The shadow poured from the breach like liquid darkness, formless at first but rapidly coalescing into something with purpose. The temperature in the chamber dropped so quickly that their breath crystallized before their faces, falling as tiny ice particles to the frost-covered floor.
"Form the triangle!" Professor Nyala commanded, her voice cutting through the rising whispers. "Now!"
Saguna fought against his instinct to flee. The shadow reminded him too much of that day twelve years ago, the day he lost Sahara. But Professor Nyala was right. Running would only leave them more vulnerable.
He took his position, feeling Radji and Osa move into formation behind him. The marks on his neck burned fiercely now, responding to the proximity of the breach and to his companions.
"Focus your elements," Professor Nyala instructed, her hands already weaving complex silver sigils in the air. "Not to attack, to defend. Create a barrier."
Saguna called forth his fire, shaping it into a wall of flame that curved outward from his position. To his right, Radji's earth abilities manifested as crystalline formations that rose from the floor, interlocking in complex geometric patterns. To his left, Osa's water formed a flowing shield, constantly moving and reforming.
The shadow hesitated, its amorphous form rippling as if assessing this unexpected resistance. Then it divided, splitting into three separate tendrils that probed at each of their defenses.
"It's testing us," Radji said, his voice tight with concentration as he reinforced his crystal barrier.
"Not just testing," Professor Nyala corrected, her silver sigils expanding to form a dome over them all. "Learning. These are not mindless entities. They adapt."
The tendril approaching Saguna's fire barrier suddenly withdrew, then thrust forward with shocking speed, but not at the flames, at the ceiling above them. Stone cracked as the shadow struck, sending a shower of debris down toward them.
Osa reacted instantly, his water shield flowing upward to catch the falling stones before redirecting them harmlessly aside. "They're smarter than they look."
"Much smarter," Professor Nyala confirmed grimly. "And growing more intelligent with each breach."
As they spoke, the shadow tendrils retreated, flowing back toward the central pool where they emerged into a single mass. But instead of attacking again, the darkness began to take shape, forming a figure that was disturbingly humanoid.
Where a face should be, hollow sockets appeared, pinpricks of cold blue light forming within them. When it spoke, the sound wasn't physical but psychic, reverberating directly in their minds.
The triangle returns. After so long. So very long.
"It knows about the Triumvirate," Radji whispered, his earth barrier flickering briefly as his concentration wavered.
The shadow figure tilted what passed for its head, those cold lights fixed on Saguna.
Fire-child. You have her eyes. Her spirit. Perhaps even her strength.
"My sister," Saguna said, his voice steadier than he felt. "Where is she?"
A sound like breaking glass filled the chamber — laughter, Saguna realized with horror. The shadow was laughing.
Closer than you know. Farther than you can reach. She feeds us still, after all these years. Such remarkable fire.
Rage flared in Saguna's chest, his flame barrier intensifying with his emotion. "She's alive. I've heard her. I've seen her."
Parts of her remain. Echoes. Fragments. I have kept them safe. Would you like to join them?
The shadow lunged forward suddenly, bypassing their barriers by flowing through cracks in the stone floor. It reemerged directly beneath Saguna, dark tendrils wrapping around his ankles with burning cold.
Saguna cried out, the pain immediate and intense — like being burned with ice. His fire shield wavered as the shadow began to pull him downward.
"Saguna!" Osa shouted, redirecting his water to strike at the tendrils. Where water touched shadow, the darkness hissed and recoiled, but only momentarily before reforming.
Radji moved with surprising speed, his earth abilities creating a solid platform beneath Saguna's feet, lifting him away from the grasping shadow.
But the entity was relentless. As Saguna rose on Radji's earth platform, the shadow stretched upward, those hollow eye sockets never leaving his face.
You cannot escape what is already inside you, fire-child. The veil is in your blood. The shadows are in your dreams.
Professor Nyala stepped forward, her silver sigils flaring with sudden intensity. "Enough!" she commanded, throwing both hands forward.
The sigils shot toward the shadow entity like spears of light, piercing its form in multiple places. The shadow shrieked — a sound like ice cracking on a frozen lake — and contracted, its tendrils releasing Saguna as it retreated back toward the breach.
"We need to move," Professor Nyala ordered, her voice tight with strain. "My sigils won't hold it for long."
As they hurried into the passage she indicated, Saguna cast one last glance at the retreating shadow. It had reformed at the pool, those pinprick lights fixed on him with unmistakable recognition.
Soon, fire-child. We will meet again soon.