The air in the ruins was still. The city above had gone quiet, but the silence carried a strange weight. Every step they took echoed like a memory that didn't want to fade. Taye walked ahead, the shard in his palm glowing faintly. Its light pulsed with a soft rhythm,like a heartbeat. He didn't know if it was his or something else's.
Behind him, Nnena checked her weapon. The way she moved had changed. Slower, cautious, as if the shadows around them were listening.
Lira stayed behind them both. Her eyes were half closed, her lips moving quietly. She was whispering to the air or maybe to the light itself and for a long time, none of them spoke.
Finally, Nnena broke the silence.
"Why is it colder here?"
Lira didn't open her eyes. "Because the Palace of Ash is waking. The seal is weak again."
Taye stopped walking. He looked at the shard, then at the dark tunnel ahead. "We sealed the Throne," he said slowly. "So why is it still rising?"
"The seal on the Throne is one thing," Lira said softly. "The heart beneath the palace is another. That's where the Shadow Lord first took shape. It's where his name was carved into the city."
"So this isn't over," Nnena muttered.
"It never is," Taye said.
They reached a wide corridor. The walls were made of dark stone, burned black in places. Strange marks shimmered faintly, as if light was trapped inside them.
Nnena touched one of the carvings. "What are these?"
"Names," Lira said quietly. "The first Lightbearers. Those who tried to stop him long before we were born."
Taye ran his hand along the wall. The mark under his fingers felt warm, alive.
"They failed?" he asked.
"Yes," Lira said. "But they left warnings. The darkness below the palace feeds on memory. Every life it takes becomes another whisper."
As she spoke, a faint hum filled the air. The marks on the wall began to glow brighter. The hum grew louder, not threatening, but old. Ancient.
Taye frowned. "It's calling us."
"No," Lira said. "It's testing us."
The ground trembled. Dust fell from the ceiling. Somewhere deep ahead, something shifted.
Nnena raised her gun. "Tell me that's not another gate."
Lira shook her head. "No. It's something worse."
They moved forward carefully. The tunnel opened into a huge chamber, its ceiling lost in darkness. In the center stood a broken throne, half buried in ash. Around it, hundreds of faint lights floated like fireflies.
Taye stepped closer. "What is this place?"
"The Hall of Remnants," Lira said quietly. "Where the lost pieces of his soul drift."
The lights moved when she spoke, like they heard her. Some floated close to Taye, circling him. Their glow made his skin look pale, his eyes faintly gold.
Nnena whispered, "They're drawn to him."
"They remember him," Lira replied.
Taye turned sharply. "What do you mean?"
Lira hesitated. "You touched the shard. It's part of him. You carry his echo now. The shadows will recognize that before they recognize you."
Taye looked down at his hand. The shard pulsed once, faintly. For a moment, he heard a voice,not loud, but cold and familiar.
> You took my light. Now you'll carry my darkness.
He blinked and the voice vanished.
Nnena touched his arm. "You okay?"
"Yeah," he lied.
They set camp by the edge of the chamber. The faint lights drifted around them like lazy ghosts. Lira drew runes into the ash, whispering words that glowed briefly before fading.
"What are you doing?" Nnena asked.
"Keeping us hidden," Lira said. "The longer we stay here, the more it will sense us. The palace is not stone. It's alive."
Taye sat near the broken throne, his eyes on the shard. The glow inside it flickered between white and red. He tried to steady his breath, but every time he blinked, he saw shapes in the ash, faces, eyes, whispers that looked like smoke.
Nnena joined him. "You're quiet," she said.
He gave a small shrug. "I keep hearing things. Voices. It's like the shard is trying to talk to me."
"Then stop listening," she said simply.
He smiled faintly. "I wish it was that easy."
Lira's voice came from behind them. "Don't fight the voice. Understand it. The Shadow Lord doesn't speak without reason. If he's whispering to you, he's afraid of something."
Taye looked up. "Afraid?"
"Yes," Lira said. "Afraid that you'll learn what he once was."
