The shadows shrieked as they burst from the cracks, twisting upward into forms that resembled beasts and men. Not flesh and blood, but things made of black smoke and fractured memories. Their eyes burned red, hollow, and endless.
Kalious pushed himself to his feet, still reeling from the vision. The ground beneath the platform shifted, and from the center, a ring of light flared to life. It pulsed like a heartbeat.
An ancient voice raised, echoed across the atrium:
"Blood of the Crown. You have awakened the Will. Step forward and be judged."
Malious glanced at Kalious. "You hearing that too?"
Kalious nodded. "Yeah. Loud and clear."
The shadow figures began circling the glowing ring, waiting.
Kalious stepped forward.
"Kalious of the Crown," the voice intoned. "You carry the weight of remembrance. Will you face your reflection?"
Kalious swallowed hard. "I will."
Light surged from the platform, wrapping him in blinding warmth. Malious shielded his eyes, and when he looked again, Kalious was gone.
Kalious stood in a void of stone and stars.
A figure emerged from the dark, a mirror of himself, but older, colder, eyes burning gold. He wore Sovereign robes, battle-worn and torn. In his hand was a completed version of the broken relic.
"You think strength is inherited," the figure said. "That bloodline alone grants you the right to wield what others died to protect."
Kalious tensed. "No. I don't. That's why I'm here, to earn it."
The figure attacked.
Kalious barely dodged the first strike. The completed relic moved like lightning, forcing him onto the defensive. Blow after blow came, each one testing his instincts, his mind, his soul.
"You hesitate," the figure growled. "You seek approval. You fear power. That is not the Sovereign way."
Kalious gritted his teeth, rolled under a sweeping strike, and countered with a sharp elbow to the ribs. His reflection staggered back.
"I don't fear power," Kalious said. "I fear becoming the same as those who abused it."
The reflection froze.
Then nodded.
The stars pulsed.
The figure dissolved into light, and the relic fragment in Kalious's hand shone bright as the void cracked around him.
Kalious collapsed back onto the atrium floor, gasping.
Malious was already there, pulling him to his feet.
The shadow creatures had vanished. The chamber was still.
"What happened?" Malious asked.
Kalious looked down at the relic; it now had a second segment, fused and glowing faintly.
"I passed," he said quietly. "The relic accepted me."
Malious smirked. "Then I guess it's my turn."
As the second ring of light pulsed into life, the voice returned.
"Malious of the Crown. Will you face your reflection?"
Malious stepped forward without hesitation.
"Damn right I will."