“To defy fate is to shatter the mirror of truth. But once broken, the pieces will never fit together the same way again.”...

  I. The Fractured PathAduin’s heart pounded in his chest as the remnants of his recent experience crashed against him like a tidal wave. The images from the mirror—the vision of himself twisted, broken, and consumed by the Lantern Sect—had burned themselves into his mind, leaving an ache that no amount of time could soothe. He stood in a pce of softness now, no longer in the crushing darkness of the Lantern Citadel, but in an environment that seemed eerily familiar, as though he had been here before—though he had no memory of ever arriving.

  The air was thick with an unnatural stillness. The faint glow surrounding him gave little comfort as his senses screamed for him to flee, to escape the unseen threat closing in from all sides.

  “Where am I?” Aduin muttered to himself, his voice hoarse from the ordeal. The st echoes of the Lantern Sect’s legacy reverberated in his mind, their shadows still clinging to his thoughts like cobwebs. His hand instinctively reached for the Rot-Bone Dagger at his waist, its cold hilt grounding him in reality. But as his fingers brushed the weapon, he could feel its weight—heavier now, as though it carried the weight of his own fear.

  A sound broke through the silence, faint but unmistakable—a shuffling, like someone dragging their feet across the floor. Aduin’s senses heightened immediately. His breath slowed, and his every movement became precise, calcuting.

  From the darkness ahead, a figure appeared. It was shrouded in a cloak of bck, its face hidden beneath a veil of shadow. Aduin’s instincts screamed at him to be ready, to prepare for a fight, but something about the figure stopped him cold.

  The figure stepped forward, and Aduin’s breath caught in his throat as he recognized the unmistakable silhouette.

  “Xiaoqin...” Aduin breathed, his heart pounding in his chest.

  The woman in front of him lifted her head, and for a moment, the veil of shadows seemed to lift. Her eyes met his, glowing faintly with an eerie light, but it was the smile on her face that made Aduin’s stomach turn.

  “Did you think you could escape your fate, Aduin?” she said, her voice cold and hollow. The words felt like an accusation, each sylble driving a spike deeper into his chest.

  He took a step back, but it was as if the ground had disappeared beneath him. The world around him twisted, warping into a vortex of swirling shadows and light. Everything shifted, and in that moment, Aduin felt an overwhelming sense of déjà vu—like he had seen this moment py out before, like he had lived it and failed.

  “No...” Aduin whispered, the words barely escaping his lips. “This isn’t real.”

  Xiaoqin’s smile widened, the shadows around her intensifying, darkening her features even further. She reached out toward him, her fingers elongated like cws, and Aduin instinctively raised his dagger in defense. But it was too te. In an instant, her hand csped his wrist, squeezing until the bones cracked beneath the pressure.

  “This is as real as it gets,” she purred. “You cannot run from yourself, Aduin. No matter how far you go, no matter how many times you defy the world, you cannot escape what you are.”

  Her words were like poison, seeping into his mind, breaking down his defenses. Aduin struggled against her grip, but it was as though her very presence was sapping his strength, his will to fight. The Ninth Fme inside him flickered, struggling to ignite, but it was overwhelmed by the suffocating darkness that surrounded him.

  “You’ll never be free of this curse,” Xiaoqin continued, her voice a soft whisper against his ear. “The Lantern Sect’s legacy is within you, Aduin. You carry it with you, whether you acknowledge it or not.”

  Aduin’s mind spun. The memories, the visions, they all began to blur together. He saw fragments of his past—the moments he had spent in the Lantern Citadel, the people he had met, the promises he had broken—and in each one, the shadow of the Lantern Sect loomed over him.

  “It’s all lies,” he spat, his voice raw with defiance. “I’m not your experiment. I’m not your failure!”

  But even as the words left his mouth, he knew they were hollow. He could feel it—the truth of it, gnawing at him, unrelenting.

  Xiaoqin’s grip tightened, and her smile twisted into something darker, something almost sinister.

  “You still don’t understand, do you?” she whispered, her voice cutting through the silence like a bde. “You never were anything but a pawn. And the game... is far from over.”

  With a sharp motion, she pushed him backward, and Aduin found himself falling once more. His body smmed into the ground, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs. His vision blurred as the darkness around him began to swallow him whole.

  II. The Past’s GhostAduin’s fall seemed endless, as though the very air conspired to pull him deeper into the abyss. But just as the weight of the darkness began to crush him, the ground beneath him gave way, and he nded with a violent thud. His head spun, the world swirling in a dizzying blur.

  He forced himself to his feet, shaking with exertion. But as his vision cleared, he found himself standing in a pce he knew all too well—the Lantern Citadel. The walls, once adorned with the flickering glow of countless nterns, were now reduced to crumbling ruins, their surfaces cracked and scarred by years of neglect.

  It was the Citadel, yes. But it was no longer the Citadel he had known. This pce had become something else entirely—a pce that mirrored his very soul, a pce of memories, regrets, and broken dreams.

  Aduin’s hand instinctively reached for his dagger, but it wasn’t there. He was empty, exposed. His heart pounded in his chest as he surveyed the desotion around him. He could hear the whispers, the voices of the past, curling through the air like smoke.

  “You failed,” a voice hissed from the shadows. “You failed, and now, you will face the consequences.”

  Aduin’s blood ran cold as he turned toward the source of the voice. Emerging from the darkness was a figure—a figure he recognized all too well.

  It was him. But it wasn’t.

  The man before him was a twisted reflection of himself, a version of Aduin that had been consumed by the Lantern Sect’s legacy, a version that had given in to the darkness. His eyes were hollow, his face gaunt, and the fmes that had once burned within him were now a flickering, dying ember.

  “What is this?” Aduin demanded, his voice rising in panic. “What do you want from me?”

  The man—the reflection—smiled, a cruel, knowing smile. He stepped forward, and the air seemed to grow heavier with every movement.

  “You wanted to know the truth, Aduin,” the reflection said. “You wanted to defy fate, to break free of the Lantern Sect’s curse. But the truth is, you are nothing more than a shadow. A mirror of what could have been, but never was.”

  III. The Final ChoiceAduin’s mind reeled, the weight of the reflection’s words pressing down on him. He tried to fight it, to push back, but the truth of it settled into his bones. The Lantern Sect’s legacy had been built on lies, and he was no different than any of the other shattered souls who had come before him.

  The ground beneath him cracked as the reflection moved closer, its footsteps sending tremors through the Citadel. Aduin’s heart raced, his pulse pounding in his ears. He had to escape. He had to break free.

  But as the reflection reached out to him, a surge of energy erupted from within him—the Ninth Fme.

  It fred to life with a brilliant intensity, the heat and light scorching everything in its path. The reflection recoiled, its face twisted in pain as the fmes burned through it, tearing it apart.

  Aduin gasped, the power of the Fme overwhelming him. But as the reflection crumbled to dust, a new presence stirred behind him.

  He spun around, his heart stopping in his chest.

  Xiaoqin.

  But she wasn’t alone. Behind her, standing in the shadows, were the other figures from his past—each one a piece of the puzzle he had been trying to solve.

  And they were all waiting.

  Epilogue: The Mirror ShatteredAduin stood alone, the weight of the moment settling in his chest. The truth had shattered, and the path ahead was obscured by the remnants of his past.

  But he knew one thing.

  The game was not over.

  The reflection had fallen, but the true enemy had yet to reveal itself.

  And the price of defiance was about to come due.

  [TO BE CONTINUED...]