The air above Lagos burned red. The spiral in the sky pulsed, wider now, as if the city itself was breathing under some giant wound. Every light in the city flickered, and the air carried a hum.... low, deep, a sound felt more than heard.
Taye fell to his knees on the wet ground outside the tunnel, chest heaving. Nnena crouched beside him, her eyes fixed upward. The shadow figure moved slowly above the city, wings stretching out wider than a hundred buildings. Its body was black smoke, but inside it burned a crimson core that pulsed like a heart.
"He's here," Taye said quietly. His voice was heavy with something between fear and acceptance. "The Shadow Lord."
Nnena swallowed hard. "Then… Lagos is finished?"
"No," he said firmly, pushing himself up. "Not yet. But it's the start of war."
The Shadow Lord turned its head toward them, not with flesh, but as if the wind itself had a shape. Its glowing red eyes fixed on Taye. The air shivered. Taye felt the pendant in his pocket heat up sharply.
The shadow spoke without moving its mouth. Its voice rolled like thunder beneath stone.
"Eran… you cannot run. You cannot hide. This world is mine."
A wave of heat rolled toward them, and the ground cracked beneath their boots. Cars overturned, windows shattered. Somewhere in the distance, alarms screamed. People ran in all directions, screaming. Lagos was waking up to war.
Taye grabbed Nnena's arm. "We need to go. Now."
She nodded, but her gaze lingered upward. "Where?"
"The chapel," he said. "It's the oldest ground left. The one place the Shadow Lord can't touch right now."
They ran toward the car. Behind them, the air warped. Buildings trembled. A sound like steel tearing rang out. Somewhere above, the Shadow Lord moved slowly, but with terrible purpose.
Inside the car, Taye gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles whitened. "We have no time. He's not just here… he's coming for the heart of the city."
Nnena's voice was tight. "Then what do we do?"
"We prepare," he said simply.
The chapel wasn't far. As they drove, the streets became chaos. Fires burned in patches. People screamed, some fighting, some running blindly. The air smelled of smoke and something darker. Nnena kept glancing over at him. "How… how do we fight something like that?"
He didn't answer. His eyes were fixed ahead, on a part of the city no one could see but him... the spiral above, the cracks in the air, the darkness spreading.
When they arrived, the chapel was untouched, as if the war outside respected its walls. Taye parked quickly and they ran inside. The air there was still, heavy but different...sacred, cold.
Lira was there, waiting. Her face was pale, her cloak torn. "You're here," she said quietly.
"We need a plan," Taye said without greeting her. "He's risen. He's not just a shadow anymore, he's becoming flesh and storm. And he's building power fast."
Lira's eyes narrowed. "I felt it. The gates are weakening everywhere. If he reaches full form, nothing will stop him."
"Then we stop him before that happens," Taye said. "We need to seal the heart."
Nnena looked confused. "The heart of what?"
"The Heart Gate," Lira said. "The center of all darkness. That's where he's feeding from. That's what he needs to become complete."
Taye nodded. "We destroy it. Or seal it again. But the seal requires all of us.... guardians and light bearers."
Lira looked down. "There are no more of us left. Only fragments."
"And I'm not enough," Taye said softly.
"You are Eran," she said sharply. "And that means you're not alone."
The words hung in the air, heavy. Outside the chapel, the city trembled again. The spiral grew larger, stretching toward the ground, touching buildings, pulling air toward it.
Taye stepped forward. "Then we gather them. We need the fragments. We need the Lightbearers."
Nnena's voice was almost a whisper. "Where do we find them?"
"The old places," Taye said. "The ruins beneath the city. The hidden grounds. The palaces forgotten by time."
Lira's gaze sharpened. "It will be dangerous. The Shadow Lord will guard them."
He looked up toward the red sky. "Danger is what we have now."
They moved quickly. Lira led them through narrow passages beneath the chapel, into tunnels older than Lagos itself. The air was colder here. The walls hummed with power. Symbols glowed faintly under their feet.
"This is the first trial," Lira said. "The path is testing us."
They walked deeper until they reached a vast underground chamber. Statues lined the walls,guardians frozen in stone, their faces twisted in defiance. At the center lay a pool of black water, bubbling with crimson light.
"The first fragment," Lira said. "The piece of the light still here. But it's guarded."
From the shadows, figures moved. Not quite human, not quite beast. Their bodies glistened with black smoke. Their eyes burned red. The Shadowborn.
Taye's hand went to the pendant. "Nnena, with me."
The air filled with a low growl. The Shadowborn lunged.
The battle was brutal. Taye moved with unnatural speed, striking with bursts of light. Nnena fired every shot she had, the bullets glowing as they hit the creatures. Lira moved with grace, chanting words that made the air crackle.
But for every Shadowborn they destroyed, more came. From the walls, from the air, from the water itself.
"This isn't just guarding," Nnena shouted over the noise. "They're feeding him!"
Taye's eyes widened. "Then we have no time." He fought his way to the pool, light bursting from his pendant with every strike. Lira chanted louder, drawing a circle of light on the ground.
He reached into the water, feeling the pulse of power. The fragment burned in his palm. The Shadowborn screamed, a sound that shook the chamber.
"We have it!" Lira shouted.
But before they could move, the water rose, black tendrils wrapping around them. The Shadow Lord's voice echoed...
"You cannot take what is mine."
Taye gritted his teeth, pushing through the tendrils. "We take it for the world."
With a final burst of light, they broke free, running toward the surface. Behind them, the chamber collapsed, swallowed by darkness.
Above ground, Lagos was different. The spiral had grown so wide it covered half the sky. The air was heavy with shadow, and the wind carried voices,whispers calling their names.
Taye looked up at the city. "This is it. The war begins."
Nnena gripped his arm. "Where do we start?"
He looked toward the glowing horizon. "We find the rest of the fragments. We gather the Lightbearers. And we face him."
The Shadow Lord's voice rolled again, carried by the wind...
> "Eran… come home.">
The city trembled, the air broke and the darkness grew.