448: Echoes of the Twin

Location: Mountain Fortress, Keshmir Province – Eastern Tavara

The cold wind howled through the granite corridors of the mountain fortress, but the man inside felt nothing. Dominus stood bare-chested before a stone altar, deep scars etched across his back like hieroglyphs of war. Shadows clung to his form as if terrified to let go. His eyes, twin embers of void, stared at the mirror before him—not at his reflection, but at the memory of a brother who had everything.

He whispered, "Damien."

The name dripped with venom and longing.

Behind him, a woman entered silently. Clad in obsidian robes, her face veiled, she knelt.

"He knows now," she said. "The scroll has been read. The Scribe lives."

Dominus didn't turn. "Then the flame has awakened."

"Shall I move against him?"

"No," Dominus said. "Let him come. Let him struggle, question, suffer. The more he tries to understand, the closer he comes to breaking."

He turned then, revealing an obsidian pendant glowing faintly against his chest.

"The world has coddled him. Fed him gold and loyalty. But it abandoned me—threw me into pits and called me cursed. I rose without names, without comfort, without mercy."

He paused. "Now, I shall become the mercy that burns. And when I stand before him, I won't offer hatred. I will offer truth."

The woman lowered her head. "And the prophecy?"

"The prophecy was never about a Kane," Dominus said. "It was about us—the two who were one. I am not his enemy. I am his equal. His echo. The final balance."

He walked past her, each footstep heavy with purpose.

"Send word to the Syndicate. Begin the culling. All who serve the Kane Empire without question—must fall. Before we reclaim what is ours, we must break what was theirs."

She nodded. "It will be done."

Dominus paused, staring at the snowy peaks beyond the archway. "He has Nora. That makes him vulnerable."

"And you?" she asked quietly. "Do you feel nothing… for her?"

A flicker of something—regret? Pain?—crossed his face.

"She was the only light I ever touched," he murmured. "And now… I shall extinguish her to make him kneel."

He walked into the storm, cloak rising like black wings behind him.

Far away, in the Sanctum of Echoes, Damien collapsed to his knees, gasping.

Nora rushed to his side.

"What is it?"

He looked up, pale.

"I saw him. In my head. He's coming."

"Your brother?"

Damien shook his head.

"No… He's not just my brother."

He looked into her eyes, haunted.

"He's my mirror."