Chapter 7: The Invisible Routes
That black glass, which had pulled Elijah down into the depths of his own soul, shimmered faintly, then went out to nothingness within the Chamber of Reflections. He was different; no, he was different. For the shadows within him no longer clawed for dominance; no longer shrieked incessantly in the corners of his mind. Instead, they spread to fill him like a calm sea, an ever-present power responding to his will.
Seraphina sat silent, violet of eye glowing in the room's dimness. She understood him; she could feel that balance within him. But her expression gives away nothing. It was as though this was what she had expected all along, as though success for him merely marked one step toward a long, laborious road.
"You've taken your first step, but that's just the beginning," Seraphina whispered softly, a faint undertone of warning laced through her voice. "The shadows that are now within you may have been tamed, but what awaits you in the world outside is far worse than what you will actually realize. Take care."
Elijah nodded, having a feeling that she spoke the truth. For the first time ever, he felt as though he was finally grasping the weight of his duties as a guardian of the Abyssal Veil; yet in this power, he grew accustomed to, he was ready for whatever was bound to come.
"What now?" he repeated to himself, his voice straight but hard with undertones of curiosities.
She beckoned him to follow her from the room. As they departed the Hall of Echoes, the corridors of the Library of Truth stretched before them, endless and mysterious as ever. But something had changed-Elijah could sense now the thin thrum of power that seemed to emanate from each ancient tome around him. Each book pulsed as if full of knowledge, waiting to be unlocked.
"The Library is more than a collection of knowledge," Seraphina explained as they walked. "It is a living thing, a nexus of all truths, forgotten and unknown. Those who seek its knowledge must be prepared to face the consequences of uncovering the truth. There are paths within this place that can lead to enlightenment or destruction."
Elijah cast a glance to the towering shelves, felt the weight of her words. "And walk I am to these aisles?"
Seraphina paused before answering, her gaze drifting to the shadowy corner of the library, where shadows gathered more thickly. "The paths of the Library are not walked in a physical sense. They are actual threads of fate, woven into the fabric of reality. As the guardian of the Abyssal Veil, you must learn to navigate these unseen paths. It will be your responsibility to protect the balance between light and dark, truth and illusion."
And the weight of her words sank like a cloak to Elijah's shoulders. Known deep inside himself, all along, that there had been something more to this role than just wielding power, he realized at this cliff edge of greater understanding how vast his task really was.
When they came further in, Seraphina halted at a large ornate door carved from a material that shone smooth and silver. The door was unlike anything that the others they passed had been-it shimmered faintly, as if it should have been alive. Intricate symbols were etched into its surface, symbols that seemed to shift and change as Elijah stared at them.
"This is the Door of Transcendence," Seraphina declared, her voice carrying itself on the air. "Behind it lies a road which but a handful of mortals have ever taken, a road that leads right into the central house of the Library, and which holds in its archives the greatest and most sublime truths of all existence."
Elijah shivered. "And you want me to take it?
She stood before him now, her eyes bright with an intensity he had never seen before. "No one wants you to walk this path, Elijah. This is a choice only you can make. If you go through that door, you'll start a journey that might change not just your destiny but the world's as well. The truths you discover there may bring enlightenment, or they may bring ruin, all depending on how you use them."
He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry under the weight of that decision. I had fought so hard to go this far, for control over these shadows inside me. And yet, standing in front of this door, he realized that he still hadn't begun.
Wordlessly, he grasped the handle and shoved the door open. Warm, pale light spread out through the crack in the doors, tinged with a golden shimmer across the corridor. As he stepped through the doorway, he seemed to be leaving one world behind and stepping into another. The air around him rippled as if he'd crossed some boundary.
He went through the doorway, and found himself standing on a narrow path that seemed to extend in seemingly endless rolls of the kind. Under his feet was shimmering, translucent stone, and overhead, a sky of ever-changing swirl of colors: deep blues and fiery reds and glowing golds, dancing in an endless, cosmic ballet.
It was like a place Elijah had never seen in his life. It seemed as if standing at the edge of the world, or perhaps something even deeper. The path was flanked on each side by towering pillars as he walked forward, with symbols and runes glowing here and there with an ancient power.
Seraphina followed behind him, her form a steady anchor in the odd, glowing landscape. "This is the Way of Transcendence," she said. "Here, time and space are fluid, and reality is malleable. You must be careful, Elijah. The truths you seek will not come easily, and the forces that guard them will test you in ways you cannot imagine."
Elijah nodded, his resolve setting hard. This far, he had gotten. The way back was closed for him now.
As he began walking along the path, the air itself started to tremble, as if something was rising from him, following his back. Shadows in him began to stir, but this time not to sweep over him. They were waiting for something or someone.
He was led along this trail to a large, round platform at the centre of which stood a giant pedestal. On top of the pedestal lay a single ancient tome whose cover was bound in what appeared to be dark, weathered material, untouched for millennia.
"This is the Codex of the Abyssal Veil," Seraphina said, her voice little more than a whisper. "It holds within it the knowledge you seek-the truths of the Abyssal Veil, the power of shadows, and the balance of light and darkness."
Elijah approached the pedestal, the thumping in his chest almost driving him into a sprint. He could feel the power emitting from the book, an almost suffocating presence that would become him.
Deep breath, he extended a hand and touched the cover. As soon as his fingers came into contact with the cover, the shadows within him leapt to live and engulfed him like an endearing chrysalis. The air around him started crackling and even the runes on the tome began to glow; their light grew bigger and bigger until his vision was entirely filled by it.
And then, with an explosion of light, everything was dark.
He stood alone in the space, his mind screaming a thousand questions. He could feel the presence of the shadows all around him, yet they were not quite like them: calmer, focused, no longer searching to consume him but instead to guide him.
The voice boomed out into the dark of the night. Deep, resonant, filled with ancient power, it was a voice that couldn't be forgotten. "You have traveled long, Elijah, but you are far from finished. To comprehend the secrets of the Abyssal Veil, you must first face the ultimate question: What lies beyond the shadows?"
Then of course, that question hung in the air: Elijah's mind reeled as he considered what lay beyond the shadows. Was it light? Knowledge? Power? Something else?
As he thought about that, the darkness around him began moving and drew to a light in the far distance, faint, flickering. It stretched out further the longer he focused on it, pierce the void like a beacon of hope.
And in that instant, Elijah understood.
The shadows weren't an end, but a means. A bridge between the known and the unknown, the light and the dark. When Elijah understood that mastering the shadows was the path to understanding the fine line between the two, he walked on the path between them, not being consumed by either.
Elijah stepped forward into the bright light with new clarity now shining from within, because for him, the way opened as the shadow made way for him.
There was still so much of a journey ahead.