The taste of the shadows

 (Chapter 35:Mira's Pov) 

 The first thing I noticed was the silence.

Not the quiet hum of the forest or the distant howl of wolves, but an eerie, absolute stillness. No wind. No rustling leaves. Just an unnatural void where the world should have been.

 I wasn't in Caelyn's clearing anymore.

 The air felt thick, pressing against my skin like invisible hands. Shadows stretched unnaturally, shifting and twisting without a source. The scent of something ancient—something wrong—clung to the space around me.

 I tried to move, but my body felt sluggish, like I was wading through water. Panic clawed at my chest. Had I fallen into another vision? Was this the Blood Moon's doing?

 Then, a voice. Low. Familiar.

"You've been here before."

 A figure emerged from the darkness, his form solidifying with every step. The sight of him sent a jolt through me.

Callidus.

 He wasn't watching me with his usual smirk, his air of arrogance. Instead, he looked at me with something almost resembling—recognition.

I took a step back. "No. This isn't real."

 He tilted his head, shadows curling around his frame like smoke. "Isn't it?"

 The world around us rippled. And then—

I wasn't me anymore.

 I was standing in a grand hall, its towering columns cracked with age, its walls covered in carvings of forgotten gods. The scent of burnt incense and blood filled the air.

 I looked down. My hands—pale, elegant fingers adorned with golden rings—were coated in crimson. Blood dripped onto the stone floor, pooling at my feet.

I staggered back, my heart pounding. Whose blood?

 A sharp laugh echoed through the chamber. I turned, and my breath caught.

 Callidus stood beside me—not the Callidus I knew, but one untouched by time. He wore dark robes embroidered with symbols I didn't recognize, his silver eyes burning with something dangerous. And he was looking at me with pride.

 I tried to speak, but another voice—my voice—cut through the air before I could.

"You should have begged."

 I froze. The words had come from my own lips, yet I hadn't spoken them.

 Then I saw her.

Me.

 Dressed in obsidian-black armor, a blade still dripping with fresh blood in my hand. My expression was cold, cruel. There was no hesitation in my gaze—only power.

 A figure lay at my feet, trembling, coughing up blood. A woman with silver markings on her skin, her eyes filled with betrayal.

 A name hovered on the edge of my mind. Selene.

 Not the Selene I had once called a friend, but another. Another lifetime. Another betrayal.

 I stepped forward, but the moment my foot touched the ground, the world shattered like glass.

I was falling.

 I gasped awake, my body lurching forward as I was pulled out of the dream—or vision, or nightmare. My breath came in ragged gasps, sweat clinging to my skin. The world around me was real again. The scent of damp earth, the flickering firelight, Caelyn's sharp gaze locked onto mine.

 "Mira." His voice was steady, but there was tension in it. "What happened?"

 I pressed a trembling hand to my forehead. My pulse thundered in my ears. I had felt it. Lived it. It wasn't just a vision—it was a memory.

 And worse, it was a memory where I stood beside Callidus.

Not as his enemy.

But as his ally.

 I swallowed hard, my throat dry. "They showed me something," I murmured. "The Abyss Order. They wanted me to see… my past."

 Caelyn's expression darkened. "And what did you see?"

 I hesitated. The weight of what I had just experienced pressed against my chest like a vice. I couldn't say it. Couldn't admit it.

 That I had been a villain.

 That I had killed without mercy.

 That I had stood beside the very enemy I was supposed to destroy.

 I forced myself to meet Caelyn's gaze. "I don't know."

 A lie. But one I wasn't ready to let go of.

 Because if what I had seen was true…

 Then my fate wasn't just tied to Callidus.

 I had already chosen him once.