Elara's POV
This room was different. It was glowing red and gold, alive with whispers and light. Strange symbols danced on the walls, crawling like glowing ink. At the center stood a stone altar, cracked and worn.
The spiral on it pulsed.
Her mark responded.
She stepped closer, her hand reaching toward it.
"We were made when memory was broken.
We opened our eyes… when she closed hers."
Then the air changed.
It grew cold, sharp. Heavy.
And behind her, something growled.
Elara spun around.
From the far wall, a shape uncurled from the darkness- a black figure wrapped in bone and shadow. Its body twisted like it was stitched from smoke and teeth. Spiral symbols burned into its chest like molten metal.
Its eyes locked on her, and it charged.
Elara dove to the side.
The creature's claws sliced through the stone where she'd stood. It turned fast- too fast- and swung again. She rolled under it, breathing hard, grabbing the charm around her neck.
"Incendira!" she shouted.
A blast of blue fire shot from her hand, but the creature swiped through it and kept coming.
She ran.
The chamber shifted around her, doors sealing, walls folding inward. The spiral was testing her.
No, not testing.
It was trying to break her.
The creature lunged again. This time she jumped higher than she thought possible, and landed behind it.
Her spiral mark burned brighter.
She gritted her teeth, pressed her palm to the ground, and shouted again:
"Incendira! Arcanus flare!"
The floor cracked open beneath the creature. Flames burst upward, swallowing it whole. It screamed, not in pain, but in rage, and exploded into sparks.
Elara dropped to one knee, breathing hard.
Sweat dripped down her face. Her fingers shook.
The spiral was not done yet.
On the other side
"Move!" Cassian shouted as the ceiling above them cracked.
Rhian threw himself forward just as jagged stone collapsed behind them. The narrow passage lit up with glowing red symbols- a trap had been triggered.
Three figures dropped from the ceiling- pale, twisted, half-vampire, half-shadow.
"Bastards," Rhian growled.
Cassian bared his fangs. "Haven't fought in a while."
Rhian cracked his neck. "Try to keep up."
The first creature lunged. Cassian caught it midair and slammed it into the wall hard enough to crack the stone. The second one came for Rhian, who dodged low and drove his hand into its chest, pulling out its spiral.
The third leapt toward Cassian. Rhian reached it first, jumping high, kicking it back, and landing like a shadow. Blood and black dust filled the air.
They stood back-to-back, panting.
Cassian wiped his mouth.
"That was loud," he said.
"Let's hope she hears us," Rhian said.
They kept moving faster now.
Elara
She touched the altar, and her spiral pulsed.
Inside the stone, something white pulsed.
The light before the Grimoire. Before the darkness.
Her head spun.
She saw her mother and Rhian herself.
She saw the first spell that sealed their memories, and the moment it failed.
Just then, a whisper came:
"You are not just a girl.
You are the first word.
And they will come for you." Elara stepped back.
Her heart was racing.
But she didn't run.
"Let them come". She stated boldly