The fragment of the Blood Mirror pulsed faintly in Elena's trembling hand, its jagged surface glinting like it carried a life of its own. The candlelight in the room seemed to bend unnaturally around it, shadows stretching longer, twisting against the walls as if the fragment itself fed on the darkness.
Adrian's sharp gaze never left the shard. He stood close enough that Elena could feel the heat radiating from him, though his voice carried a cool edge. "That's no ordinary relic. It's not just a fragment—it's a key."
Melissa shivered, clutching her shawl tighter around her shoulders. "A key to what?"
Elena swallowed hard, her thoughts racing. Ever since her rebirth, she had felt fragments of memory—pieces of a life that seemed to run parallel with her own. This shard stirred those memories violently, as though unlocking doors she was not yet ready to face. She turned the fragment slightly, watching it catch the dim light.
"It's tied to me," Elena whispered, almost to herself. "I can feel it. This… thing knows my name."
Victoria scoffed, stepping forward with the air of someone who never liked being left out of secrets. Her crimson gown swept across the floor as she moved, her lips curved into a mocking smile. "Everything is always about you, Elena. Always you at the center of some prophecy, some secret power. But are you sure you're not imagining it?"
Loran, who had been studying the walls of the chamber with his meticulous scholar's patience, finally turned. His voice was measured, calm, yet firm enough to cut through the tension. "It's not her imagination. That fragment is alive. Look closer—the markings etched inside. They're not cracks. They're runes."
Everyone leaned in slightly, and indeed, faint glowing patterns snaked across the shard's surface like veins of liquid fire. Adrian's jaw tightened, his hand instinctively brushing the hilt of his blade, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Elena.
"Runes tied to blood," Adrian said grimly. "This is more dangerous than we thought."
A sudden chill filled the room, as though invisible fingers dragged across Elena's spine. The candle nearest to her flickered violently before extinguishing itself. The shadows deepened. And then she heard it. A whisper. Soft, slithering, like silk sliding across bare skin.
"Elena…"
Her breath caught in her throat. She stiffened, eyes darting around the room. Nobody else reacted. Nobody else had heard it. Her knuckles whitened as she clutched the shard tighter, though every instinct screamed to throw it away.
Adrian noticed the shift in her expression instantly. "What is it? What did you hear?"
Elena's lips parted, but words failed. How could she tell him? If she admitted the shard called her name, would they trust her—or turn against her? She glanced at Victoria, who was already watching her with predatory curiosity, and knew silence was the safer choice. For now.
Melissa, sensing Elena's unease, reached for her hand gently. "Maybe we should destroy it," she suggested, her voice tinged with fear. "If it's cursed, why keep it?"
"No." Adrian's voice was iron. "Destroying it blindly could unleash something worse. We need to understand what we're dealing with before making that choice."
Victoria tilted her head, her eyes gleaming with suspicion and ambition. "Or maybe someone already understands, and just isn't telling us." Her gaze locked on Elena with unmistakable accusation.
Elena met her stare, her heart hammering. She wanted to snap back, to defend herself, but the whisper still lingered in her ears, hollow and intimate, as if the shard had imprinted itself onto her soul.
Before another word could be spoken, the floor trembled. Dust rained from the ceiling as a low rumble filled the chamber. The old wooden door behind them creaked open on its own, the sound shrill and eerie. A gust of cold air rushed through, extinguishing half the candles.
Melissa cried out, clinging to Loran's arm.
Adrian drew his sword in a single fluid motion, placing himself instinctively between Elena and the door. The steel glimmered faintly in the shifting light, his stance ready for whatever emerged from the darkness beyond.
And then, footsteps. Slow. Deliberate. Heavy enough that the stone beneath seemed to resonate with each step.
A figure emerged. Cloaked entirely in black, hood drawn low to conceal their face. The very air seemed to warp around them, as though reality itself bent to keep them hidden.
Victoria's confident smirk faltered. "Who… who are you?"
The figure paused just inside the doorway, the faintest rasp of a chuckle escaping from beneath the hood. Their voice, when it came, was layered with echoes—like multiple people speaking at once. "You've awakened it."
The shard in Elena's hand pulsed harder, and she gasped, the heat searing her skin. It almost slipped from her grip.
Adrian stepped forward, sword raised. "Stay back. One more step and—"
The figure lifted a gloved hand, and Adrian's blade suddenly shuddered, vibrating violently as though an unseen force gripped it. He tightened his hold, but his knuckles strained as the invisible power threatened to tear it from him.
Elena's heart pounded. The voice whispered again, only this time louder.
"Elena… complete me."
Her knees buckled, and she nearly fell. Melissa caught her just in time, terror written across her face. "She's burning up!"
Victoria's eyes widened, and for once, her voice carried genuine fear. "The shard—it's choosing her."
The cloaked figure laughed again, the sound echoing like shattered glass. "As it was always meant to be."
Adrian roared, fighting against the force on his blade. With a surge of sheer will, he broke free, lunging forward. The figure did not retreat, merely lifting their other hand. Darkness, thick and suffocating, burst outward like a wave, slamming into all of them. Candles died instantly. The chamber drowned in shadow.
Elena felt herself pulled under, her body trembling, her vision narrowing. In the suffocating black, only the shard glowed—bright, blinding—until it seemed to shatter the very darkness around her.
And in that glow, for the briefest second, she saw another version of herself. A reflection. Her own face staring back, but twisted with cruelty, her lips curved in a smile of triumph.
"You are me," the reflection whispered. "And I am you."
Her scream ripped through the chamber.
When the light cleared, the cloaked figure was gone. The door slammed shut as if nothing had ever entered. But the shard… the shard now lay embedded into Elena's palm, fused with her skin as though it had always belonged there.
Adrian dropped to his knees beside her, gripping her shoulders. His voice was raw with desperation. "Elena! Stay with me! What happened?"
Her chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. She stared at her palm, at the shard glowing faintly beneath her flesh. Her voice broke as she whispered the words she wished weren't true.
"It's inside me now."
Silence hung heavy over the chamber. No one moved. No one spoke. Only the sound of Elena's uneven breathing filled the air.
And then Victoria's voice cut through the stillness, sharp and venomous. "This changes everything. If she is bound to it… she is bound to all of us. Whether we like it or not."
Loran pressed his lips together, his scholar's mind already racing with possibilities. Melissa held Elena tighter, trying to comfort her though her own hands trembled.
Adrian's eyes never left Elena's. His voice was low, steady, carrying both promise and warning.
"Whatever this is, whatever it's done to you—we'll face it together. But Elena…" He paused, his grip tightening. "…don't ever hide the truth from me again."
Elena's heart twisted. She wanted to tell him everything. About the whispers, about the reflection, about the way the shard claimed her. But the memory of that cruel smile, of the twisted version of herself, kept her silent.
For the first time since her rebirth, Elena wasn't sure if she was the hero of this story… or its greatest villain.