Leaving the World Crystal did not end its influence.
The deeper they moved through the Crystal Deep, the more Kael felt something tugging at the edges of his mind — not the dragon's voice, not entirely, but echoes layered beneath it. The crystal walls no longer reflected only light. They reflected possibility.
Fragments of motion flickered across the facets: landscapes that shifted when stared at too long, skies that darkened and brightened in the span of a breath. Kael avoided looking directly at them, but it didn't matter.
They were already looking at him.
The path narrowed into a corridor of pure crystal, smooth as glass and tall enough to swallow sound. Their footsteps echoed too clearly, each one repeating itself a heartbeat later, as though the ground was remembering where they had been.
Lira slowed.
"Kael," she said quietly. "Something's wrong."
Before he could answer, the corridor closed behind them.
Not violently. Not with a crash.
The crystal simply slid together, sealing itself without a seam.
Maelor spun, staff raised. "That wasn't there a moment ago."
The air thickened.
Kael felt it first — a pressure behind his eyes, a burning that spread down his spine. His silver flame stirred, then surged, reacting to something unseen. He dropped to one knee, teeth clenched.
"No," he growled under his breath. "Not now."
The corridor stretched.
Or perhaps it was his perception breaking.
The crystal walls darkened, their reflective surfaces clouding over until they became mirrors — flawless, merciless mirrors.
Kael looked up.
And saw himself.
Not as he was now.
Taller. Broader. His eyes burned silver-white, empty of restraint. His scales were not fully formed but burst through his skin in jagged plates, light bleeding from the cracks between them.
Behind that version of him lay a city in ruins.
Towers lay snapped like bones. Streets were rivers of molten stone. The air was thick with ash and falling embers.
Kael staggered back. "This isn't real."
The reflection smiled.
The ground beneath that other Kael's feet split apart, silver fire pouring outward like a flood. People — tiny, distant shapes — ran, screamed, vanished beneath the flame.
Another mirror flared to life.
A kingdom frozen mid-collapse, its sky shattered into fragments as if struck by an invisible hammer. Kael stood at the center again, arms raised, dragon wings unfurled behind him, vast and merciless.
Another mirror.
A battlefield littered with corpses — not demons, not monsters — soldiers in shattered armor, banners torn and burned. Kael walked among them alone.
His chest tightened until breathing hurt.
"Stop," he whispered.
The mirrors multiplied.
Dozens. Hundreds.
In every reflection, the world burned.
In every reflection, he was the cause.
Lira shouted his name.
The sound reached him like it was traveling through water. He felt hands grip his shoulders, shaking him, but his vision refused to release him.
One mirror showed something worse.
Lira stood opposite him, starlight blazing from her Eclipse Heart, tears carving paths down her face as she raised her hand — not in fear, but in resolve.
The silver flame surged.
Kael screamed.
The corridor exploded with light.
A shockwave tore outward, crystal walls fracturing as silver fire burst from Kael's body in a violent arc. The mirrors shattered into dust, their visions dissolving into nothingness.
Kael collapsed forward, palms slamming into the ground.
Silence followed.
The crystal walls slowly repaired themselves, cracks sealing as though they had never existed.
Maelor stood rigid, eyes wide.
Lira knelt in front of Kael, gripping his face with both hands. "Kael. Look at me. You're here. You're here."
His breathing was ragged. His hands trembled violently.
"I saw it," he said hoarsely. "All of it. Cities. Kingdoms. People… I destroyed them."
Maelor approached cautiously. "Visions," he said, but his voice lacked certainty. "This realm shows truths, yes, but also fears."
"That wasn't fear," Kael snapped, lifting his head. His eyes still glowed faintly silver. "It felt… remembered."
Lira didn't pull away.
Instead, she straightened and placed herself between Kael and the corridor ahead, jaw set.
"Then listen to me," she said, voice steady despite the tremor in her hands. "Whatever you saw — whatever might happen — it hasn't happened yet. And it won't. Not while I'm standing."
Maelor studied her, something unreadable passing through his gaze.
Kael closed his eyes, forcing the dragon back down, forcing the fire to quiet.
Slowly, the trembling stopped.
When he opened his eyes again, the silver glow had faded.
The path ahead reopened, crystal parting once more as if nothing had occurred.
But the weight remained.
As they walked on, Kael felt it settle into him — not panic, not despair — but resolve sharpened by terror.
The Crystal Deep had not shown him an enemy.
It had shown him himself.
And somewhere deep beneath the dragon's voice, beneath the silver flame, a single thought echoed with chilling clarity:
If he lost control even once…The world would pay the price.