The fall this time was dizzying. The doorway formed from the broken hourglass should have led to solid ground, but instead the heroes were plunged into a swirl of color and light, each shade shifting like liquid glass.
When they landed, there was no pain—only confusion. They stood in a grand courtyard under a violet sky, with marble towers gleaming in the distance. Birds sang sweetly, flowers perfumed the air, and the warmth of sunlight bathed their faces.
It was beautiful. Too beautiful.
"This can't be real," Rina muttered, hand tightening on her dagger. "It's a trick."
The Helm's voice drifted across the courtyard, smooth and serpentine:"Welcome to the Realm of Illusions. Here, truth and falsehood are one. Trust what you see… and you will be destroyed. Doubt everything… and you will destroy yourselves."
The ground shimmered.
Shadows Wearing Familiar Faces
The first test came quietly. Out of the towers walked figures that looked exactly like them—perfect doubles, smiling, relaxed, unarmed.
"Finally," said the other Carlos, his voice warm. "We've been waiting for you. We're the version of you that made it out. You don't have to fight anymore."
The other Lys laid a hand on her bow. "You've suffered enough. Lay down your weapons. Stay here, in peace."
The doubles looked real in every detail: scars, expressions, even the weariness in their eyes.
Thalor's jaw tightened. "Illusions." He raised his shield.
But the doubles didn't attack. They just stood there, waiting, like friends inviting them to sit.
Doubt rippled through the group.
"What if…" Maren whispered, her voice trembling. "What if they're telling the truth? What if this is the way out?"
Splintered Trust
The illusions grew bolder.Rina's double sneered. "You'll betray them, you know. Why not admit it now? Save them the pain."
Lys's double whispered of her sister, alive and waiting in one of the towers—if only she would come.
Thalor's double promised that his brothers could be restored, alive and whole, if he just stepped through a certain door.
Maren's goddess-self reappeared, not in fire but in human form, whispering: "Accept me, and you will control your power instead of being consumed by it."
And Carlos's double stepped forward, helmet in hand, saying: "I took it off. You can too. We can go home."
The air grew heavy. The heroes looked at one another, suspicion creeping in. Were the doubles speaking lies? Or did they hold fragments of truth?
Illusions Within Illusions
The courtyard twisted. Suddenly, the heroes saw not doubles, but each other.
Rina looked up—and instead of Carlos at her side, she saw him as the Helm-enslaved version from the nightmare realm, grinning with madness.
Thalor blinked and saw Maren wreathed in uncontrollable fire, about to unleash destruction.
Lys turned and saw Rina slipping a dagger toward her back.
Maren saw Thalor towering above her, his blade raised to strike her down in judgment.
Carlos saw Lys walking away, abandoning them all.
They drew their weapons in fear.
"No—wait—this isn't real!" Carlos shouted, but even he doubted the words.
The Realm of Illusions laughed, its voice layered and echoing:"How will you fight, when you cannot tell enemy from ally?"
Fractured Battle
The courtyard erupted into chaos.Steel clashed against steel, arrows split the air, fire seared across the marble floor.
Carlos barely blocked Thalor's strike, shouting, "It's me!"Rina ducked an arrow from Lys, screaming, "She's trying to kill me!"Maren unleashed a wall of flame, only to see her friends turn into shadows within it.
Every blow landed with hesitation, but every hesitation risked death.
And above them, the sky cracked like glass, fragments raining down, each shard reflecting a different, twisted reality.
Finding the Thread of Truth
In the chaos, Carlos remembered Chronis's words: time itself is watching you still.
What if illusions weren't meant to be fought, but endured?
He dropped his sword."Stop!" he roared, though a blade nicked his side. "We can't win by striking—we win by holding on to each other!"
The Realm hissed. The illusions intensified.Now, dozens of versions of his friends filled the courtyard—some smiling, some screaming, some already dead.
Carlos staggered forward, ignoring the pain, and reached for Lys. She flinched, arrow aimed at his chest.
"Don't you see me?" he begged. "The real me?"
Her bowstring quivered. For a heartbeat, her eyes cleared. She lowered her weapon. "Carlos…"
The spell cracked.
Rina dropped her daggers, gasping. "I… I almost killed you."Thalor raised his shield defensively, then slowly lowered it. "Illusions. All of them."Maren let her flames fade, tears streaking her face. "I thought—I thought you wanted me dead."
The illusions screamed and shattered, breaking apart like mirrors struck by hammers.
The Guardian of Deception
The courtyard dissolved, revealing the true heart of the realm: a throne of broken glass, upon which sat a figure draped in veils of shifting light. Its face changed every second—sometimes Carlos's, sometimes Lys's, sometimes Kael's, sometimes a stranger's.
"I am Mirith," it whispered, voice like silk over a blade. "The Illusion Keeper. You resisted the first veil, but do you dare face the second? Can you trust even yourselves?"
The ground rippled again. The heroes looked at one another, fear in their eyes.
Carlos raised his blade, voice steady despite the tremor in his hands. "We've doubted enough. We'll face your lies together."
The Helm laughed through Mirith, soft and cruel."Together? Or until the moment one of you decides the others are no longer real?"
The throne shattered. The true battle of illusions began.