Chapter 14: The Canyon of Echoes

(865 Words)

The wind howled low through the canyon like a warning.

Stormrise Divide loomed ahead—no mere gap in the land, but a gash carved by magic and time. Jagged walls of dark stone rose like broken teeth on either side of the trio as they stood at its threshold. Mist clung to the canyon's base in restless swirls, glowing faintly blue under the twilight sky. A thin shimmer of energy pulsed across the entrance—barely perceptible, but unmistakably wrong.

Blaze tightened her grip on her staff, her flame-colored eyes flicking back and forth. "We're really going in there?"

Elen nodded solemnly, her expression unreadable. "The next star is trapped somewhere inside. If we're to gather them all, we can't turn back now."

Nyari stepped forward without hesitation. Her white hair and striped black streaks flowed gently behind her in the wind, and her glowing golden eyes were sharp, alert. Her feline tail curled downward as if sensing the weight of the place.

"Something's waiting for me," she murmured, ears twitching. "I can feel it. Not just the star… something familiar."

Blaze glanced to her. "You mean someone?"

Nyari didn't answer. She stepped through the shimmer.

The moment her boot touched the canyon floor, reality shifted.

The air grew thick—not heavy, but dense. It pressed against her skin like memory. Time stuttered with every step. Behind her, Blaze and Elen followed, their forms slightly lagged, as if trailing echoes of themselves.

"What… is this?" Blaze whispered.

"It's fragmented," Elen said, gripping the hilt of her glaive. "The ley lines here are severed, unstable. Magic flows sideways, memory loops, events rewrite themselves."

"Sounds fun," Nyari muttered, and then froze.

A voice—soft, trembling—echoed through the canyon like a song half-remembered.

"I wasn't enough… was I?"

Nyari turned slowly.

A figure stood at the edge of the mist. She was smaller—maybe younger by a year or two. Same white tiger-striped hair. Same golden eyes, but duller. Shoulders hunched. Her outfit was ragged and plain, barely holding together. There was no confidence in her stance. No spark in her gaze.

It was Nyari.

No… it was a memory of Nyari.

Her past self.

Blaze gasped. "Is that—?"

Nyari nodded once, staring at the echo.

The specter stepped forward. Its movements jittered like broken film. Each step left behind a flickering afterimage that faded a heartbeat too late. Her voice, when it came, was hollowed by pain.

"You left me behind… you became something else."

Nyari took a slow step toward her echo. "I had to. I died. I woke up in this world without anything. I didn't even remember who I was at first."

"But you do now."

The canyon shuddered. Stones cracked. A rip of magic tore through the mist like a scream.

Nyari's past self charged.

She moved with Nyari's own speed—blinding, ghostlike. Nyari barely dodged the first strike, flipping backward and sliding across the rock. Her claws formed in a flicker of magic across her knuckles.

Blaze raised her staff, but Elen held her back. "No. This is her fight."

The two tiger-girls clashed in a blur of silver and shadow.

Each strike was mirrored.

Every dodge anticipated.

Nyari grunted as a claw raked across her arm—not deep, but sharp. Her echo hissed.

"You forgot me. You replaced me."

Nyari bared her teeth. "I evolved. I survived. You're just pain. You're the fear I buried!"

"Then why am I still here?" the echo screamed.

Magic pulsed from the canyon walls, flaring like lightning trapped in stone. Mist twisted into spirals. Time jittered.

Nyari leapt, spinning mid-air, and slammed a glowing palm to the ground—activating a glyph carved into her aura. A radiant pulse spread out like a ring.

The echo was forced back, stumbling. Her image flickered.

"You don't deserve this body. You don't deserve joy."

Nyari stood slowly, blood on her cheek, shoulders heaving. She looked into her own haunted eyes.

"No," she said. "But I'm going to earn it."

She stepped forward, claws retracting, and lowered her stance.

"I know you're scared. I was too. I am too. But I'm not letting fear hold me back anymore."

The echo trembled.

"I didn't forget you," Nyari whispered. "You're a part of me. But I'm not letting you drive anymore."

She walked into her echo.

The two forms shimmered.

And then merged.

A new glyph appeared on her chest—this one shaped like a cracked mirror bound with gold lines and a tiger's eye in the center.

Nyari collapsed to her knees, panting. The glyph pulsed once, then vanished into her skin.

Blaze rushed to her side. "Nyari! Are you okay?"

"I…" Nyari looked up, tears falling. "Yeah. I think I just forgave myself."

The canyon settled. Mist faded. A warm light broke through the clouds above.

From the heart of the canyon, a small star-shaped crystal floated into the air and hovered before Nyari.

She reached up and touched it.

The next Star was hers.

To be continued in Chapter 15: "Nightwatchers"

(A scouting mission near the capital reveals eerie disappearances. As Nyari's team investigates, they learn the truth about an ancient order of assassins who claim to be hunting gods—and they want Nyari to join them.)