Golden odyssey

The silence in the ruins was oppressive. Only the residual crackles of energy in the air testified to what had just occurred. An invisible wave still hovered around them, as if the echo of the battle refused to completely fade away.

Eryndal still stared at his palm. The red mark, so burning just moments ago, was now nothing more than a pale scar. Yet, it seemed to sink into his flesh, like a permanent warning. It was not just a physical wound. Something within him had changed. A part of his being had been torn away… or replaced.

Darek placed a hand on his shoulder, his scrutinizing gaze attempting to fathom what he was feeling.

— Is it over? he asked in a deep voice.

Eryndal wanted to answer "yes." But he knew that was a lie.

— No.

The word echoed in the empty space around them. Like a verdict that came from nowhere.

He raised his head, looking around. The hooded man was gone, but the creature… no. He no longer sensed it immediately, but its essence remained. It was not destroyed. It was waiting.

Alessia ran a hand through her sweat-drenched hair and sighed.

— I thought we were done for…

Her breath was ragged, her fingers tightening around the hilt of her weapon. She cast nervous glances at the shadows stretching between the stones, as if something could still emerge.

Elion, on the other hand, kept a thoughtful gaze, his eyes fixed on the place where the creature had dissolved.

— Something has changed, he murmured. The cycle has been broken, but that doesn't mean we've won.

Eryndal nodded slowly. He felt a strange emptiness inside him, as if a part of his soul had evaporated with the end of that battle. He knelt and placed a hand on the cold stone beneath him, trying to regain some semblance of stability.

Then, a chill ran down his spine.

A gaze was upon him.

Slowly, he turned around.

Someone was there.

At the edge of the ruins, a silhouette stood in the shadow. Motionless. Silent.

The air seemed to freeze around them, and a dry wind lifted a cloud of dust.

— Who's there? Darek called, instinctively reaching for his weapon.

No answer.

Then, the figure took a step forward.

And the light revealed a face.

Eryndal felt his heart skip a beat.

It was… impossible.

And yet, there he was.

His double.

Not the malevolent shadow of the broken cycle.

No.

Another him.

An Eryndal who had not made the same choice.

An Eryndal… who had perhaps followed an entirely different path.

His appearance was identical, yet… something was fundamentally different. His expression, his gaze… there was an absolute coldness in his eyes, an absence of emotion that sharply contrasted with what Eryndal knew of himself.

The silence stretched, each second weighing like an eternity.

The wind blew, lifting the dust around them.

Then, in a voice almost identical to his own, the figure spoke.

— You think you've fixed everything. But this is only the beginning.

Eryndal felt his blood run cold.

Darek immediately stepped in front of him, his sword half-drawn, ready to react to any hostile movement.

— What the hell is this…? he growled.

Alessia, however, seemed frozen, as if struggling to comprehend what she was seeing. Elion, on the other hand, stared at this new Eryndal with a troubling intensity, as if he were reading something the others couldn't perceive.

— This is not an illusion, he murmured. It's real.

Eryndal opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. His double… this was not just a copy. He could feel his presence, a familiar force, and at the same time… something profoundly alien.

The other Eryndal took another step forward.

— You still don't understand, do you?

His voice was slightly deeper, as if charged with an experience Eryndal had yet to know.

— The cycle wasn't broken. It was divided.

The words hit like a slap.

Eryndal felt a shiver of dread crawl up his spine.

Divided?

The other continued, relentless.

— Every choice has consequences. Every sacrifice creates a crack in the fabric of fate. What you've done…

He stopped and raised his hand.

His palm bore a mark too.

But it was different.

Black as ash.

— …has changed the course of things far beyond what you can imagine.

Eryndal felt panic rise within him. This was not just a matter of power or immediate consequences. Something infinitely larger was at stake.

— Then tell me… he finally asked, his voice hoarse.

He clenched his fists.

— Who are you really?

The other Eryndal stared at him, then gave a cryptic smile.

— I am the one who understood. The one who saw what you still refuse to accept.

His red eyes glowed in the shadows.

— And I've come to see how far you'll go… before you lose everything.

A dull thud echoed in the air, like a heartbeat in the darkness.

Eryndal understood then.

This was not just a meeting.

It was a warning.

A duel between two paths, two destinies.

And perhaps… a battle he could not avoid.