Chapter 15: The Prophecy Unraveled
Kael and Liora ventured deeper into the abyss, the pulsating rift ahead casting an eerie glow across the warped landscape. The air thrummed with the Void Plague's energy, their shared discovery of matching scars fueling a tense curiosity between them. The ground beneath their feet vibrated as they approached a crumbling altar, its surface etched with ancient symbols.
Liora knelt, tracing the runes with her fingers, her voice steady despite the strain. "These are older than our races' feud—Solaris and Lunari together." She uncovered an artifact, a crystalline shard pulsing with dark light, and held it up. The inscriptions revealed a shocking truth: the Void Plague originated from a forgotten alliance between their ancestors, an experiment to harness power that spiraled into catastrophe.
Kael's jaw tightened as he read the text, his voice a low growl. "Our people created this? For what—glory?" He slammed a fist against the altar, the sound echoing.
Liora's eyes flashed. "And your Solaris arrogance likely pushed it too far. My people tried to stop it!" Their argument flared, voices rising as they blamed each other's kin, the weight of their ancestors' guilt pressing down.
The shard flared, projecting a vision—Solaris and Lunari mages united, then torn apart by their obsession with dominance, the rift tearing open as a result. The image faded, leaving them breathless. Kael stepped back, his anger giving way to doubt. "Our hatred… it's their echo."
Liora nodded slowly, her gaze fixed on the shard. "We've been fighting their war." The realization silenced them, the rift's hum filling the void. For the first time, their eyes met without venom, a shared understanding dawning—their opposition might be a mirror of the past they sought to undo.
They pocketed the shard, the mission's stakes clearer than ever. The air between them crackled with a new tension, not of hatred but of a fragile resolve to break the cycle, though trust remained a distant hope as they turned toward the rift.