The chamber warped.
Metal walls twisted like liquid. Strange runes flickered across the floor—runes Jaden recognized but didn't know why. His heart pounded with a rhythm that wasn't his own pulse anymore.
The Shadow charged.
Jaden raised his burning arm again, but the ember flickered weakly. The earlier burst had drained him, and he could feel the exhaustion spreading through his limbs.
The Shadow spoke again, but this time its voice echoed in multiple tones.
"Your flame remembers its crown."
Jaden swung desperately. His burning blade scraped against the creature's form, tearing another fragment away. Static spilled everywhere, along with a faint whisper of something like memory.
He stumbled backward, light-headed.
Lisa's voice echoed faintly in his mind.
Come back to me.
The ember pulsed.
Something answered it.
A second whisper—darker, deeper.
"Rise."
The Harrowing shook violently.
Overhead, alarms screamed. Metal plates detached from the ceiling and reformed themselves into giant spines pointing inward, as if responding to an intruder.
Not Jaden.
The Shadow.
Jaden gasped. "The dungeon is attacking… it's… protecting me?"
The Shadow hissed sharply.
"Unacceptable."
It lunged, ignoring the collapsing ceiling.
Jaden lifted his arm once more, but the ember sputtered. His strength was nearly gone.
He braced for impact.
But instead—
The ceiling itself descended, striking the Shadow with a metallic hammer blow. The creature was smashed into the floor, its body dissolving into static.
Jaden stared in disbelief.
The Harrowing had intervened.
A voice—his own—whispered through the room again.
"Not this one. Not yet."
Jaden shook his head violently. "Who are you? Why do you sound like me?"
Silence.
Then—
"Remember."
The chamber shattered.
Jaden's body was yanked upward as reality bent around him.
He spun, screamed, reached for anything—
—
He burst into the real world.
Lisa caught him before he hit the floor. She collapsed with him, arms wrapped around his chest like she feared he'd turn to smoke if she let go.
"Jaden! Jaden, breathe!"
He coughed, shaking uncontrollably. His vision blurred. The ember flickered like it was dying.
Kane stepped closer.
"Interesting."
Lisa rounded on him. "You don't get to say that."
Kane ignored her and knelt beside Jaden.
"The Harrowing obeyed you."
Jaden blinked. "It… what…?"
Kane smiled faintly. "Evolution. A dungeon responding to a living anomaly."
Lisa held Jaden tighter. "He's not an anomaly."
"No," Kane said softly. "He is a memory."
Jaden whispered, "I heard a voice."
"Your own," Kane answered.
Lisa flinched.
Jaden's breath trembled. "It said… remember."
Kane lifted Jaden's chin, studying his eyes.
"And you will."
The ember pulsed violently at his words.
Lisa grabbed Kane's hand and shoved it away. "Don't touch him."
Kane didn't fight her. He simply stood.
"It is beginning. Prepare him."
"For what?" Lisa demanded.
Kane paused in the doorway.
"For the first death that matters."