The plain had dissolved into a maelstrom of crimson light and shadow.
Each strike between Liora and her dark double shook the air, sending ripples through reality itself.
The shadow-self fought like a predator, every move a reflection of Liora's own instincts—but sharper, colder, merciless.
"You can't beat me," the double snarled, locking blades with her. "I am you. Every doubt, every fear, every selfish thought you've buried. I'm the part of you Kaelen loved."
"That's a lie!" Liora pushed back, her boots grinding into the shifting ground.
The shadow smiled, a slow, cruel curve.
"Is it? Do you even know why he took the Heart of the Abyss? It wasn't to protect you… it was to escape you."
The words cut deeper than any blade. Images crashed into her mind—Kaelen standing at the edge of the Rift, eyes filled with the same loneliness she had seen the night before he vanished.
The shadow kept speaking, its voice like silk around a dagger.
"He was already leaving, Liora. The Heart just gave him an excuse."
Something inside her wavered. Her grip faltered.
The shadow struck, slicing across her arm—hot blood spilling onto the red sands. Liora fell to one knee, the weight of the truth—or the illusion of it—pressing down.
But then she heard another voice, faint but steady.
> "You don't win by being stronger… you win by choosing who you are."
It was Aric.
Liora looked up at her double and realized the truth: the Abyss wasn't testing her strength. It was testing her choice.
She stood, ignoring the pain, and lowered her blade.
"I'm not killing you."
The shadow froze.
"What?"
"If you're part of me, then I take you with me. Fears, doubts, all of it. I won't cut pieces of myself away to win."
Light—pure and blinding—exploded between them. The shadow screamed, its form unraveling into black smoke that wrapped around Liora's arm and vanished into her skin.
When the light faded, she was standing on the broken bridge again, the Severing Blade warm in her hand.
And Kaelen was there—just ahead—his back turned to her.
> "You came," he said without looking.
---