The black-stone spire loomed before Zhan Arkheis, casting a long, ominous shadow across the rippling sands. The battle had left him drained, his muscles aching from the strain of channeling the shard's power. Yet his gray eyes remained fixed on his target, unyielding in their resolve.
Behind him, the amplifiers hummed faintly, their glow dim but steady. The shard pulsed softly in its case, as though regathering its strength after the storm of Essence it had unleashed.
Zhan stood at the base of the spire, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his sword. The runes etched into the stone glowed faintly, their light flickering in rhythm with the shard's pulse.
"The heart stirs. The sands watch. The debt looms."
The whispers had returned, low and insistent, like the muttering of unseen judges.
Zhan smirked. "Let them watch," he muttered under his breath. "I'm done being judged."
He stepped forward, placing his hand on the spire's surface. The stone was cold beneath his touch, its runes flaring brightly as though responding to his presence.
And then the world shifted.
The desert disappeared, replaced by a vast, featureless expanse of light and shadow. The air here was thick with Essence, each breath filling Zhan with a strange, electric energy. The ground beneath him was smooth and reflective, like polished obsidian, but it felt unstable, shifting slightly under his weight.
In the distance, a figure emerged from the swirling void.
It was tall and indistinct, its form flickering like a mirage. Its body was composed of sand and glass, its limbs jagged and ever-shifting. Its face was a swirling abyss, a void that seemed to pull the light into itself.
"Zhan Arkheis," the figure said, its voice vast and resonant. "You have come far. Too far."
Zhan drew his sword, his stance shifting into readiness. "You sound just like the last one I killed," he said, his voice cold. "And the one before that. I hope you put up more of a fight."
The figure's void-like face tilted slightly, as though amused. "You misunderstand, mortal. I am not here to fight you. I am here to test you."
Zhan smirked, his blade glinting faintly in the light. "Tests don't scare me. Show me what you've got."
The figure raised one of its limbs, a swirling appendage of sand and glass, and pointed it toward Zhan.
The ground beneath him trembled, cracks spreading outward as the air grew heavier. A low, resonant hum filled the space, growing louder with each passing second.
And then, the test began.
The first trial came swiftly.
The reflective ground beneath Zhan's feet erupted, shards of obsidian and sand shooting upward like spears. He leaped back, his sword flashing as he cut through the incoming projectiles.
The shards reformed mid-air, swirling together to create humanoid shapes. Their jagged forms gleamed in the faint light, their movements erratic but deliberate.
Zhan met them head-on, his blade cutting through their fragile bodies with precision. Each strike sent ripples of Essence through the air, the shard's power amplifying his strength and speed.
But for every figure he destroyed, another rose to take its place. The ground beneath him shifted constantly, throwing off his balance as more shards emerged to attack.
The whispers surged in his mind, their tone sharp and accusatory.
"The sands do not kneel. The heart does not bend. The debt remains."
Zhan gritted his teeth, his movements unrelenting as he fought. "You can repeat yourselves all you want," he growled. "I'm not leaving without the heart."
The second trial began without warning.
The swirling void above him darkened, and a massive wave of sand and glass crashed down like a tidal wave. Zhan raised his sword, channeling all of his Essence into the blade as he struck upward.
The impact sent a shockwave through the air, scattering the wave into a thousand shards. The amplifiers behind him flared violently, their hum rising to an almost unbearable pitch as they fed power into the attack.
But the wave reformed instantly, surging toward him with even greater force.
Zhan dodged to the side, his blade carving through the wave as it passed. He struck again and again, each blow scattering the sand and glass into the void.
The whispers in his mind grew louder, their words crashing over him like thunder.
"The sands rise. The heart resists. The cycle will not break."
Zhan roared, his sword flaring with light as he drove it into the ground. A pulse of Essence erupted from the point of impact, scattering the wave completely.
For a moment, the void was silent.
The final trial came from within.
The figure stepped forward, its void-like face tilting downward to meet Zhan's gaze. "You have fought well, Arkheis," it said, its voice cold. "But strength alone cannot claim the heart. The sands demand more."
The air around Zhan shimmered, and the void dissolved into a series of visions.
He saw the faces of the men and women he had killed, their eyes filled with fear and hatred. He saw the soldiers he had abandoned, their bodies left to the mercy of the desert. He saw Arkos, his closest companion, turning his back on him and walking into the sands.
And finally, he saw himself—standing atop a throne of sand, his body consumed by the shard's light, his face twisted into something unrecognizable.
The whispers grew deafening.
"The debt is not paid. The sands do not forgive. The heart will consume you."
Zhan staggered, his hand clutching the shard's case as its light burned brighter, its pulse syncing with the amplifiers' frantic hum.
He clenched his jaw, his gray eyes blazing with defiance.
"I don't care about forgiveness," he said, his voice steady. "I don't care about the debt. I'll claim the heart, no matter the cost."
The visions shattered, and Zhan was back in the void. The figure loomed above him, its form flickering violently.
"Then step forward, Arkheis," it said. "Take the heart of the sands. But know this—what you take, the sands will take in return."
Zhan smirked, his blade glinting faintly in the light. "The sands can take whatever they want. I'm not leaving without the heart."
He stepped forward, his hand reaching for the glowing core at the center of the spire.
As his fingers closed around it, the void erupted in a storm of light and sound.