Chapter 57 — The Shadow of Truth

  The world trembled.

  Darkness fell like a heavy curtain, cloaking everything in silent void. No sound, no movement—only the breath of a deep, ancient force awakened by their presence.

  They stood before it.

  The Warden of the Threshold.

  A being clad in armor of living shadow loomed above them. Its eyes—two icy flames—followed their every step. Blades curved from its shoulders, as if thirsting for battle. Even the wind seemed to fear it, retreating, and the earth cracked beneath its feet.

  "Fall back," Leonel said quickly. "We can’t defeat this thing."

  "Is this a joke?" Stan muttered. "Do we have a Plan B?"

  "Run!" Reyna shouted, raising her staff to create a wall of light.

  Ethan grabbed Stan by the collar and pulled him aside.

  "I was just getting used to this world!" Stan shouted, stumbling.

  They scattered.

  The Warden didn’t move—but then, it vanished.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  "He… disappeared?" Ethan froze.

  "No. He’s here. He became part of the darkness," Reyna whispered, trembling.

  Mirellis felt it too—something was wrong. An unseen force pulled her away from the others. She turned, but saw no one—only mist and swirling shadows.

  "Mirellis?!" Leonel cried.

  But she was gone.

  She had stepped aside, drawn by a thought not her own. The air shimmered, weeping, and silence crushed her ears.

  And then—everything changed.

  ---

  She was in a place beyond time.

  The Void.

  But the void was breathing.

  The darkness wasn’t dead—it was alive. From it rose images, fragments of voices, faces, sounds, and dreams.

  "Mirellis..."

  A whisper passed through her mind. It wasn’t foreign—it was ancient. Painful, yet warm.

  "You are not like them... you are their limit... and their beginning..."

  "Who are you?" she whispered, trembling.

  "We... are you. You are the child of Light and Shadow. You are the thread that binds. You are the anchor."

  And before her appeared the image of a woman—hair like the dawn, eyes filled with sorrow, and behind her a radiant glow.

  The Priestess of Light.

  "Mother?" Mirellis breathed.

  But behind the woman, in the shadow, rose another figure—tall, as if woven from night. His face was hidden, only his eyes visible—crimson, burning like blood. He reached a hand toward Mirellis.

  The Lord of Shadows.

  "No… this can’t be…"

  "But it is," the voice whispered, piercing her soul like a blade.

  The visions danced—battles, blood, explosions of light, plunges into the void. She saw their union. Forbidden. Secret. The birth. The pain. The flight. The wandering. And the spell that buried the truth.

  "You are the fruit of the Void and Hope. You are the Convergence. A Power that cannot be controlled."

  "Why me? Why now?"

  "Because you’ve awakened. And the Warden came not to stop you... but to awaken you."

  Mirellis fell to her knees, clutching her head. The whispers did not cease.

  "Accept... accept what you are... only then can you save those who follow you."

  "I… I don’t want to be... like Him."

  "But you are not Him. You are you."

  And then—a flash.

  ---

  The others huddled behind the ruins of an ancient tower, breathless, covered in dust and fear.

  "We lost her!" Reyna cried in panic.

  "I’ll find her," Leonel said, already rising.

  But the darkness parted on its own. Mirellis emerged, step by step, and behind her pulsed a strange radiance. Black and white at once.

  Her eyes had changed—deeper now, like stars within the void.

  "I know who I am," she said. Her voice trembled—but it was firm.

  "What happened to you?" Ethan asked carefully, stepping closer.

  She looked at him, then at Reyna, Leonel, and Stan. And said:

  "It’s going to be harder than we thought. But I’m ready."