At dawn, Lila and Eron left Auraleaf, the villagers in grim silence, lanterns extinguishing in the light of morning like dying stars. Elin brushed a final time Lila's cheek.
"Don't forget," she whispered, "light is born within, not around you."
The road to Morgana's tower led through the Shadowlands, an empty stretch of dark forest and broken stone plateaus where the witch's agents galloped free. Black fog rolled over the ground, curling around Lila's ankles like cold fingers.
Eron led them, his staff lighting softly, pushing the fog aside just so that they could pass.
And as they walked, the whispers closed around them—her mother's voice calling, her grandmother's gurgle of laughter, her own shrieking with fear. Lila pressed the pendant against her heart, its warmth anchoring her to the world.
"They drink fear," Eron breathed, not looking back. "Don't listen.".
But the farther they went, the louder the whispers swelled. They reached a bridge of shattered black stone across a river of shadowy water, where shifting shadows rested under the waves, eyes blinking open like lanterns in the dark.
Halfway across, a monster leaped out of the water, black scales flashing, jaws snapping, pulling itself onto the bridge on clawed hands. Another emerged, then another, closing around them.
Lila's heart pounded. The pendant burned in her hand as Eron stepped in front of her, staff raised.
"Lila, focus on the light,"
The creatures hissed, forming a tighter group. One charged, jaws wide, but Eron struck downward with his staff, unleashing a wave of golden light that drove it back, the light burning the darkness like fire burning paper.
But there were too many.
Lila closed her eyes, cradling the pendant, mumbling to herself:
Light is born within.
She opened them, and the pendant flared into light, hot and golden, a spot of light that spread out. The shadows screamed as the light lapped over them, devouring their shapes and leaving ash that the wind swept away.
Silence again, the whispers stopped.
Eron let his staff fall, gasping. "You did it."
Lila nodded, shivering. "We have to move on."
As they rode on, the ground grew colder, the air thicker, the ground littered with bones of long-forgotten beasts. Lightning raged in a black sky as they approached Morgana's tower—a towering, spiraling stone fortress of black, with a moat of dark mist.
The tower pulsed with a green, sickly glow, tendrils of power rising up its walls to the heavens.
At the entrance lay a gigantic iron gate swinging shut, patterns of shadows cut into its face.
"This is where you proceed on your own," Eron said softly, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Behind this gate, only you can pass. The pendant will take you into the Heartstone chamber, but you'll have to face Morgana alone."
Lila swallowed hard, terror rising up like bile, but she met Eron's obstinate gaze.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He grinned, a creased but triumphant grin. "You carry the hope of two worlds."
Lila moved forward, pendant held high. It flared once, then a second time, and the letters on the iron gate blazed with flame before the doors groaned open.
A gust of icy air hit her as she stepped inside.
Inside, the air was thick with the smell of old stone and smoke. The spiral staircase rose up into obscurity, lined only by flickering green torches. Doubts danced along the walls, shadowy children following behind her, whispering doubts.
At the top, a wide circular room unfolded, the Heartstone floating in the center, a crystal as large as Lila, glowing softly with a white light that beat like a heartbeat.
And beside it stood Morgana.
The witch's robes were as black as night, her hair a writhing shadow, her eyes green fires burning like twin torches.
"So, the child has the temerity to stand before me," Morgana spat, her smile cold and cruel on her lips. "Think your light will defeat me?"
Lila pulled out the pendant, its light blazing. "I won't let you hurt anyone again."
Morgana's laughter vibrated through the walls. "You are nothing, child.".
The witch raised her arms, darkness swirling about her, forming shadow serpents that attacked Lila. She dodged, rolling out onto the floor, the shadows passing by her inches from her skin.
She reached the Heartstone, putting the pendant against it. The crystal flared, the light mingling with the pendant's radiance, but Morgana screamed, sending a wave of darkness crashing down that sent Lila slamming into the wall.
Agony ran through her, yet she held onto the pendant.
"You can't defeat me," Morgana roared, shadows creeping around her, coalescing into a bestial thing with clawed hands and burning eyes. "Your terror will feed me!"
Lila struggled to get up, the pendant flashing weakly in her hand. She closed her eyes, remembering Auraleaf, the lanterns, Eron's words.
Light is born within.
She stood, pendant held high, savoring every moment of courage she had found since coming to this world. The light of the pendant increased, more brilliant and brilliant, until it was a blazing sun in darkness.
Morgana screamed, the shadows writhing, shredding at the light, but it consumed them, unraveling the darkness like smoke on the wind.
The Heartstone absorbed the light, glowing to a rhythmic throb, emitting a wave of warmth that washed over the room, dispelling the shadows.
Morgana reached for Lila, her eyes brimming over with fear for the first time, before she was gone into one final scream of rage, leaving emptiness behind.
Darkness was wiped away.
The Heartstone throbbed gently, peaceful, the pendant's light mingling with it until both lay still.
Lila fell to her knees, rivers of tears streaming down her face—not of fear, but relief.
It was over.