Chapter 14 – The Glass Labyrinth
It shimmered like a dream.
No—not a dream.
A trap.
The Glass Labyrinth stretched endlessly, a twisted monument of mirrors, shifting light, and broken reflections. It was said that anyone who entered it was forced to confront their deepest truths, or be lost forever to illusions born from their own mind.
Kael stood at the threshold.
Behind him, Roan adjusted her blades. "Still time to turn back."
Kael looked at her.
> "Not after everything we've seen."
They stepped in.
---
Mirrors That Speak
The air inside wasn't cold, but it felt like frost crept across Kael's skin. Every wall—glass. Every corner—blurred with light. Every footstep echoed like it came from someone else.
Then the voices started.
Whispers.
His voice.
> "You couldn't protect her."
> "Your brother was right. You were weak."
Kael gritted his teeth.
"I'm not here to listen to ghosts."
But the Labyrinth didn't care.
It twisted Roan's reflection, showing her bleeding out in a battlefield, surrounded by dying allies.
She blinked, steadied her breath. "Not real. Not real."
Still, her hand shook.
---
The Woman in the Mirror
At the heart of the first chamber stood a frozen image—a tall woman with silver hair, her hand resting on a staff of spiraled crystal.
The last Architect.
Sealed in perfect glass.
Kael stepped forward, reaching out—
Suddenly his reflection moved.
But he hadn't.
The mirror-Kael smiled. And spoke.
> "So... you finally came, Kael Thornborne. To become what you were always afraid of."
> "You're not me," Kael hissed.
> "I'm what you'll become if you lose control of that power."
Abyss Monarch.
Dawnbringer.
The duality inside him trembled.
And then—Roan screamed.
---
Roan's Trial
A wall had separated them.
Roan was alone in her section, surrounded by hundreds of reflections—each one showing a different version of her: one where she was dead, another where she had betrayed Kael, another where she had… joined Lior.
> "You don't know who you really are, do you?" one version asked.
"You always needed a mission to exist."
She growled and slashed at the mirrors, but they just regenerated.
> "SHUT UP!"
And then the mirrors stilled.
Only one remained.
It showed her as she truly was—wounded, tired, but… loyal.
She dropped her blade.
> "I know who I am."
The glass shattered—and she was free.
---
Unsealing the Architect
Kael faced his reflection.
It was more than a mirror now.
It was a fight.
Every slash he made was mirrored. Every spell was countered.
Until he stopped.
Closed his eyes.
"You only exist because I fear you. But I don't anymore."
The reflection smiled—and vanished.
And then, the central pillar of glass cracked.
The seal melted away—and the Architect stepped forward, breathing for the first time in centuries.
> "Who broke my prison?" she asked, voice like distant thunder.
Kael stepped forward.
> "Your last chance to stop the Codex is standing in front of you."
---
A New Flame
The Architect studied him.
> "You are both light and dark. You shouldn't exist."
> "I didn't ask to," Kael replied. "But now I'm here."
She looked at Roan. Then at the spear Kael carried.
A spark of recognition.
> "Then we don't have time. Lior has already begun the Integration Ritual. He plans to rewrite the Codex forever."
Kael nodded.
> "Then we burn the script."
She raised her staff—and opened a portal of molten light.
> "Let's end the cycle."
---
End of Chapter 14