*Chapter 7 – Mirror of Shadows*
The portal sealed behind them with a soft _click_ like glass in a windless night. Zara stumbled onto the cracked stone path, the shard in her palm humming like a trapped firefly. Kael followed, eyes scanning the horizon where the sky bled from ash‑gray to a bruised violet.
> "We're not alone," he whispered, voice barely louder than the rustle of the sapling's leaves still trembling in their wake.
Ahead, the landscape shifted. Where once there had been rolling hills now lay a shattered plain, dotted with jagged obsidian monoliths that rose like broken teeth. Between them, a faint, silvered mist curled, whispering secrets in a language Zara could almost understand.
"The map," Zara said, pulling the crumpled parchment from Kael's belt. The ink, once crisp, now flickered like a dying candle. "It shows a *Veiled Valley* beyond the ridge. That's where the Mirror of Truth lies."
Kael traced a trembling finger over the parchment, feeling the faint indentation of ancient runes. "And the legend says whoever looks into it sees not their face, but their *true heart*." He glanced at Zara, noticing the faint glow of her leaf‑shaped scar pulsing in rhythm with the shard.
They moved quickly, the ground trembling under each step. A sudden crack split the air; a fissure yawned open, swallowing a cluster of stones with a hollow _boom_. Zara's foot slipped, and she fell toward the gap. Kael lunged, catching her wrist just in time. Their hands touched, and a jolt of amber light surged through both of them, illuminating the fissure's edge.
"Thanks," Zara breathed, heart pounding. "I—"
A low, mournful wail rose from the mist, echoing off the monoliths. It was a sound like a dying wind, carrying with it the faint echo of distant screams.
"The storm…" Kael's voice was low, "it's still alive."
They pressed on, the mist thickening until visibility dropped to arm's length. Shapes moved within it—silhouettes of people, half‑formed, reaching out with hollow hands. Zara's shard vibrated, a steady thump against her chest. The mist parted like a curtain, revealing a shallow basin of crystal‑clear water, its surface rippling despite no wind.
In its center floated a mirror, its frame woven from twisted vines and shards of broken glass. The reflection showed a warped version of the world—mountains floating upside down, rivers flowing upward, and at the edge, a shadow that seemed to watch them.
Eldrin's voice, faint and distant, floated on the wind. "_You have come. The truth lies not in the glass, but in what you bring to it._"
Kael stepped forward, hand trembling. "What do we do?"
Zara inhaled, feeling the shard's pulse sync with her own heartbeat. "We look," she said, and pressed her palm against the mirror.
A flash of blinding light erupted. The world dissolved into a cascade of images:
- *Zara* as a child, clutching a broken amulet, rain pouring over a burning village.
- *Kael* training with his father, sword flashing, his mother's eyes wide with fear.
- *The storm* forming, black clouds swirling around the shattered Heart‑of‑Morrow.
- *Eldrin*, not as a keeper but as a *prisoner*, chained to the very mirror they now faced.
The vision snapped back. Zara gasped, tears streaming down her cheeks. "We… we caused this. The Crown, the shard… it's all linked."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Then we end it. Here and now."
They lifted the shard together, the mirror cracking like ice under pressure. From the fissure, a torrent of black rain surged upward, forming a vortex that threatened to swallow them whole. Zara shouted, the sound tearing through the storm, "*Enough!*"
The shard flared, a burst of pure white light colliding with the darkness. The vortex shattered, splintering into a thousand shards that rained down like glass rain. Each shard hit the ground and dissolved into a spark of pure, golden light, spreading across the plain.
Silence fell. The mist vanished, the monoliths stood still, and the sky, for the first time in ages, showed a sliver of true blue.
Eldrin appeared, no longer a prisoner but whole, his amber eyes soft. "You have broken the cycle," he said, voice resonant. "The Heart will heal, but the path ahead is fraught with choices."
Kael exhaled, feeling the weight lift. "We'll choose wisely."
Zara smiled, the scar on her wrist glowing brighter than ever. "Together."
They turned back toward Kora, the sapling's leaves rustling behind them, each step echoing the promise of a new dawn.