Night fell early.
Clouds smothered the moon, and the wind carried a strange metallic scent as Kael, Aria, and Riven approached the crumbling ruins of Sel'Nar—a forgotten sanctuary said to predate even angelic history.
Vines strangled broken pillars.
Ancient stone lions stared blindly into the dark.
Something in the air felt… awake.
Kael's Eclipse eye pulsed once, like a heartbeat.
Aria stepped closer to him.
ARIA:
"You're sure this place can help?"
KAEL:
"No.
But it's the only thing that might."
---
I. THE DOOR OF THE FIRST MIND
The entrance was a massive circular door covered in spiraling glyphs. Riven pressed his fingers to the stone.
RIVEN:
"This isn't a lock.
It's… a warning."
Before Kael could ask, the door clicked and rolled open on its own.
A blast of freezing air spilled out—air that smelled like memory dust and old dreams.
Aria shivered.
Kael did not.
His inner voice had gone ominously quiet.
Too quiet.
---
II. THE HALL OF ECHOES
Inside, torches lit themselves with blue fire, one by one.
The walls reflected not their bodies—
but their fears, morphing, whispering.
Aria heard her own voice crying.
Riven saw himself drowning in shadows of his past hunts.
Kael saw nothing.
Because the Eclipse didn't fear anything.
And that absence felt worse than any nightmare.
---
III. THE MIRROR OF SEL'NAR
At the center of the ruin stood the ancient object they sought:
A mirror of obsidian glass, ten feet tall, suspended by invisible threads of energy.
The surface rippled like black water.
Kael felt something stir behind his eye.
ECLIPSE (whispering):
"Finally… I've been waiting to meet you properly."
Kael's breath froze in his chest.
Aria grabbed his arm.
Her voice shook.
ARIA:
"Kael… maybe we shouldn't—"
KAEL:
"If I don't do this now…
I may never wake up again."
He stepped toward the mirror.
The floor vibrated.
The torches flickered.
His reflection changed—
the Eclipse eye widening into a full black sun consuming half his face.
Then the mirror burst open, pulling him inside.
---
IV. KAEL'S INNER WORLD
He landed not on stone—
but on the surface of a massive black lake that behaved like glass.
Above him, an eclipse hung in the sky, pulsing like a living wound.
And standing across the lake…
…was him.
Or rather, a version of him twisted with living shadow.
A smile carved into its face.
Black flame curling around its arm.
ECLIPSE-KAEL:
"Finally.
You and I meet face to face."
Kael summoned the Starflare Spear.
Its light barely pushed back the darkness.
KAEL:
"You want my body?
You'll have to kill me for it."
The Eclipse laughed, a sound like cracking bones.
ECLIPSE-KAEL:
"Oh Kael…
I don't want to kill you."
It stepped closer, eyes glowing like black fire.
ECLIPSE-KAEL:
"I want to become you."
The lake shattered beneath Kael's feet.
And the battle for his soul began.