The city above was chaos. Lagos roared under the weight of shadow. Fires burned in pockets, and somewhere, far off, a church bell rang without reason. The air was thick, heavy like stone, and every breath tasted of ash.
Taye, Nnena, and Lira moved through the ruins like ghosts, their boots silent against cracked stone. The fragments they had gathered pulsed softly in Taye's palm, their glow faint but alive.
"They're calling it, the Throne," Lira said quietly, breaking the silence. "The place where the Shadow Lord began. If we want to end this, that is where we go."
"Then we descend," Taye said. His voice carried weight, as if the words themselves were an oath.
Nnena glanced at him. "We're going deep."
"Yes," Lira said. "Deeper than any living soul has gone in centuries."
They approached the ruins beneath the old palace district. Buildings here were skeletal, stripped bare by time and shadow. The air was colder now, and the hum above them was louder, almost alive.
At the center of the ruins, half buried under stone and rubble, was a carved gate. It was massive, covered in runes older than Lagos itself. The air before it shimmered like heat on asphalt.
"This is it," Lira said. "The gate to the Throne."
The runes glowed faint gold when Taye touched them. The fragments pulsed in response, and the ground beneath them trembled.
The gate opened without sound, revealing a tunnel of darkness so deep it swallowed their light.
Nnena swallowed. "This feels wrong."
"It should," Lira said softly. "This is where he began. Where he became what he is now. And it's where we either end him… or lose ourselves."
They stepped inside.
The tunnel was alive with whispers. Not voices, but feelings....hunger, regret, fear. Every step felt heavier, like walking through water. Their own fears began to surface.
Nnena saw her own face in the walls, twisted in pain. Taye saw visions of Lagos falling, of himself kneeling before the Shadow Lord. Lira saw nothing but a black void.
"This is the trial," Lira whispered. "The Throne will test us. It will feed on what we fear most."
They pressed forward, the whispers growing louder. Shapes moved in the dark,not quite human, not quite shadow. They watched from the edges, waiting.
The deeper they went, the more the air burned. At last, they reached a vast hall. At its center stood a throne carved from black stone, pulsing with crimson light. Around it, shadows moved like liquid and sitting on the throne was something that was not human.
A figure robed in smoke, wings folding like storms. Its face was shadow, but the eyes burned crimson. Its voice came without moving lips.
"Eran…" it said. "You have come."
Taye stepped forward. "I came to end you."
The Shadow Lord's laughter was deep, endless. "End me? You cannot end what is eternal. This city is my throne. Its soul is mine. And soon… so will be yours."
The air thickened. Shadows rose from the throne, reaching toward them.
"This is the final trial," Lira said. "We take the fragments, we bind him, or we die trying."
Taye's grip tightened on his pendant. "Then we finish this."
The battle began without warning. Shadows surged like waves, crashing against them. Taye fought with the fragments in hand, their light bursting with each strike. Nnena fired bullets blessed by the fragments, each shot tearing through darkness. Lira chanted, her voice a hammer of power, drawing sigils in the air that glowed with gold.
But for every Shadowborn they destroyed, more came. The Throne pulsed, feeding the shadow tide.
The Shadow Lord rose slowly, wings stretching wide. "You think you can stop me with pieces of light? You cannot kill what is the shadow of life itself."
Taye stepped forward, his voice firm. "We don't need to kill you. We need to bind you."
With a roar, the Shadow Lord lunged, shadow spilling like water. The air became flame and ice at once, and the tunnel shook with the force of their battle.
They fought as one....light, gunfire, and chant against shadow, hunger, and void. Taye moved toward the throne, every step burning the shadows beneath him. Nnena covered him, her bullets lighting the air. Lira's voice became louder, the symbols glowing so bright the darkness shrieked.
At last, Taye reached the Throne. The fragments in his hand blazed, pulling together into a single light that was blinding. He placed it at the base of the Throne.
The air broke.
Light burst from the fragments, tearing through shadow. The Shadow Lord screamed, a sound like the breaking of worlds. The Throne cracked. Shadows dissolved. The spiral above Lagos screamed and began to close.
But the victory came with a cost.
Taye collapsed. Nnena caught him. Lira fell to her knees, chanting until her voice broke. The Throne shattered, leaving only silence and a faint golden light.
The fragments were gone.
They climbed from the depths as the first true dawn broke over Lagos. The city was quiet now. The spiral was gone. The shadows were gone. But the air still smelled of ash.
Nnena helped Taye to his feet. "Is it over?" she asked softly.
Taye looked toward the skyline. The city was waking, but it was scarred. "For now," he said. "But the cost… was more than we know."
Lira looked to the horizon. "The fragments were pieces of him… but also pieces of us. We carry what's left of his power now. And that power will wake again."
Taye stared at the city. Lagos was alive, but wounded. "Then we stay ready."
The wind carried one final whisper, soft but certain...
> "Eran… the light will fade, but the shadow never sleeps.
The city breathed again. But beneath its streets,something stirred
The air above Lagos was still. The fire, the screams, the spiral in the sky, all gone. The city looked the same, but it wasn't. Beneath its calm, something had changed.
Taye woke with Nnena shaking his shoulder. They were lying on the steps of the old chapel. The sun was low, golden, spilling across broken stone.
"You're awake," Nnena said softly. Her voice carried relief, but also worry.
