The Echo Marsh

The ground is soaked. A greenish mist floats just above the earth, clinging to the skin like a curse. Kael walks slowly.

The air is heavy, saturated with the scent of death and rotting plants.

The Echo Marsh.

They say those who get lost here don't even realize it.

Because it's not their body that's trapped.

It's their mind.

Kael hears a whisper.

> "Kael… why do you keep going?"

He freezes.

It's his own voice. Exactly the same. But he didn't speak.

The marsh imitates. It reflects. It digs through memories, regrets.

It tries to break.

Figures appear between the twisted trees, their trunks contorted like frozen screams.

Human shapes… or nearly.

Some crawl, others float in the air, their eyes empty, their mouths open, endlessly repeating words Kael himself once spoke.

> "Feelings are nothing but illusion."

> "He deserves to be condemned."

> "I'll destroy them before chaos does."

Kael clenches his fists.

He keeps moving, his jaw tight. He doesn't look left or right.

Then he sees it.

A massive black tree stands at the center of the marsh.

Its trunk is hollow. At its heart, a pool of dark water.

It's not a magical object.

It's a gateway.

But before he can enter… Kael must face his own reflection.

A living double. Armed. Furious.

The fight is brutal.

Every blow he deals, he receives.

Every wound bleeds on both sides.

Very quickly, he understands:

> He can't win by force.

So Kael lowers his sword. He looks his double in the eye.

> "Let me through… since you are me."

The reflection freezes. It starts glitching, like a distorted image.

> "You could've let me pass from the start…"

Kael says.

The reflection answers, a smirk on its lips:

> "I just wanted to play a little.

I'm surprised you didn't notice earlier…

You know exactly what we are.

We cannot be copied without consequences.

Our existence… is a mystery."

Kael says nothing.

His reflection stares back… then slowly nods.

The path opens.

The mirror splits apart.

Kael walks through it.

He emerges on the other side.

But in the marsh, Kael's reflection reappears.

It looks around and murmurs:

> "Spirits of the Marsh… there can't be two."

It forms hand signs, like ancient mudras, from long-forgotten rites.

Then it places a hand on its chest:

> "There must be only one."

And then… the marsh disappears.

Swallowed by the shadows of the void.