunrei reaching for her.
Failing.
Always failing.
Sunrei gasped back to the present as Cael's fist connected with the Forgotten's skull. Bone shattered. The creature collapsed, dissolving into shadow.
Focus! Cael snarled.
The cavern was a nightmare of motion. Forgotten poured from the lake, from the cells, their hollow eyes fixed on Sunrei.
Harel was already at the door, his gnarled hands working the rusted mechanism. Move your asses!
Kaelis fought her way to Sunrei's side, her knives a blur. We need to go!
Lina laughed. The sound was wrong too deep, too layered. Familiar.
Sunrei's stomach dropped. You're not her.
Lina's smile widened. No. But she's with me.
Her form rippled, silver hair darkening to black, features sharpening.
Lithriel stared back at him.
Hello, Prince.
Kaelis's knife flew.
It passed straight through Lithriel's throat, embedding itself in the wall behind her.
Lithriel sighed. Still so predictable.
She flicked her wrist.
The Forgotten froze.
Then
They turned as one, their hollow eyes fixed on Harel.
The old man paled. Oh, shit.
The Forgotten surged toward him.
Harel yanked the door open. Run!
Sunrei didn't hesitate. He grabbed Kaelis and Cael, shoving them toward the door as the Forgotten descended on Harel.
The old man met Sunrei's gaze one last time.
Tell the Maw
A Forgotten's hand closed around his throat.
Snap.
Harel's body hit the ground.
The Forgotten stepped over it.
Sunrei slammed the door shut.
Darkness.
Then
Light.
Sunrei blinked as his brand's glow illuminated the narrow tunnel. The walls here were lined with bones not stacked, not arranged. Fused, as if the stone had grown around them.
Kaelis pressed her back to the wall, her breath coming in sharp gasps. What the hell was that?
Cael wiped black fluid from his face. A trap.
Sunrei's hands shook. She was never here. Lina. It was Lithriel the whole time.
No. Cael's voice was hollow. That was Lina. Or what's left of her.
Sunrei's head snapped up. What?
Cael's missing brand scar pulsed. The Eclipse doesn't just kill. It consumes. Memories. Faces. Voices. Lithriel's been dead for years. What's left is just... pieces. And it's using Lina to get to you.
The tunnel trembled.
Something scratched at the door behind them.
Kaelis pushed off the wall. Then we keep moving.
Sunrei didn't argue.
They ran.
The tunnel sloped upward, the air growing colder with every step. Sunrei's brand flickered, its light dying as the scratches behind them grew louder.
Then
Light.
True light.
The tunnel opened onto a cliffside, the predawn sky stretching endlessly above them. Below, the forest burned.
Not with fire.
With violet light.
The Eclipse had reached the surface.
Cael cursed. We're too late.
Kaelis turned to Sunrei. What now?
Sunrei's brand pulsed weakly.
Somewhere, in the ruins of his memories, Lina screamed.
He clenched his fists.
We end this.