The ash bridge shifted under his boots, every step sinking like he was walking on the ghost of a road. Riven cursed under his breath, gripping the rope rail that wasn't there. It crumbled like smoke each time he reached for it.
"Great," he muttered. "Walking on dead campfires. What's next, clouds?"
The shadow followed him, step for step. It wore his grin too wide, teeth like nails. When he slowed, it whispered in his ear: "Without them, you fall. Alone, you sink."
Riven barked a laugh. It cracked, but he pushed it through. "Alone's cheaper rent. Don't need Kael's broody compass or Seren's death notes to cross a bridge." He squeezed the knot at his wrist. A memory bloomed messy and worthless — a tavern where someone had bet him to drink spoiled ale. He had, and puked on their boots. The shadow flinched.
The ash hissed, scattering. Riven grinned, teeth clenched. "Yeah. Choke on that."
Halfway across, the bridge shuddered. The ash below rose, twisting into shapes. Not just one shadow now. Three. Each taller, sharper, built from his own outline stretched wrong. They circled, steps silent, waiting for him to falter.
The system whispered cold:
[Shadow Pit: Stage Two] Burden escalated. Clones = reflection of your fear of replacement. Condition: Hold the bridge, or drown in ash.
Riven's grip on his sword tightened. "Figures." He swung at the first shape. The blade cut through smoke, scattering it. But the ash reformed, grinning wider.
"Shit." He spat, backing up. His heel slipped, ash crumbling beneath. The pit yawned black.
He thought of Kael, steady even when silence broke his throat. He thought of Seren, scribbling rules so the world didn't eat them whole. They weren't here. It was just him.
The shadows closed in.
He barked a laugh again, loud, raw, ugly. "Fine! Replace me! Be funnier! I dare you!" He stabbed the knot at his wrist, dragging up another worthless scrap. A goat sneezing in his face. The tavern dare. The spoiled ale. Stupid things. Ash filled with stupid.
The clones faltered. One cracked down the middle, dust spilling.
The bridge trembled. He forced himself forward, step by step, every joke he ever told replaying in his head — the bad ones, the crude ones, the ones that had made people laugh even when they wanted to cry. He shoved them out like torches, feeding the ash until it recoiled.
By the far edge, the bridge almost gave. He leapt, rolling onto stone. The shadows hissed, dissolved, and sank back into the pit.
The system whispered:
[Stage Two Passed] Burden carried forward. Reward: +2 Tokens. Note: Shadow clings deeper.
He looked at his arm. Darkness stained it up to the elbow now, pulsing faint. His grin came back, tired but sharp. "Hmph. Stylish."
Vess waited by the seam, her crooked smile steady. "You bleed shadow, boy. But you didn't fall."
Riven spat, wiped sweat from his brow. "Falling's boring. I've got stew to buy."
The gong rolled deep through the pit.
BOOOONG.
The ash bridge behind him crumbled into dust, gone like it had never been.