The tomb was collapsing around them, the stone walls crumbling as the ground shook violently beneath Amina's feet. She staggered, struggling to maintain her balance, her heart pounding in her chest. The creature—no, the beast—loomed before her, its claws snapping through the air, the dark energy radiating off of it like a suffocating storm.
And yet, it wasn't the beast that made her blood run cold.
It was the shadows that stirred behind it.
A figure, barely visible, emerged from the darkness, its shape flickering like a phantom. It moved with unnatural grace, its presence almost haunting. Its eyes, glowing faintly with an otherworldly light, locked onto Amina.
In that instant, she felt the weight of its gaze—a presence that was both ancient and utterly alien.
The beast, still snarling and clawing at the walls, seemed almost… subservient to this new arrival. It howled in frustration, but it did not move against the figure.
No. It waited.
For a moment, everything in the tomb felt frozen, as if time itself had stalled in fear of this new presence. The shadows rippled around it, bending and twisting in ways that defied reality. The air grew thick with a sense of dread, a dark force that pressed down on Amina's chest, choking her.
"Who are you?" Amina breathed, her voice barely more than a whisper, though she knew that the figure could hear her.
The shadows deepened, and the figure stepped forward, its features beginning to emerge from the darkness. It was tall, impossibly tall, its skin pale as marble. Its hair billowed around it like a curtain of black smoke, flowing and shifting with the breeze. And in its eyes—a flicker of recognition.
Amina's breath caught in her throat. She knew those eyes.
"Amariel?" she whispered, though the name felt strange coming from her lips.
The figure smiled—a cold, haunting smile that sent a shiver down Amina's spine.
"You're mistaken, Amina," it said, its voice both soothing and terrifying, like a lullaby sung by a long-dead mother. "I am not Amariel. But I am what was left behind."
Amina's mind raced, trying to make sense of the words, of the presence that loomed before her. The creature, the beast—it was still there, still thrashing against the dying tomb, its fury growing as it bellowed into the air. But it did nothing to challenge the figure before them.
The figure raised its hand, and with a single motion, the tomb ceased its collapse. The stones stopped falling. The ground stopped shaking. The flames around them flickered but did not extinguish.
"How… how did you stop it?" Amina asked, still unsure whether this being was friend or foe.
The figure's smile deepened, and it tilted its head, eyes never leaving hers. "The question is not how I stopped it, Amina. The question is why it stopped at all."
The shadows around it seemed to pulse as if alive, swirling in time with its words. "You are not the only one tied to this tomb. You are not the only one bound to Valec's rise. The rituals you've been performing—each one, they are pieces of a puzzle. And now, you're standing at its center."
The ground beneath her trembled once again, but this time, it wasn't the tomb collapsing. It was something else—something darker, something deeper.
The beast's growl echoed louder, shaking the walls.
"What do you want?" Amina asked, her voice steady but filled with an undercurrent of desperation. "Why are you here?"
The figure laughed, the sound reverberating through the tomb like the toll of a distant bell. It was both mournful and mocking, as though it knew something Amina could not yet comprehend.
"I'm here to show you the truth, Amina. I'm here to show you what you've been running from, what you've been trying to bury beneath the ashes of your past." The figure stepped closer, its form shifting and flickering like a mirage. "I am what you will become if you let it consume you."
Amina's mind reeled. She had been so focused on stopping Valec, on sealing away the beast, that she had never considered the consequences of the magic she had been tapping into. And now, standing before her, was the very embodiment of what she feared most.
The figure lifted a hand, and with a wave, the shadows receded, revealing the full form of the beast behind it. But it was no longer just a creature of pure fury.
It was a creature of darkness—its eyes, now glowing like burning embers, locked onto Amina's with an intense, almost hypnotic pull.
"The beast is not your enemy, Amina," the figure said softly. "It is a reflection of you."
The tomb trembled once more, and Amina's heart raced. The air was thick with energy, with potential, and with something far more dangerous than she had ever realized.
"Do you think you can stop it?" the figure asked, its voice soft but filled with the weight of ages. "Do you think you can stand against what you've unleashed?"
Amina's legs shook, and she had to fight to stay upright. The weight of everything she had done, everything she had hoped for, pressed down on her shoulders like an anchor.
Her mind screamed in protest. No. This can't be happening.
But deep down, a small part of her wondered—what if the figure was right? What if she was standing at the threshold of something much larger than her own struggle?
As the shadows began to close in around her, she realized that there was no easy answer. No simple solution.
And then, before she could react, the beast let out another ear-splitting roar.