The hall curved inward like a held breath.
No corners. No edges. Just smooth, flowing walls that reflected without truly reflecting—images lagging a heartbeat behind reality, as if the space itself needed time to decide what was real.
Elaris felt it immediately.
Her wings itched. Not pain—recognition.
Halfway through the corridor, the air split with a sound like glass being taught how to scream.
A pane of living crystal slid down between them.
Kael stopped short.
"Elaris."
His blade struck the barrier. Not steel-on-glass—something duller, resistant. The impact shuddered through his arm and went nowhere.
Xyren's holo-panels flared violently. "Phase-locked. Adaptive. It's keyed to her wing signature."
The Vault lit from within.
Light bled through the walls, cold and pale, and from that glow… she stepped out.
Same face.Same wings.
But where Elaris's feathers burned gold and violet, the other's shone with a colder hue—frost pretending to be flame. No warmth. No hesitation.
"You've flown far," the copy said calmly."But you've never chosen what to burn."
Elaris's jaw tightened. "Get out of my way."
The Vault answered by changing its mind about gravity.
Weight pressed down—then vanished—then snapped back like a snapped tendon. The copy moved at the lightest moment, wings angling with geometric precision, blade forming from reflected light.
Impact.
Shoulder to shoulder, wing to wing. Sparks exploded in arcs of violet and gold, carving metallic scars into the curved floor.
Outside the pane, Kael tracked every movement, breath measured, eyes locked. He didn't shout. Didn't distract. His stillness was its own kind of violence.
Xyren whispered to himself, tearing through models. "It's predictive… but only within mirrored parameters. It can't invent."
Inside, the copy fought like a thesis—clinical, elegant, unkind.
A sharp cut bloomed along Elaris's ribs. Another traced her forearm. Not deep.
Precise.
"Power is easy," the copy said as they circled."Choosing the cost is the art."
Pain sharpened Elaris's focus instead of dulling it.
"Then here's my price."
She let the Vault breathe.
Gravity surged.
She folded one wing—too far.
Metal screamed. Nerves lit white-hot. Pain crystallized her thoughts into something razor-clear.
At the lightest instant, she exploded upward.
Pivoted around her own damage.
Scissored both wings outward.
The copy faltered—just for a breath.
That was enough.
Elaris drove her knee forward, slammed the reflection into the curving wall, and felt the pane spiderweb behind them.
Outside, Kael's fist pressed flat against the barrier.
"Finish it," he mouthed.
Elaris didn't roar. Didn't rush.
She selected.
One angle. One line. The only place where the copy could mirror—but not adapt.
Feathers locked.
She cut straight through the reflection's spine of light.
The copy burst into a thousand glowing motes that refused to fall, hanging in the air like thoughts without a mind.
The pane lifted.
Kael didn't step in.
He offered his hand instead—steady, open. A promise, not a rescue.
She took it.
Because she wanted to.
Nyvrix's voice brushed her ear, close now. Intimate. Dangerous.
"Good," he murmured."You're learning the difference."
The Vault dimmed.
But it did not forget her.
End-of-Chapter Hook :She had defeated her reflection.What waited next… would not be so kind.