Mela's feet hit the ground hard as she stepped onto the shadowy path. The moment her toes brushed the dirt, the trees around her shuddered, their branches whispering as if trying to warn her. The path was narrow, overgrown with tangled vines, and the air felt heavy with the weight of ancient secrets.
Behind her, Eli both versions of him watched in silence. The shadow of Eli called out again, but it was too late. Mela had already made her choice. She had to find a way to save him.
"I'll find a way to bring you back, Eli," she whispered, but the words felt hollow in the thick air.
The deeper she ventured into the forest, the more the light from her lantern seemed to fade, swallowed by the ever-encroaching darkness. Strange sounds echoed around her whispers that made her skin crawl, like the forest itself was alive, watching, judging her every step.
Then, just ahead, the path split into two.
One side led down toward a deep, dark ravine. The other path twisted up toward a set of eerie, glowing stone steps, rising through the trees toward a distant temple at the peak of a hill.
Mela hesitated. Each direction felt like a trap in its own right. But the glowing stone steps felt… important. She had seen a similar symbol etched into the map the symbol of the suncrest. The temple at the top of the hill could hold the key to unlocking the rest of the mystery.
With her heart pounding, she decided. She would climb the steps.
As she began her ascent, the air grew colder, the wind more biting. Strange symbols flickered across the stones as she passed, illuminating her steps. The path felt increasingly strange her legs grew heavier with each step, as though the mountain itself was trying to keep her from reaching the top.
Halfway up, a figure appeared in front of her. Tall, cloaked in black, and holding an ornate staff. Their face was hidden beneath a hood, but there was something deeply familiar about them.
"You've come," the figure said, voice low and echoing. "The Guardian of the Stars awaits."
Mela narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"
The figure stepped closer, raising the staff as the air shimmered with power. "I am the Keeper of Secrets. Your journey has only begun, Lightbearer. And your trust will be tested… again."
Mela's heart skipped a beat. "What do you want from me?"
The Keeper's eyes glowed with a fierce golden light, piercing through the shadows. "Only one thing. You must prove your worth, as all others have before you. And if you fail… you will join the ones who walk in darkness forever."
The ground beneath Mela's feet rumbled, and the world seemed to tilt. Shadows surged around her, swirling like a storm.
Without thinking, Mela pulled the crystal from her pocket the golden half. The moment she held it up, the shadows hesitated, swirling cautiously around the glowing light.
"This is not enough," the Keeper said, voice tinged with both awe and warning. "You must choose. Will you give up what you cherish most in this world to gain what you seek?"
Mela blinked, taken aback. "What are you talking about?"
The Keeper's face was still hidden, but the shadows around them shifted, forming images Eli, smiling, back when he was free. Her memories with him, of their first adventure, of laughter and jokes. They flickered, one by one, like a burning flame.
"Will you sacrifice the light you hold dear for the power to save him?"
Mela's breath caught in her throat. A heavy weight pressed on her chest as the truth began to sink in. The crystal in her hand pulsed with a golden light, but it was not just a tool for power it was a test. A test of what she was willing to lose.
The images of Eli's face blurred in her mind, his smiling face turning into a shadow.
"Do it, Mela," the Keeper urged, the shadows closing in. "Or lose him forever."
The darkness at the foot of the hill began to shift again, like something monstrous was waiting to pounce.