Thorns of the Mind

Ashren

He ran.

Through himself.

The corridors of his own soul twisted like bone and ash, walls shifting with memory and fear. Behind him, the thing in his shape followed, laughing—wearing his smile like a mask peeled off a corpse.

"You can't run from what you are," it purred.

Ashren turned.

"I'm not you."

"No," the shadow said, stepping closer, "you're weaker."

It lunged.

Ashren raised his hands—and the air exploded.

---

Selene

The sky above the Pillars turned black.

She felt it in her chest—a cord snapping between them, a bond unraveling.

"Ashren," she whispered.

Kael caught her as she staggered. "What is it?"

"He's fading."

Without waiting, Selene gripped the divine blade the gods had given her—a blade not meant for war, but for severing ties with the divine.

"I need to reach him," she said.

Liora blinked. "He's inside himself."

"I know."

And without another word, Selene plunged the blade into her own heart—not to kill, but to fall into him.

---

Ashren – Mindscape

Ashren struck the shadow again and again—but every wound he gave it, he felt too. Pain ricocheted through his bones.

"You're killing yourself," the shadow mocked. "That's all you've ever known how to do."

Ashren dropped to one knee.

"I don't want to be this."

"What else can you be?" it said. "You were made for this. A vessel. A weapon. You are the Queen's final curse."

Ashren shook his head, blood in his mouth.

"No. I am my mother's choice."

---

Selene – Entering the Mind

She fell through fire.

Through memory.

Through every scream she'd ever silenced, every night she'd wished she'd died before her son was ever born into this cursed line.

Then—light.

She hit the ground hard, sand coughing up beneath her, the mental world stretching like a ruin.

"Ashren!"

He turned—bloody, broken, and barely himself.

His voice cracked. "Mother?"

The shadow froze.

Selene rose.

"You don't get to have him," she said to the thing wearing her son's face. "He chose me."

The shadow hissed, splitting open like a wound.

Selene drew her sword—not steel, but soul, gifted by gods who feared her fury.

"Come and bleed for him."

---

The Queen

Far away, the Queen felt the magic recoil.

"She's gone inside the boy," the war priest said, almost reverently.

The Queen's expression soured.

"She's trying to tear the curse from him."

The priest bowed. "Shall I stop her?"

"No," the Queen whispered. "Let her. If she survives it… she'll never be whole again."

---

Final Scene – Ashren's Choice

Selene and the shadow clashed, mother and monster locked in a storm of fire and sorrow. Blood soaked the sands of the boy's soul.

And as they fought, Ashren stepped forward—his eyes glowing, his hands clenched.

"I am not a vessel."

He reached toward both.

"I am my own name."

With a roar, light burst from his chest—blinding, final, holy.

And the shadow screamed as it burned.