Wandering in the dead forest was the only way to reach the truth. Kaelen watched as the woman with blood like hair landed on the forest floor with the grace of a falling petal.
"You have the scent of a king who has forgotten how to bleed," she said while her pale eyes scanned the purple cracks on Kaelen's face.
She held a staff carved from a white bone that pulsed with a faint and rhythmic hum. Kaelen felt the shadow dragon in his chest coil into a ball of pure instinct as the woman approached him.
"I have not forgotten how to bleed but I have forgotten who is worth bleeding for," Kaelen replied while keeping his hand on his sword.
The woman let out a small smile that did not reach her cold and calculating eyes. She tapped her bone staff on a nearby stone pillar and the gray fog began to swirl into a shape of a giant eye.
"The library of whispers does not open for those who still carry the hope of a mortal man," she warned while the eye stared at Kaelen.
Kaelen felt the weight of the giant eye pressing against his mind as if it were trying to peel away his memories. He saw flashes of his dead brothers and the burning capital dancing in the center of the pupil.
"My hope died at the banquet and only a hunger for justice remains," Kaelen shouted while stepping into the white glare of the eye.
The woman raised her staff and a barrier of red thorns erupted from the dirt to block his path. Kaelen did not stop but instead let the shadows from his blackened arm wrap around the thorns until they withered into dust.
"Your shadow is stronger than I predicted but strength is not the same as wisdom," the woman said with a hint of curiosity.
She waved her hand and the stone pillars began to move like the pieces of a giant and ancient puzzle. Kaelen felt the ground shifting beneath his boots as the dead forest transformed into a labyrinth of stone and bone.
"Tell me your name before I decide to burn this library to the ground," Kaelen demanded while his eyes glowed with violet fire.
The woman tilted her head and her hair began to glow with the intensity of a fresh wound. She looked at Elian who was still hiding in the shadows and gave him a nod of recognition that made the strategist tremble.
"My name is Lyra and I am the one who writes the history that you are trying to change," she revealed.
Lyra pointed toward a large stone gate that was covered in thousands of moving human lips made of gray marble. The lips were moving in a silent and terrifying unison as if they were trying to tell a secret that no one wanted to hear.
"The gate will only open if you can tell a truth that even the abyss does not know," Lyra said while crossing her arms.
Kaelen walked toward the gate of lips and felt the cold breath of the stone hitting his skin. He realized that this was not a test of power but a test of the soul that he no longer believed he possessed.
"I am the man who will kill the sun to save the stars," Kaelen whispered to the stone lips.
The lips stopped moving for a second and then let out a collective scream of laughter that shook the very foundations of the dead forest. The stone gate began to bleed a thick and black liquid that smelled like old paper and iron.
"A king who hates the light is a common story in these halls," Lyra mocked while the gate stayed firmly shut.
Kaelen felt a sudden and sharp pain in his chest as the shadow dragon began to bite into his heart. He fell to his knees and saw his own blood mixing with the black liquid from the stone gate.
"The real truth is that I am terrified of the person I have become," Kaelen confessed with a voice that was barely a whisper.
The laughter stopped instantly and the stone lips began to part with a heavy and grinding sound. A draft of cold air blew out from the library and carried the scent of a thousand forgotten souls.
"Welcome to the library of whispers where every secret has a price," Lyra said while stepping into the darkness of the gate.
Kaelen stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth while looking at the infinite shelves of black books inside. He saw a shadow moving at the end of the first hallway that looked exactly like himself but with wings of white light.
"Is that another illusion or the man I was supposed to be?" Kaelen asked with a trembling hand.
Lyra did not look back but her voice echoed from the depths of the library with a tone of deep pity. She knew that the person at the end of the hall was the one thing Kaelen could never kill.
"That is the hunger of the abyss that you have been carrying since the day you were born," Lyra replied.
The hunger of the abyss was no longer a metaphor but a living monster with his own face.