The chamber was steeped in darkness. Only the dim light of the crystals lining the walls and the sickly glow of the dark stone on the pedestal illuminated the oppressive air. The other half of the lock, Mira had said. It stood before us now, and I could feel its malevolence even from this distance—a weight of centuries-old hatred and power that had festered in the depths of the Citadel.
Mira, weak and barely conscious, lay in Leon's arms as he knelt by her side. Her breathing was shallow, and her skin had taken on a translucent pallor. The dark energy around the pedestal seemed to be feeding off her life force, as though she were bound to it, just like the Soulstone and this new stone were bound to each other.
I approached the pedestal with caution. The Soulstone in my hand hummed with increasing intensity as I drew closer to its counterpart. The dark stone pulsed in response, like a living thing sensing its missing half. But this stone felt wrong—where the Soulstone was raw power, this stone felt like corruption made solid.
Karis stood at the edge of the room, her eyes darting between me and the dark stone. "What is that?" she asked, her voice low and tense.
"It's the other part of the seal," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady despite the gnawing dread that clawed at my mind. "The Soulstone alone wasn't enough. There's a balance—light and dark. Both are needed to complete the lock that keeps the entity sealed away."
Leon frowned, his gaze fixed on Mira's pale face. "But if it's so dangerous, why are we going to use it? Shouldn't we destroy it instead?"
I shook my head. "We can't destroy it. These stones are ancient—they were crafted by beings far older than any civilization we know. The Soulstone alone doesn't have the power to hold the entity forever. This stone is its opposite. They're two parts of the same mechanism."
Karis moved closer to me, her hand resting on the hilt of her dagger. "So what do we do? Just… put them together and hope for the best?"
"No," I said, my eyes narrowing as I studied the dark stone. "If we do that, the power could consume us all. These stones are volatile—they were never meant to be wielded by mortals. We need to understand the ritual—the one that was started ages ago. If we can finish it, we might be able to strengthen the seal."
Mira stirred, her voice barely a whisper as she spoke. "The runes… on the monolith… they tell the story of the lock… the ritual. But there's more… hidden deeper."
Leon looked down at her, concern etched across his face. "You need to rest. You've done enough."
"No," she said, her voice gaining a fraction of strength. "It's not over… it's never over… until we find the Heart."
The Heart. The word sent a chill down my spine, as if some unseen force was tugging at a buried memory. Mira's eyes flickered open, though they were distant, unfocused. She was speaking from somewhere deep inside, her voice guided by knowledge beyond our understanding.
"The Heart of the Abyss," she murmured. "It's the core of the Citadel, the source of its power. It's where the lock was first created… and where it can be completed."
I exchanged a look with Leon and Karis. We had come so far—descended into the depths of this cursed place, fought an ancient entity, and now we were faced with the final truth: the Heart of the Abyss. Whatever it was, it held the key to ending this once and for all.
"Where do we find it?" I asked, kneeling beside Mira. "How do we reach the Heart?"
Mira's breathing was shallow, but her gaze locked onto mine with a clarity that sent a shiver through me. "It lies beneath the monolith. Deeper than this… beyond the darkness."
I stood, feeling the weight of the moment pressing down on me. The dark stone continued to pulse with dark energy, waiting for its other half to come closer, but we couldn't risk it yet. Not until we reached the Heart.
"We need to go back," I said, looking at Leon and Karis. "Back to the monolith. There's more beneath it—something we didn't see before."
Leon nodded, his face set in determination. He lifted Mira gently, carrying her as we made our way back through the labyrinthine tunnels of the Citadel's underbelly. The path seemed even darker than before, as though the Citadel itself was reacting to our presence, its ancient secrets stirring in the deep.
---
When we reached the monolith again, the chamber felt different. The air was thick with energy—both light and dark, swirling together in a chaotic dance. The monolith stood tall in the center of the room, its carvings glowing faintly in the dim light.
I approached it cautiously, the Soulstone still pulsing in my hand. The carvings seemed to shift as I neared, the symbols moving of their own accord, revealing new layers of the ancient script. The monolith wasn't just a piece of stone—it was a conduit, a focal point for the magic that kept the entity sealed away.
"There's something beneath it," I said, running my fingers over the surface of the monolith. "A hidden chamber, maybe. We need to find a way to open it."
Karis, ever perceptive, stepped forward and examined the base of the monolith. Her fingers traced the edges of the stone, searching for any sign of a mechanism. After a moment, she found it—a small, almost invisible indentation in the rock.
"Here," she said, pointing to the indentation. "This might be the trigger."
I held the Soulstone close to the monolith, and as the light from the stone touched the indentation, the ground beneath us rumbled. The carvings on the monolith flared to life, glowing with an intense, fiery light. Slowly, the stone began to shift, sliding to the side to reveal a narrow staircase leading down into the depths.
The air that wafted up from the opening was cold—colder than anything we had felt before. It was as if we were descending into the very core of the earth, where light had never touched.
"This is it," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "The Heart of the Abyss."
Leon adjusted his grip on Mira, and together we descended the staircase. The walls around us were smooth, polished stone, unlike the rough, natural caverns we had passed through earlier. It was as though this place had been crafted with great care—designed to keep something out, or in.
As we descended, the temperature dropped even further, and the oppressive weight of the dark energy grew stronger. I could feel it pressing down on us, like a great hand squeezing the air from our lungs. The Soulstone pulsed with increasing intensity, its light flickering as it struggled to counter the dark energy that surrounded us.
Finally, we reached the bottom of the staircase and entered a small, circular chamber. In the center of the room was a massive, stone altar, and upon it lay an ancient, weathered tome. The air around the tome shimmered with dark magic, but there was something else—something deeper, more powerful. This was the Heart of the Abyss.
The altar was covered in ancient runes, similar to those on the monolith, but these were different—more complex, more intricate. They pulsed with a faint, blue light, in contrast to the dark energy that surrounded the rest of the chamber.
"This is it," I said, approaching the altar. "The final piece."
Mira stirred in Leon's arms, her eyes half-open as she gazed at the altar. "The ritual…" she whispered. "It's here."
I carefully opened the ancient tome, the pages brittle and yellowed with age. The language was old, but the words were familiar—an ancient dialect that I had seen in the carvings throughout the Citadel. This was the ritual—the one that had been started so long ago, but never completed.
As I read through the ritual, the pieces began to fall into place. The Soulstone and the dark stone were two halves of the same whole—light and dark, creation and destruction. They were bound to each other, and only by uniting them could we complete the lock and ensure the entity's prison remained sealed for eternity.
But there was a catch.
"The ritual requires a sacrifice," I said, my voice heavy with the weight of the words.
Leon's eyes widened. "A sacrifice? What kind of sacrifice?"
I looked down at the tome, my heart sinking. "A life," I said quietly. "To complete the lock, a life must be given in exchange for the power to seal the entity."
Karis's face hardened. "And I'm guessing it can't be just any life, can it?"
I shook my head. "No. It has to be one who has been touched by the power of the Soulstone—someone who has been bound to the magic of the Citadel."
Leon's grip on Mira tightened, understanding dawning in his eyes. "No," he said, his voice shaking. "We're not doing that. We're not sacrificing Mira."
"It's the only way," I said, my voice breaking. "If we don't complete the ritual, the seal will fail. The entity will rise again, and this time, nothing will stop it."
Karis stepped forward, her hand resting on Leon's shoulder. "There has to be another way. We