"I… we did it?" Taye asked slowly. His voice was weak. His hand brushed where the pendant had hung, but it was gone. The fragments too.
Lira stood a little away, looking toward the city. Her face was pale, her cloak torn. "It is done," she said quietly. "But nothing truly ends."
Taye sat up, groaning. "What do you mean?"
"The Throne was destroyed," Lira said. "But the Shadow Lord was not. He was bound… scattered. His power is still here. It's in the fragments. And those fragments… they are inside us now."
Nnena frowned. "You mean we carry part of him?"
Lira nodded. "Yes. Every piece we fought for was a piece of his soul. The moment we touched them, we became his echo."
Taye looked at his hands. "Then we're not free?"
"No," Lira said. "We are changed. And he will wake again."
They walked through the ruined city. Lagos was quiet, almost mournful. Shops were abandoned, streets were cracked. Fires still burned in some corners. But no one was screaming anymore. People stared at the sky, unsure if it was a miracle or a curse.
Nnena kept glancing at Taye. "What now?" she asked quietly.
"We rebuild," he said without looking at her. "We protect. And we prepare."
Lira shook her head. "Preparation is not enough. We must be hunters now. Find the other Lightbearers before he does."
Taye frowned. "There are more?"
"Yes," Lira said firmly. "He built more gates. More Throne pieces. And each piece is a fragment of him. If they fall into the wrong hands…" Her voice dropped. "…then Lagos, and all of us, will die."
Nnena looked toward him. "Then we find them?"
Taye nodded. "We find them. Before he wakes fully."
They gathered what they could from the chapel.....scrolls, fragments of runes, weapons blessed by light. Lira guided them toward the oldest part of the city, where ruins lay forgotten beneath centuries of stone.
The deeper they went, the heavier the air became. The walls whispered in silence. Every step felt like walking deeper into memory.
"You feel it?" Nnena asked.
"Yes," Taye said. "It's him, even when broken, he's calling to us."
They reached a wide hall, carved deep underground. Statues of warriors stood in rows. Their eyes were closed, hands clasped over swords of light. The air was still here, but the silence was thick.
"This was once a gathering place," Lira said. "Before the gates. Before the Throne. The first order of Lightbearers stood here."
Taye touched the wall. The runes glowed faintly. "Then we have to rebuild the order."
Lira looked at him, her voice certain. "And that will cost everything."
That night they camped beneath the ruins. A single candle burned between them. The fragments in Taye's hand pulsed softly, as if alive.
Nnena stared at him. "Do you think we can do it? Stop him forever?"
Taye didn't answer right away. His eyes stayed on the glow of the fragments. "I don't know. But I have to try. Lagos deserves that much."
Lira spoke softly. "The Shadow Lord is patient. He waits in echoes. Every time we fight, we give him strength. Every fragment we touch is part of his throne. And every battle we lose feeds him."
"That's…" Nnena began, but stopped.
Taye looked at her. "That's why we cannot fail. Not now."
The fragments pulsed once, softly, like a heartbeat. Then silence returned.
The next day they followed the ruins deeper, guided by the whispers. The passage narrowed. The walls became carved with spirals and symbols, older than any language they knew.
"This is a map," Lira said quietly. "The path to the next gate."
Taye frowned. "Then where does it lead?"
"To a palace," Lira said. "The Palace of Ash. Where the Shadow Lord's power was first made flesh."
The air turned colder. Nnena shivered. "Palace of Ash… sounds like death."
"It will be," Lira said. "But also the place of the first trial."
The tunnel opened into a vast cavern. In the center was a pedestal carved with runes. Atop it lay a shard of light, one of the fragments they had not yet found.
But they were not alone.
From the shadows stepped figures taller than men, their bodies shaped of smoke and stone. The Shadowborn. Their eyes burned red, and they moved without sound.
"This is the first real trial," Lira said softly. "The guardians of the gate."
Taye stepped forward, the fragments glowing in his palm. "Then we fight."
The battle began.
The chamber filled with the sound of steel and shadow. Nnena fired, her bullets striking with light. Lira chanted, the runes glowing bright under her hands. Taye moved with the fragments, each strike tearing shadow away.
But the Shadowborn were many. Every time one fell, two more emerged. The air grew heavier. The ground cracked.
From somewhere deep came the sound of laughter. Soft. Endless.
"They are not just guarding," Nnena shouted. "They are feeding him!"
"We cannot linger," Lira said. "The shard will vanish if we do not take it now."
Taye pushed forward. He struck at the closest guardian. Light exploded, burning through shadow. He reached the pedestal, his hand closing on the shard.
The chamber shuddered. Shadows recoiled. The air was torn with a voice..... the Shadow Lord's.
> "Eran… the pieces are mine. You cannot have them all."
The shadows surged. Taye and his allies fought their way out. The shard burned in his hand.
When they emerged, the city above was darker. The spiral was gone, but the night felt heavier. The wind carried whispers, calling their names.
Lira looked at them. "This is far from over. The throne still stands. And the war has only begun."
Taye held the shard tightly. "Then we go on. We find the rest. We stop him."
Nnena nodded. "Even if it kills us."
The three of them disappeared into the ruins, the city breathing quietly above them.
And somewhere, deep beneath Lagos, the Shadow Lord's throne pulsed in shadow and ash.