Chapter 47: Shadows in Bloom
The cold breeze carried whispers through the dying leaves of Nemeton as the sun climbed slowly above the horizon. The forest, ancient and vast, stirred with secrets too old to remember. Riku walked in silence, the frost crunching softly beneath his boots, each step pulling him further into the labyrinth of withered trees and tangled memories.
The events of the previous night haunted him. The Ashenroot woman's voice, sharp yet sorrowful, echoed in his skull. Her question was more than a riddle; it was a wound. "When power demands sacrifice... will you still call it a gift?"
Airi walked a few paces behind, quiet for once. Her usual cheer had vanished, replaced by a guarded silence that felt heavier than the air itself. She kept glancing at Riku's back as if trying to read the turmoil in his thoughts.
Kai was the one who finally broke the silence. "We need answers."
Riku stopped at the base of an enormous petrified tree, its roots tangled like the veins of the earth. He looked up, the gray morning light spilling over his face. "We need to find the Bloom Shrine. The real one. Not just the story they feed us in the cities."
Airi frowned. "The Shrine of Bloom was destroyed in the old wars. Everyone knows that."
Kai shook his head. "Not destroyed. Buried. Covered up. There are maps, old ones. I—I stole a copy once from the magistrate's archives in Sorasai. It showed a path... one that leads east, beyond the Wounded Hills."
Riku's eyes narrowed. "Then we follow it."
---
By noon, they had left the forest and entered the scorched expanse of the Wounded Hills. The land was broken, jagged like cracked glass. Blackened stones jutted from the ground, remnants of an ancient battle between wielders of the Bloom.
Their journey was slow. The terrain fought every step, and the sun bore down on them mercilessly. Riku kept one hand on the pendant beneath his shirt. It pulsed faintly, reacting to something ahead.
As they crested a ridge, Airi stopped abruptly. "There. Look."
Down below, nestled between cliffs, was a structure half-swallowed by the earth. Vines and moss draped over shattered pillars. Faintly glowing symbols etched into stone pulsed with a forgotten light.
Kai exhaled. "That's it. That's the Bloom Shrine."
They descended carefully, their footsteps slow and deliberate. As they neared the shrine, a voice rang out.
"So... you finally came."
A tall figure emerged from the shadows beneath the archway. Cloaked in black, with a hood that obscured his face. Only his eyes gleamed, cold and calculating.
Riku stepped forward. "Who are you?"
The figure laughed. "Names are for those who still believe in identity. I lost mine the day I touched the true Bloom."
Airi drew a blade from her sleeve. Kai shifted beside her, tense.
The stranger lifted a hand. A pale blue flame burst to life in his palm. "You carry the pendant. That means you bear the mark of the Bloom King. You shouldn't be here yet. Not until you understand what you truly carry."
Riku frowned. "Then explain it."
The stranger tilted his head. "The Bloom is not a gift. It's a seed. A seed that consumes, corrupts, and eventually blooms into something unrecognizable. Your brother thought he could control it. He was wrong."
"You knew my brother?" Riku's voice cracked.
"I trained him. I watched him fall."
Silence fell.
Airi stepped beside Riku, her expression stormy. "If you're here to stop us, you'll have to fight."
The stranger didn't move. "No. I'm here to watch. And to see if you make the same mistake he did."
Then he vanished, swallowed by mist that rose from the shrine floor.
---
Inside the shrine, the air was thick with old magic. Glowing roots wound through the stone, breathing faintly. At the center stood an altar. Riku approached, and the pendant burned against his chest.
He reached out.
A vision slammed into him. Flames. Screams. His brother's face, twisted in agony. A throne of roots, soaked in blood. A city falling into the sea.
Then, a voice.
"You are not ready."
Riku staggered back, falling to his knees.
Airi caught him. "Riku! What happened?"
He gasped for air. "The Bloom... it showed me a future. A war. A crown made of thorns."
Kai clenched his fists. "Then we stop it."
Riku looked up, determination in his eyes. "Not yet. First, I have to understand why my brother fell. I need to know the truth. And for that, we need to go to the city of Eldralune. That's where it all began."
---
As the sun set behind the hills, the trio made camp beneath the shrine's shadow. None of them spoke much. The silence wasn't empty—it was full of choices, of futures waiting to be shaped.
That night, Riku dreamed of a flower growing in darkness.
It bloomed, and the world burned.