Evelyn pressed forward, lantern raised, eyes locked on the writhing mass ahead.The Heart's pulse thundered like a drum, reverberating through every inch of the cavern. Every beat sent waves of pain and fear into her mind, but she steadied herself.
The shadow-Evelyn lunged, limbs snapping like broken wood.She sidestepped, letting the creature crash into the walls.The walls shivered violently, rippling under its impact—but Evelyn's calm pulse held steady.
The mirror-Evelyn floated ahead, fog swirling.Her eyes glowed molten white, reflecting every face the Heart had consumed.Evelyn forced herself to look directly at those eyes.Not with fear.But with focus.
The Heart reacted.The cavern trembled.Tendrils of muscle shot out from every wall, every floor, every ceiling.But Evelyn projected her will—calm, steady, unbroken.
The tendrils recoiled.The illusions wavered.The mirror and shadow-Evelyn paused, uncertain.
Evelyn knew the truth:
The Heart could react, but it could not create will.She could bend its flesh.She could manipulate its illusions.She could push it back.
A massive pulse shook the cavern.The Heart's core loomed ahead—a writhing eye, massive, black, surrounded by hundreds of twisting limbs and fused faces.It pulsed faster than ever, reacting to her defiance.
Evelyn took a deep breath.She focused all her fear, all her determination, all her life into one concentrated point:
Strike at the core.
She lunged forward.The Heart lashed out with limbs of muscle and shadow.The floor beneath her quaked.Tendrils grabbed at her arms and legs.Whispers of every memory she had ever buried screamed inside her skull.
She ignored them.She raised the lantern.Its light flared violently, cutting through the mass, illuminating the core of the Heart itself.
The core pulsed faster.It recoiled.For the first time, Evelyn felt it hesitate.
The shadow-Evelyn screeched in frustration.The mirror-Evelyn flared, fog twisting.The consumed faces writhed, screaming silently.
Evelyn gritted her teeth.She forced her pulse steady.She pushed with her will, her mind, her determination.
The Heart faltered.The cavern trembled violently.And then, just slightly, the core shuddered, as if acknowledging her strike.
Evelyn had taken the first step.The Heart had felt her power.And the battle had truly begun.