The fissure beneath Aeris's feet split wider, the ground trembling like a beast awakening from a deep slumber. Jagged shards of glassy mirrors tumbled into the abyss below, sending a shower of sparkling fragments that caught the dim violet light of her aura. Her heart pounded fiercely — the pulse of danger thudding through her veins.
She crouched low, planting her hands firmly on the fractured ground. The spectral hand emerged further — long, translucent fingers reaching out with desperate yearning. The air around it shimmered, warping with an eerie glow that chilled the marrow of her bones.
"Don't touch me," Aeris hissed, eyes blazing with defiance.
She summoned her violet flames, a roaring inferno that blazed from her palms, licking toward the spectral limb. The heat warped the air, and the ghostly fingers recoiled like a wounded serpent.
Kael's Fight in the Void
Meanwhile, Kael's lungs burned as he stumbled backward, the oppressive void pressing down like an iron weight. The dark presence loomed, a colossal figure dripping with shadows and malice. Its eyes gleamed like twin red suns, fixating on him with cold, calculating hunger.
Kael's hand instinctively reached into his chest, feeling the steady beat of the Rift's pendant — a glowing shard of crystal pulsing with latent power.
"I won't be consumed," he growled through clenched teeth, gripping the pendant tightly.
He focused, drawing energy from the pendant. A brilliant aura burst around him — golden light rippling outward like waves breaking a storm.
The shadow shrieked, recoiling, but it was relentless.
Aeris's Desperate Leap
Back in the mirror maze, Aeris's eyes darted around, searching for a way out as the fissure continued to gape wide.
With a deep breath, she leapt — a calculated, powerful vault over the crack, violet flames trailing like comet tails.
Her feet landed hard on the other side, breath ragged but determination unbroken. Behind her, the spectral hand thrashed in frustration, unable to reach her.
But then, something froze her blood — the shattered mirrors around her began to pulse with a sinister red glow.
The Rift's Whisper
Kael and Aeris felt it simultaneously — a shiver down their spines, a haunting voice resonating deep in their minds.
"The Rift is not just a prison... it is a living entity. And it will make you pay the price for defiance."
Kael's jaw clenched, sweat beading his forehead.
Aeris's fists balled tighter, her flame flickering dangerously.
Suddenly, the shattered mirrors exploded outward in a violent storm of glass shards, swirling with chaotic energy. Aeris barely shielded her face as the shards cut the air like razor blades.
Among the fragments, a single shard floated closer — reflecting not her face, but a vision of Kael, trapped and sinking deeper into the abyss, eyes wide with terror.
At the same moment, Kael felt the pendant pulse violently, its light dimming — the connection between them weakening.
"No... Aeris!" he cried out, reaching desperately toward the vision in the shards.
The void around him twisted, revealing a horrifying silhouette — a new adversary emerging from the Rift's depths, cloaked in shadows more oppressive than before.