Even as the words of the promise Mira made to Aron casually, echoed in Emira’s head, mories from the past began to surface, one after another, overwhelming her until she fell to her knees, gasping for breath.
This was different from the mories Aron had shown her before. Those mories had felt distant-as if she had rely been watching a vision unfold in front of her. Yes, she had felt connected but it had still been empathy for a victim. And nothing more.
But this ti, she was not just watching and pitying. She was living them. She lived each mont of Mira’s life, feeling everything as it happened. She knew not just what she saw but what made Mira choose Aron. Her thoughts and feelings for the three lords, etc. A gentle breeze brushed against her skin, wrapping around her like an unseen presence as if to protect her.
And then She saw the betrayal dealt to both her and Aron, and felt Mira’s anger surge through her- sharp, raw, and far more unforgiving than her own. The hatred rose fast, filling her completely.
Emira shuddered. Then it happened. She felt the blade pierce Mira’s heart-the final, fatal blow. She gasped then and held her own shoulder, as if to stop the blood flowing there. She’d felt the blade piercing through her again.
And with it ca Mira’s fury, her vow burning bright even in death: a promise to take revenge and to free Aron, no matter the cost.
Slowly, as Mira lay dying, the world around Emira faded again, bringing her back to the present abandoned building. For a mont, Emira continued to kneel there, staring at the ground. All her questions had now been answered, but she found herself unable to move.
It was her wolf who whispered softly in her ear, urging her to take the next step. That it was ti to reclaim that part of the soul that she had lost.
Emira rose slowly to her feet. Her body moved as if guided by sothing older than thought. Her steps were unsteady at first, but she did not stop. She walked forward in silence, her gaze unfocused and her breathing shallow.
Yes. It was ti to reclaim the part of the soul that she had lost repeatedly. First as Mira, then as the dead twin from her mother’s womb.
The air grew heavier with every step. Then she saw it.
At the center of the courtyard stood a massive altar.
A single slab of stone, stained beyond recognition. Symbols were carved deep into its surface, worn smooth in so places, jagged in others.
Emira’s chest tightened as she slowly traced the symbols with her eyes. With Mira’s mory now hers, it was not difficult for her to recognize these symbols. Tears slipped from her eyes before she even realized she was crying.
To sacrifice so many Ogas just to be able to keep the Dark master trapped for so many years, they really had been so determined.
Multitudes of Ogas, brought here in chains and fear, their cries swallowed by ritual chants and false devotion. All of them offered up in the na of the Dark Master.
Her knees nearly buckled, but she forced herself to keep standing. This was not just a place of death. It was a place of theft. Sothing precious had been taken here. Over and over again.
Slowly, Emira stepped closer. The closer she ca, the louder it beca. The voices that had been tortured here.
The mont she touched the altar, pain tore through her.
She gasped sharply, her fingers curling against the surface as more screams rushed into her all at once. Cries of terror. Pleas for rcy. It made her stomach twist.
Her grief hardened into sothing else then. Sheer raw anger.
Anger.
At the side of the altar lay the ceremonial blade.
It was long and narrow, its surface dulled with age but carefully preserved. Runes lined its edge, faintly glowing as if they had been waiting. Waiting for her. Emira reached for it.
The mont her fingers closed around the hilt, a sharp pulse ran up her arm. She sucked in a breath, steadying herself. And then, wihout giving herself ti to think, she turned the blade and brought it to her wrist. Soon, her blood dripped onto the altar.
At first, nothing happened.
Then the stone began to glow.
A thin line of gold spread outward from where her blood touched, racing across the surface like veins of fire. The symbols carved into the altar ignited one by one, blazing with blinding light.
Emira raised her arm other to shield her eyes, turning her face away as the light erupted fully. It surged upward in a pillar while shaking the ground beneath her feet.
Slowly, Emira looked down at it and inside there, lay the Inner core of the man she had t yesterday. Aron... Bound in chains, he was covered in blood barely recognisable... Trembling now, she squeezed more blood onto the altar.
"My blood bound you," she said hoarsely. "My blood sealed you away." The altar pulsed beneath her hand.
She clenched her jaw and continued. "I was sacrificed here. So were the others. Our blood and spirit was used to cage you."
A deep crack split the stone. "But now... it is ti for reckoning. It is ti for you to be free..."
Dark clouds rolled in fast, swallowing the light as if it had never existed. The wind rose sharply and the stone shuddered beneath Emira’s hand.
Then it shattered.
A deafening crack split the air as the altar broke apart, chunks of stone collapsing inward. The golden light burst upward one last ti, tearing through the clouds, followed by a deafening sound.
And then, just as everything had started, it disappeared, leaving only Emira standing amidst the shattered stone of the altar, smiling. She looked at the inner core that had now disappeared and smiled. The Dark lord had now been freed of all bonds.
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