Hours passed. The air grew colder. The faint lights began to fade, one by one, until only the glow from Taye's shard remained.
Lira stood suddenly. "Something's wrong."
Before Taye could ask, the ground cracked open. A stream of black smoke burst upward, twisting like a living thing. It circled the throne once, then took form.
A figure rose from the ash, tall and thin, its eyes burning red.
Nnena aimed instantly. "Not again…"
The figure spoke, its voice deep and echoing.
> "The throne remembers me."
Lira stepped forward. "You're not real. You're an echo."
The figure tilted its head. "And yet, here I stand."
It turned its gaze to Taye. The red glow in its eyes flared.
> "You carry what was mine."
Taye's hand tightened around the shard. "You're not getting it back."
The figure smiled. "You misunderstand. I don't need it back. I need you."
Then it moved.
The battle began in silence...no roar, no warning. Just movement. The shadow struck like smoke and lightning together. Nnena fired, the light from her weapon slicing through the darkness. Lira's runes flared bright, forming shields of gold.
Taye felt the shard heat up in his palm. His veins burned. He swung his arm, and light burst from it not white, not gold, but something in between. The blast tore through the shadow, scattering it.
The figure reformed. "Good," it said calmly. "You are learning."
Taye stepped forward. "Who are you?"
"I am the first," the shadow said. "The one who sat before the throne fell."
Lira's face went pale. "You're the fallen Lightbearer."
The figure bowed its head. "Once. Before the Shadow Lord offered me eternity."
Nnena cursed. "Great. A ghost with bad taste in promises."
The figure smiled. "Call me what you wish. But your friend carries my flame now. And soon, my will."
It lunged again.
Taye blocked with his arm, the shard glowing bright. The impact sent him flying back, crashing into the ground. Pain shot through him, but he didn't let go.
The shard flared once more then broke free from his grip, floating between them. Light and shadow twisted around it, fighting for control.
Lira shouted, "Don't let it merge!"
Taye pushed himself up, reaching for it. The shard pulsed violently, releasing waves of energy. The ground cracked. The broken throne began to rise, its pieces held together by light and ash.
The figure laughed.
> "The throne remembers me, and now it remembers you!"
The air exploded in light.
When the glow faded, the chamber was quiet again. The shadow figure was gone, the throne reduced to dust.
Nnena coughed, brushing ash off her face. "Everyone alive?"
"Barely," Lira muttered. Her cloak was torn, her arm bleeding.
Taye sat against the wall, breathing hard. The shard floated in front of him again, cracked, but still glowing.
Lira looked at it warily. "It's changing."
Taye stared at the light. Inside the crack, something pulsed slowly,not bright, but steady, like a heartbeat.
"I saw something," he said quietly. "When it touched me."
"What did you see?" Nnena asked.
"A city… not Lagos. Older. Covered in fire. And a man on a throne of light. His face looked like mine."
Lira froze. "Then the echo runs deeper than I thought."
"What do you mean?"
"You weren't just chosen," she said. "You're connected. The Shadow Lord… he didn't pick you by chance. You're a part of his history."
Taye looked down, silent.
They left the chamber at dawn. The tunnel behind them was quiet, but the air carried a faint hum, the kind that follows something that refuses to die.
As they reached the surface, the sun broke through the clouds. The city stretched before them, wounded but alive.
Nnena looked around. "We survived again."
"Not for long," Lira said softly. "The shards will keep calling. The next gate will open soon."
Taye looked at the horizon. For the first time, he didn't just see Lagos,he saw what lay beneath it. The layers of history, the buried wars, the secrets sealed in stone.
He clenched his fist around the shard. "Then we move before it does."
Nnena nodded. "And if he speaks again?"
Taye's eyes glowed faintly, a mix of light and shadow. "Then I'll listen… just long enough to find out what he's afraid of."
They walked into the fading light. Behind them, deep in the earth, a faint voice echoed soft, amused, patient.
"Eran… you cannot run from what you are."
And beneath the Palace of Ash, the shadows stirred again.