The night in Padang Besar was unusually quiet.
The sky was starless, only the faint light of the moon seemed to be covered in a thin mist.
Aina walked slowly on the red dirt road towards an old hut near Tok Halim's house.
The hut seemed uninhabited,
but from inside she heard the sound of something whispering, not a human voice,
but a voice that seemed to come from the roots of the earth.
"Come in, Aina Qistina,"
The voice was hoarse, slow... but it said her name clearly.
Aina fell silent. She didn't even have time to knock on the door.
The wooden door opened by itself and from inside, a bluish-green light came out that seemed to be calling her in.
---
In Tok Halim's Hut
Tok Halim sat on a shabby mengkuang mat.
His eyes were still closed because he had been blind for years, but around him, the shadows moved on their own as if they were alive.
On the wall, hung a cracked mirror that reflected a faint light and on the floor, there was a circle of the old symbol of the world-splitting spell.
"I knew you would come," Tok Halim said slowly.
"Because only those who have lost their shadows can hear the call of the underworld."
Aina sat in front of him.
"Tok… Harith is still alive. He is trying to open a way back."
Tok Halim smiled slightly.
"He is alive, yes. But not in this world.
The world you have now… is not the real world. It is a copy, built from false light.
The original world is still alive but covered by an old agreement.
And that agreement… was created by my blood."
Aina flinched.
"You mean the Eclipse Agreement… Tok started it?"
Tok Halim let out a long breath.
"In the past… humans were greedy for power.
They wanted a world without sin, without shadows so they asked me to be called the Guardian of the Light.
But that light is not a savior… it is a predator.
It feeds on the dark side of humans until no one knows who they are anymore."
---
The Secret of the Heart of the World
Tok Halim raised his hand slowly.
The shadows around him began to spin, forming a black circle that vibrated in the air.
"This is the Heart of the World.
The heart between two dimensions.
When it stops beating, the world will be destroyed but when it is opened again… the world of light will be destroyed and the shadow will return to take its place."
Aina shivered.
"If I want to save Harith, what do I have to do?"
Tok Halim smiled but this time it was more gloomy.
"You have to reopen the Heart of the World.
But for that… you have to sacrifice a living human soul."
"Whose soul?"
"The one closest to the shadow. The one he loves the most."
Aina gasped. "Harith?"
Tok Halim remained silent.
But outside the hut, the wind began to howl and the shadows danced wildly on the ground, forming large writing:
"Soul of Harith = DOOR."
---
A Call from the Underworld
Suddenly the floor shook.
The cracked mirror on the wall broke by itself and from the shards appeared Harith's face, half of his body already black smoke, the other half still human.
"Aina! Don't listen to him!"
"Harith! This world is fake! I want to take you back!"
"If you open the Heart of the World, this world of light will collapse and cause millions of deaths!"
"But they are not real humans, Harith! They are empty!"
Tok Halim stood up, raising his staff.
"Your time is almost up, shadow child. This world needs to be cleansed!"
The shadow from the floor jumped towards the mirror and Harith screamed before his face disappeared in the last crack.
---
Aina was crushed on the floor.
"Tok... I am willing to sacrifice anything.
But I will not let him disappear."
Tok Halim bowed.
"Then… get ready, Aina Qistina.
Because when you open the heart of the world, light and darkness will no longer be able to coexist.
One must die."