Chapter Eight: The Pulse of the New City
The air felt different that night. For the first time since I entered the City of Shadows, I sensed that the wind wasn't made of whispers or distant screams, but of a living pulse—as if the city itself was breathing.
The black smoke that used to loom over the alleys had vanished, replaced by a pale, silent light spreading slowly over the cracked buildings, as though the sun itself was hesitant to appear.
I stood in the middle of the stone square, the place where I last faced Lorasine, but the square was no longer the same.
Its ground was no longer broken, its walls no longer collapsing. The floor had reshaped itself into aligned stone plates glowing faintly, and for the first time, I heard the sound of water flowing through the side channels—clear, pure, unsettling.
There was no shadow watching me anymore.
No hidden voice whispering to me.
But… I did not feel at ease.
The silence carried something else—something heavy—as though the city, after being freed, began revealing what had been buried beneath its ancient layers of darkness… secrets that darkness hadn't just hidden from me, but perhaps protected me from.
I approached one of the walls that had changed shape. What once looked like crude scratches made by human hands had transformed into intricate carvings that wrapped around each other like a map.
I placed my hand on one of the lines, and suddenly a faint light spread beneath my fingers, flowing across the wall.
I did nothing… but the wall responded to me.
As if the city recognized me, or was interacting with me in a new way.
I whispered,
"What have you become now?"
But only the wind in the alleys and the sound of running water answered.
---
I stepped into one of the new passageways that hadn't existed before. The walls were tall, but not frightening. The iron black lanterns no longer hung there; instead, glowing stones were embedded within the walls. They emitted a soft light—enough to see the path, but not enough to reveal everything.
This half-seen, half-hidden state made me feel as though I were entering another phase—neither dark nor bright, but something in between.
I continued walking until I reached a small courtyard behind a cluster of old buildings.
At its center stood a statue I had never seen before. It had never existed in the city. It looked as though it had risen from the ground suddenly, prepared for centuries, but buried under the ruin.
The statue depicted seven people standing in a circle, their heads bowed toward an empty spot in the center—no carving, no stone, only a small hollow that seemed it once held something… something stolen or lost.
I stared at the seven faces.
They felt familiar.
Familiar enough to be terrifying.
I couldn't identify who they were… but something inside me insisted I knew them.
I tried to remember…
but a distant, foggy memory clashed inside my mind.
A violent pulse struck my chest.
The faces of those seven…
resembled the faces of the old council.
The council we had fractured over…
The council that ruled the city before it became the City of Shadows…
The council I had been part of…
I stepped back.
I whispered,
"Were we… seven?"
I couldn't finish the sentence.
I couldn't remember clearly.
It was as if someone had erased those memories—or buried them deeply within me.
---
Suddenly, I heard a sound behind me.
A movement on the stone.
I turned quickly.
A girl stood at the entrance of the passage.
I had never seen her before—not as a shadow, nor as a living person.
She wore a gray coat, her hair long enough to reach her waist, its ends shifting in the breeze despite her stillness.
Her eyes glowed with a strange color—a mix of blue and silver—not human, not shadow.
She said softly,
"You're late."
I stood stunned.
"Who… are you?"
She smiled, but it wasn't a comforting smile.
"I am the one you've been searching for without realizing it.
Let's just say I'm the last of what remained from the city before it changed."
She stepped closer to the statue.
I didn't move. I couldn't.
Something in her presence made the air heavier.
She placed her hand on one of the carved faces and said:
"These… were the Seven Rulers. And you were one of them."
My body froze.
"I… was?"
She nodded steadily.
"Yes. But you weren't just one of them. You are the last one still alive. The others… each hid in the shadows in their own way. Some vanished, and some… became part of the city itself."
She moved closer.
Her steps made no sound, as if she didn't touch the ground.
"You were the one who created the first shadows.
You were the one who shaped the city as it is now.
You were the one who made Lorasine exist—not just from your fear… but from your attempt to save the city from something far greater."
She came within a few steps of me and stared—not at my face, but deeper, like she was measuring my soul.
"The City of Shadows was never a prison.
It was a shield.
A shield from something that would have devoured everything."
I asked in shock,
"From what?"
She pointed to the empty center of the statue's circle.
"From what used to be here.
The missing stone.
The heart of the city."
A tremor ran through my hand.
"The stone… was stolen?"
She shook her head.
"The stone wasn't stolen.
You… took it."
My breath caught.
"What?! Why?"
She answered with steady calm,
"Because you were the only one who knew the truth.
The stone wasn't a stone.
It was power.
Power capable of creating a city—or destroying entire worlds."
My heartbeat grew faster.
"And where did I put it?"
She hesitated… then said:
"You hid it… inside a person."
I stepped back.
"Inside… a person?"
She gave a small smile.
"Yes. You placed it in someone's heart.
And ever since then… the stone has been trying to return to the city.
And the darkness… has been trying to reach it."
I closed my eyes.
Something began to throb inside my chest…
A warmth… a pulse… as if something ancient had begun to awaken.
When I opened my eyes,
she was staring directly at my chest.
And she said with calm certainty:
"The stone… is inside you."
Everything fell apart around me.
The ground seemed to shift.
The city itself paused its breath.
I whispered,
"I… carry the heart of the city?"
She nodded.
"You don't just carry the city.
You are its source.
And more importantly…
you are the target now."
---
A sudden wave of wind burst behind us, like the air exploded out of nothing.
Buildings shook, the glowing wall-stones flickered, dimmed, then returned brighter—yet restless.
For the first time, worry filled her eyes.
"The city has sensed the stone… and it has begun to move. But something else has awakened too."
I asked, my voice trembling,
"Something else?"
"Yes. Something that hid beneath the shadows.
Something that has been waiting for this moment."
Then she turned to me quickly and said:
"Listen to me carefully, Ameen.
The city won't heal on its own.
You are now its core.
If the power inside you moves without control…
the darkness will return.
Not Lorasine…
something far worse."
She stepped forward and grabbed my arm—her touch the first real contact since she appeared.
Her hand was cold as ice.
"We need to reach the Lower Hall… before he does."
I swallowed hard.
"Who… is he?"
She stared into my eyes—silver, unblinking.
"The one who remembers you more than you remember him.
Your former companion…
who became your first enemy.
And who wants the stone…
to return the world to shadows once again."
---
The city shuddered around us.
One of the walls cracked open.
A distant scream echoed from deep within the alleys—not human, not shadow—something far larger, far more dangerous.
She lifted her head and whispered:
"He has awakened."
Then looked back at me.
"And time is running out."