At dawn, mist clung to the valley as Lila, Eron, and some villagers readied for the hike into the Deep Shadowlands. Everyone carried lanterns containing Heartstone coals to protect them from black mists curled at the edge of the valley.
Lila wore a new cloak spun by Elin in a single night, silver runes embroidered upon it that glowed softly, in time with the beat of the pendant against her chest. The cloak was warm, a promise that she would not tread the shadows alone.
"Stay together," Eron instructed the group, his staff aglow with a calm, comforting light. "Beyond the Dark Mire, the shadows move."
They trudged onward beyond the last lantern gate of Auraleaf, where trees grew sparse to charred wood and blotches of still black water. The Dark Mire stretched out before them, a deformed bog of reeds and slow pools of water which reflected the grey sky.
Each step sunk deep, mud pulling at their boots, the air thick with whispers that coiled around them, repeating their fear:
You will fail.
You will be alone.
The light will die.
Lila pressed the pendant against her heart, speaking softly, "Light is born within."
The whispers hissed, falling silent for a moment.
The deeper they descended, the more dense the fog became, with an unnatural faint green light. Shadows worked through it, taking on shapes—twisted wolves with vacant eyes, birds with smoke wings, serpents made of coiling darkness.
"Lanterns up!" Eron called out.
The villagers raised their lanterns, the coals of the Heartstone burning, casting golden circles of light that drove back the shadows. The beasts hissed, receding, but they did not vanish, scowling in the fog. through frozen, expectant eyes.
Lila beheld a massive stone archway ahead of her, half-submerged in sludge, covered with runes that darkly glowed, as if they breathed. This was the Seal of the Ancients.
She moved forward, the pendant weighing heavier, its light entering in unison with thudding runes on the arch. Eyes watering, for a moment she saw things—a massive snake coiled about a crystal, a dark creature with burning white eyes, lanterns floating across a black ocean.
"What is it?" Lila asked, her voice trembling.
Eron reached her, his hand on her shoulder. "It's a vision of what's within here.".
A deafening scream tore through the fog as the shadows churned, taking form in a massive creature—a shadow wraith, half again as large as a man, with claws of dark blades and eyes of glowing coals.
"Defensive circle!" Eron shouted.
The villagers formed up, lanterns outward, as the wraith attacked, its claws tearing at the light shield. The lanterns blazed, their flames sputtering as the darkness strained against them.
The wraith's shriek was a chorus of a thousand voices, twisting in pain and fury. Lila's knees buckled under the pressure, the whispers overwhelming her mind:
You are weak.
You cannot save them.
Let go.
"No," Lila whispered, standing upright, holding the pendant high.
You are the light.
The pendant burst into flame, a pillar of light shooting out, striking the wraith in the chest. The creature screamed, darkness rippling off of its form, vanishing into cloud. It stumbled, reaching out towards the light, but Lila stepped forward, the beam growing brighter.
It released one final scream and disintegrated into a whirlwind of dark cloud, leaving only the silence and the soft light of the lanterns.
The fog cleared, and the Seal base was visible. Under the runes, a circle of stone had an indentation in its center, shaped precisely like the pendant.
Eron stared at Lila, panting. "It can only be opened by its bearer of the light."
Lila gulped, advancing, the pendant warm on her palm. She knelt, putting it into the indentation.
The runes flared, the archway trembling as a hum of deep power reverberated through the air. The stone circle groaned wide, giving onto a spiral staircase that descended into shadow, the air below glittering with ancient power.
"This is the path," Eron breathed, resting a comforting hand upon Lila's shoulder. "To whatever lives in the deep."
Lila looked back over her shoulder at the villagers, their white faces hopeful.
"Stay here and guard the seal," she told them.
She turned once more to the black stairs, the pendant held in her hand, its light steady.
"I will go with you," Eron said, falling into line behind her.
The two of them began down, the lantern's light in front, the darkness whispering up out of the depths below.
But Lila's heart was unshaken.
Light is born within.