"Not all descendants are blessings, some are written to destroy the world."
---
4 Days Before the Second Eclipse,
Kangar, Perlis
The rain fell non-stop. The sky was dark gray, as if the sun was afraid to appear.
Harith sat by the window of his father's house, his hands wrapped in white cloth, but through the slits, black veins could be seen pulsating like living roots.
Aina slept in the corner of the room, half of her body covered in a black shawl.
Every time lightning flashed, the shadow on the wall moved on its own.
---
Harith looked at the chain in his hand.
In the reflection of the metal, he saw his father's face.
"You have begun to change, Harith," the voice echoed softly.
"The blood inside you will not stop calling the underworld."
"If I become like you..."
"You have already become one."
---
Suddenly, the sound of a loud engine came from outside.
White lights illuminated the house, a government spy car.
"Anomaly Control Unit, open the door! We know you're inside!"
Harith stood up quickly, pulling Aina up.
"They're coming."
"You have to run," Aina whispered.
"If they get you, the world will end."
Harith shook his head.
"I'm tired of running."
---
The front door burst open with a small explosion.
A fully armed soldier entered wearing a black visor, the "Shadow Unit" emblem on his chest.
"Target confirmed, capture alive!"
Harith raised his hand, trying to speak
"I'm not the enemy"
But a shot of light bullets hit him.
His body was thrown back, but the bullet didn't penetrate, it melted, absorbed into his skin.
Harith's eyes turned dark silver.
---
"Do you want light?"
"I'll give it to you."
His hand exploded with a white flash, shadow energy mixed with light came out of his body, hitting the wall.
The entire house was lifted from the ground and collapsed in a silent explosion.
The soldiers were thrown into the air, their shadows screaming out of their bodies, as if they were being pulled alive.
---
Everything was silent for a moment.
White smoke filled the area.
In the middle, Harith stood with his eyes glowing faintly, black blood flowing from his nose.
Aina screamed, "Harith, stop! You're going to lose yourself!"
"I can't… I can't…"
Her voice echoed in two layers, half human, half other creatures.
The shadows beneath her feet began to come to life and scream in a language humans couldn't understand.
---
From afar, Tok Halim appeared with his staff.
"You've reached the middle stage, Harith."
"Half of you already belongs to the shadow. The other half belongs to the world."
Harith fell to his knees.
"I… I feel all this in my blood. Like poison."
Tok Halim approached slowly.
"That's why I told you not to fight. The blood of the heir cannot be purified, only controlled."
"But there is a way, with a new agreement."
---
Aina got up, looked at Tok Halim suspiciously.
"What exactly do you want to do?"
Tok Halim smiled, but the smile was empty.
"The original agreement was created by humans to deceive the shadows. But this time… we make an agreement to deceive humans."
He took out a silver ritual knife from his robe and handed it to Harith.
"Your blood is the key to two worlds. If you spill a drop during an eclipse, the door to the underworld can be locked again, but the price is high."
"What price?"
Tok Halim smiled sarcastically.
"You."
---
The rain was getting heavier.
The sky shook, the red moon began to appear half behind the clouds.
Harith looked at the knife for a long time.
Lightning flashed in his eyes, two colors: silver and black.
"If this is the only way…"
Aina pulled her hand away.
"Harith, don't! Tok Halim is not fully human. He is the guardian of the eclipse, a creature that was once human but failed to control his shadow!"
Tok Halim laughed softly.
"Most secrets come from people who fail, Aina."
He drew his staff, and from the ground appeared hundreds of shadow hands gripping their legs.
"The eclipse is almost complete. Choose quickly, Harith...the world or yourself!"
---
Harith looked at Aina.
He held the girl's hand tightly, even though black veins were starting to rise up to his neck.
"If I die, the world is safe. But if I live, the world will be destroyed."
He smiled slowly.
"So I choose the third path, I live... to fight the world."
A huge light exploded from Harith's body, white and black spinning once.
Tok Halim was thrown back, his scream echoing into the sky.
The shadows on the ground disappeared in a flash of red.
---
The sky went silent again.
Aina sat down, looking towards where Harith had stood.
Empty.
Only the silver chain remained on the ground but the shadow beneath it was still moving on its own.
---
"The Second Eclipse has just begun…"