The Shadows Within
I stood alone in the dark forest, the figure's words echoing in my mind. Face my fears. What did that mean? What lay ahead?
As I looked around, the trees seemed to loom over me, their branches like skeletal fingers reaching out to grab me. I felt a sense of unease, as if something was watching me from the shadows.
Suddenly, the trees seemed to shift and move around me, their branches twisting into grotesque shapes. I gasped, feeling a chill run down my spine.
What was happening? Was this some kind of test? Or was I really being haunted by the shadows themselves?
I tried to step back, but my feet felt rooted to the spot. The trees seemed to be closing in around me, their branches wrapping around me like tentacles.
And then, I saw them. Faces. The faces of people I had loved and lost. My parents, my friends, my enemies. They were all there, their eyes black as coal, their skin gray as stone.
They began to whisper to me, their voices like a cold wind that sent shivers down my spine. "You should have stayed out of this," they said. "You should have stayed out of this."
I felt a sense of despair wash over me. What was happening? Why was this happening?
But then, I saw Riven. He was standing at the edge of the clearing, his eyes blazing with a fierce determination.
"Lila," he called out, his voice ringing across the clearing. "Don't listen to them! They're just shadows!"
I felt a surge of hope. Riven! He was here!
But as I turned to face him, I saw that his eyes were no longer his own. They were black as coal, just like the faces around me.
"No," I whispered. "No, Riven!"
And then, everything went black.