The Shadow Of past
The Harbinger's laughter coiled through the shrine like smoke, his shadow-blade dripping void essence onto the moss-covered stones. Alex tightened their grip on the starlit dagger, its hilt humming with the priestess's fractured power. Jordan stepped in front of Lila, their sword raised, while the zealots circled like wolves.
"Last chance, child," the Harbinger hissed. "The orb. Or I carve it from your corpse."
Alex's veins burned where the orb's corruption had spread. *"Strike,"* the artifact urged, its voice a feverish rasp. *"He is weak to her light."*
"Don't listen to it!" Lila shouted, her eyes darting to the altar's runes. "The dagger and orb are two halves of the seal—using them together could undo everything!"
The Harbinger lunged. Shadows erupted, swallowing the shrine in darkness. Jordan parried his blade, sparks of enchanted steel clashing against the void. "Alex, *move!*"
---
**The Dagger's Price**
Alex lunged, the starlit dagger blazing. Light tore through the shadows, searing the Harbinger's cloak. He recoiled, his mask cracking to reveal a sliver of scarred flesh beneath.
"You dare wield *her* blade?" he snarled. "You, who know nothing of her sacrifice?"
The dagger's light fused with the orb's glow in Alex's palm, and the world fractured.
*Visions flooded their mind: The priestess, Thal'esha, standing where Alex now stood, her hands bloodied as she carved the seal. The Harbinger—once a man named Kael, her brother—pleading with her to spare Ashkar. "He promised to save our people!" Kael had cried. Thal'esha's tears turned to resolve as she plunged the dagger into her own heart, splitting her soul to forge the seal.*
Alex gasped, staggering. The corruption in their veins writhed, black tendrils creeping toward their heart.
*"You see now,"* the Harbinger—Kael—rasped. "She betrayed us all. Give me the orb, and I will undo her madness."
---
**The Crow's Gambit**
The violet-eyed crow divebombed Kael, talons raking his exposed face. He swatted it away, but the distraction gave Lila time to reach the altar. Her fingers traced the runes. "Jordan! The dagger—it needs to channel the priestess's essence into the shrine!"
Jordan kicked a zealot into the crumbling ziggurat. "Alex, now!"
Alex plunged the dagger into the altar. Light erupted, the orb's energy surging through the runes. The shrine trembled, ancient stone groaning as the seal reignited—a lattice of starlight weaving over the ground.
Kael screamed, his shadow-blade disintegrating. "You fool! You've damned us all!"
---
**The Unraveling**
The ground split. From the fissure rose a specter—a woman of starlight and sorrow. Thal'esha. Her gaze locked with Kael's.
"Brother," she whispered, her voice echoing with centuries of grief. "Ashkar's lies poisoned you. His freedom is extinction."
Kael fell to his knees, his mask shattering. "I only wanted to save you…"
Thal'esha's form flickered, her hand brushing Alex's brow. *"The seal is mended, but the corruption in you remains. To purge it, you must journey to the Heartroot—where my power was born."*
The shrine collapsed. Jordan dragged Alex and Lila into the forest as the ziggurat crumbled, sealing Kael and the zealots within.
---
**The Cost**
At the forest's edge, Alex stared at their reflection in a stagnant pool. The corruption had retreated, but their left eye now shimmered with the orb's gold-and-black haze.
Lila studied the dagger, its light dimmed. "The Heartroot… It's a myth. A tree said to grow where the first stars fell."
Jordan scowled. "More cursed forests. Wonderful."
The crow landed nearby, one wing mangled. It cawed once, its violet eyes softening, before dissolving into stardust.
*"The path is open,"* the orb murmured, quieter now. *"But the Harbinger's master stirs."*
Somewhere deep in the earth, a roar shook the trees—a sound of rage and hunger.
Ashkar was awake.
---
**End of Chapter 14**
**Next**: The race to the Heartroot begins, but the forest itself rebels, twisted by Ashkar's awakening. Alex's corruption resurfaces at the worst moments, and whispers of Kael's survival hint at a darker alliance. The line between savior and destroyer blurs.