Chapter 23 – A Secret Meeting & The Final Trace
The night sky wasn't as black as usual. A faint crimson glow crept in from the north, as if the earth was preparing for an old wound to be reopened.
Lumina sat cross-legged at the edge of an ancient stone altar, her left hand encircled by a dim gray light—residue from a failed purificazione she couldn't complete that morning. Her voice trembled as she prayed, not out of fear, but from a dawning realization: Verruksha's whispers were no longer mere echoes. They now lived inside her, growing in her mind, piling up like fog seeping into dreams.
"I know you're coming closer," she whispered.
Meanwhile, far in the Northern Tower, Archon stood with his back to the glass window, gazing down at the valley. Behind him stood a figure in a deep blue cloak, her face hidden by a mask of black crystal. Viress—the elite sorceress who had once been both friend and rival to Amari, Lumina's mother.
"You know your task," Archon said flatly. "Capture her alive. Don't harm her—yet. I want to hear from her own mouth who taught her to touch that forbidden dimensional path."
Viress didn't reply. But her eyes moved, ever so slightly—betraying a wound buried deep within. A wound named Amari.
Back at the altar, Lumina flinched. A subtle vibration stirred from the sigil on her arm, and for the first time, she heard a voice—neither Verruksha's nor her own. It came from something long buried: her mother's voice.
"My child… don't believe what they say about you."
Lumina closed her eyes. The voice rose from a fractured spirit path—a dark passage she had long avoided for fear it would tear body and soul apart. But this time, she entered. No spells. No protection.
She floated within the space between dimensions. At its end stood a faint figure. Amari. Paler than her last memory, wearier, yet her eyes were clear.
"I don't have much time," said Amari. "But you must know: they sealed it not to protect the world… but to bury the trail—of our pact with Maxcen."
"Maxcen?" Lumina's voice quivered.
Amari nodded. "You are not a curse. You are the price. The price we had to pay to keep this dimension from collapsing centuries ago."
Outside the dimensional corridor, Verruksha whimpered. He could sense the path opening. He knew Amari was too close to revealing everything.
While Lumina still listened, Verruksha crept through her mind like barbed wire.
"Close the path. Now. Or they'll all see… who you truly are."
But Amari's final words shattered every fear:
"Your real name is not Lumina."
And just as the name was about to be spoken, Verruksha severed the spirit path by force. Lumina collapsed. Blood trickled from her nose. Her soul trembled. But in her eyes, a new fire had awakened.
Elsewhere, Enver arrived at the ruins of the ancient Vermielle temple. He brushed the dust off a carved wall, blowing gently across its surface. Beneath the faded sigil, a name emerged: "Vessaria"—a name Verruksha had once whispered to break Lumina's resolve.
"So this is why they buried it all," Enver murmured. "She's not just a vessel. She is the gate."
Suddenly, the wind stopped. Enver turned.
From the shadow of the old altar, a whisper echoed:
"It's time."
In Archon's hidden chamber, Viress studied a soul map. Its sigils revealed Lumina's movement—undetected. She whispered, "You've learned to hide, Lumina. But you forgot… I know how your mother thinks."
Archon stepped toward the stone table. "We're running out of time. The dragon's power has awakened. And Enver… he's unearthing truths that were never meant to breathe again."
In a concealed dimension, Alvaron—Lumina's uncle—stood alone at the edge of an astral lake. His eyes dim, but his hands traced an ancient incantation.
"Verruksha," he called softly.
The spirit's form shimmered in the mirror-like water.
"We stay with the pact," said Alvaron.
Verruksha gave no reply. But his eyes glowed.
Alvaron bowed his head. "When the time peaks… I will fulfill my promise."
In the distance, red firelight streaked the sky. The hunt was drawing near.
But the true storm had yet to come.