The cavern air thickened as the Devourer fragment's violet eyes flared brighter. Shadows peeled from its form like smoke, coiling into the air and hardening into razor-edged mirrors each one reflecting distorted versions of Elara and Thorne.
The first mirror showed Elara alone in the throne room, years older, hair streaked gray, eyes hollow. The Final Node crystal behind her flickered weakly, gold dimming to ash. She reached for Thorne's empty seat beside her fingers closing on nothing.
He left you, the fragment whispered. When the curse became too heavy, when the fire turned inward. He chose oblivion over watching you fade.
Elara's breath hitched. The resonance trembled Thorne's steady heartbeat stuttering for a fraction of a second.
The second mirror turned on him: Thorne in full draconic rage, wings tattered, scales cracked and bleeding black. He stood over a ruined Veilhold, flames consuming everything gardens, halls, people. Elara's body lay at his feet, lifeless, crown mark dark and cold.
You will destroy her, the fragment purred. Just as you destroyed your kin. The curse never sleeps. It only waits.
Thorne growled low scales rippling, curse-flame licking along his arms. But his grip on Elara's hand tightened, anchoring them both.
The mirrors multiplied dozens now, circling them like a cage of glass and lies. Each reflection twisted deeper: Elara abandoning the Binding to save Thorne, Thorne sacrificing himself so she could live, Veilhold falling because they hesitated, because they loved too fiercely.
The fragment stepped closer ice cracking under its weight.
See the truth, it said. Your bond is your weakness. Sever it. Let one live free. Or both die screaming.
Elara closed her eyes. The visions pressed harder pain blooming behind her lids, memories warped and replayed in cruel loops.
But through it all, the resonance held.
She felt Thorne not the mirror version, not the monster the fragment painted. The real him: the heat of his skin, the rhythm of his pulse, the quiet certainty that had carried them through ash and fire and broken thrones.
She opened her eyes.
"Enough," she said.
Golden light erupted from her wrist crown mark blazing. The Eternal Resonance surged, flooding the cavern in warm, unyielding gold. The mirrors cracked one by one reflections shattering like ice under hammer blows.
Thorne moved with her curse-flame roaring up to meet her light. Black and gold intertwined, forming a blazing helix that lashed toward the fragment.
The creature recoiled violet eyes widening.
You cannot
"We already did," Thorne snarled.
Elara channeled Sovereign Pyre through the link golden chains snapping forward, wrapping the spire of black ice. Thorne poured his full curse-flame into the chains fire burning hotter, blacker, turning the gold molten.
The fragment shrieked form convulsing as the chains tightened around its core. Violet light pulsed wildly, trying to break free.
Elara stepped forward hand outstretched.
"You learned our fears," she said. "But you forgot something."
The fragment hissed. What?
"We chose each other long before you existed," she answered. "Fear doesn't break what was forged in it."
With a final surge, the helix pierced the core.
The spire shattered ice exploding outward in a deafening crack. The fragment's form unraveled shadows screaming, violet light winking out. What remained collapsed into a single, small shard of dark crystal, pulsing weakly on the cavern floor.
Silence fell broken only by their ragged breathing.
Elara knelt, picking up the shard. It was cold, lifeless now its hunger spent.
Thorne dropped to one knee beside her wings drooping from exertion. Sweat beaded on his brow despite the chill.
"You okay?" she asked, voice soft.
He managed a tired smirk. "Asks the woman who just stared down a god-fragment's mind games."
She leaned her forehead against his. "We're still here."
"Still here," he echoed.
The resonance settled warm, steady, stronger than before.
A new notification chimed in Elara's HUD:
[Devourer Fragment (First Whisper) – Neutralized][Eternal Resonance Upgraded: Mental Fortitude +25%. Visions of doubt now trigger counter-clarity instead of severance.][New Passive: Echo Echo – Absorbed fragments grant temporary insight into remaining Devourer locations. Current count: 1/7 detected.]
Elara exhaled. "There are more. Six others. Scattered."
Thorne rose, offering her his hand. "Then we hunt them all."
She took it standing with him.
Outside the cavern, the blizzard had eased. Snow fell softly now, covering the silent village in a gentle shroud.
They stepped back into the light.
The first fragment was gone.
But the war the true war was only beginning.
[End of Chapter 3 – Volume 2]