Elizabeth felt it the moment the world changed.
One second, she was standing in the dungeon''s trial chamber.
The next—
Darkness.
Not the familiar kind.
Not the kind that bent to her will, obeying her command.
This was different. Heavier.
A suffocating abyss wrapped around her, pressing into her chest like unseen chains.
Then—
A whisper.
"You let them die."
Elizabeth''s breath caught in her throat.
No.
Not this.
A mirror shattered in the distance.
She turned—
And there, standing in the void, was herself.
Nyx froze.
Her reflection stood a few feet away, but something was wrong.
It wasn''t a reflection.
It was her—but twisted.
Same dark armor. Same sword strapped to her side. Same shadowed gaze.
But her eyes…
Black.
Not a trace of white. Just twin voids, swallowing everything.
The fake smiled.
"You still pretend you''re not a murderer?"
Elizabeth stiffened. "You''re an illusion."
The fake tilted her head. "Am I?"
A new voice joined the first.
"You knew what would happen."
The darkness around them twisted, shifting like living things. Shadows slithered through the abyss—watching, whispering, laughing.
Elizabeth''s pulse quickened.
Because she knew those voices.
They were dead.
"Elizabeth… why did you do it?"
She clenched her fists.
This was a fear trial.
It wasn''t real.
It couldn''t be real.
The fake Elizabeth smirked.
"Then why does it feel real?"
The whispers grew louder.
Then—
A new shape emerged from the void.
A man—her father.
His armor was broken, caked in blood. His sword missing.
His eyes—
Lifeless. Empty.
Just like they had been the last time she saw him.
Elizabeth''s hands shook.
"Elizabeth…" her father''s voice echoed. "Why did you open it?"
Elizabeth forced herself to breathe.
To remember.
She had been young.
She had studied the Veilborn seals, read the old texts.
She had thought—believed—that she could control what lay beneath.
But the moment she broke the seal—
Darkness spilled out.
It swallowed everything.
And then—
Nothing.
Only silence.
Because she had blacked out.
When she awoke—
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
The Veilborn was gone.
And so was her entire clan.
Their bodies lay scattered across the temple.
Blood on the floors.
Eyes staring into nothing.
She had lost everything.
And she hadn''t even been awake to stop it.
The fake Elizabeth stepped closer.
"Say it."
Elizabeth''s throat was dry. "Say what?"
The fake''s smile widened.
"That you abandoned them."
A new memory took shape.
The moment she awoke.
The air smelled of ash.
The temple—in ruins.
Her father''s and mother''s body, lying at her feet.
And the seal—
Shattered.
She had done it.
And she hadn''t even been strong enough to see what happened next.
"You weren''t even awake to watch them die," the fake whispered.
Elizabeth''s jaw clenched.
The abyss pulled at her, dragging her deeper.
A voice—her mother''s this time—begged.
"Elizabeth, please—wake up."
Elizabeth''s fingers tightene.
She had been unconscious.
Useless.
Weak.
The Veilborn she had unleashed had torn through her people—
And she hadn''t lifted a finger to stop it.
The fake Elizabeth leaned in, voice soft.
"You should have died with them."
The shadows lunged.
They wrapped around her arms, her throat—dragging her down.
She couldn''t move.
She could still hear their screams.
She could still see their blood.
The abyss whispered.
"Give up."
Elizabeth closed her eyes.
Then—
She remembered.
Not the screams.
Not the fire.
Not the guilt.
What came after.
She had survived.
She had sworn to never be weak again.
Elizabeth''s eyes snapped open.
"I wasn''t awake," she admitted.
The fake Elizabeth smirked.
"Then why do you still blame yourself?"
Elizabeth''s hand stopped shaking.
Because she knew why.
Because it didn''t matter if she had been unconscious.
It didn''t matter that she hadn''t seen it.
She had caused it.
And if she ran from that truth—
Then she had no right to wield a sword.
Her grip tightened.
The darkness shuddered.
The shadows pulled away.
"I couldn''t stop it then," she said.
Her sword rose.
"But I can stop this."
Slash.
The blade tore through her reflection.
The abyss shattered.
And suddenly—
She was back.
The dungeon''s stone floor was cold beneath her boots.
The air was heavy.
Real.
Elizabeth exhaled.
Ryan stood nearby, arms crossed. His gaze unreadable.
"Still standing?" he asked.
Elizabeth replied
"Of course."
Ryan smirked.
"Good."
"The next round starts soon."
Nyx didn''t look back.
She didn''t need to.
Because now—
She was stronger than her past.
And nothing would change that.
---
The chamber was waiting for him.
Aiden stood at the threshold, staring into the gaping maw of darkness. A windless void stretched before him, as if the world itself had forgotten to exist beyond this point. The ancient stone archway loomed overhead, engraved with runes too old for even the scholars to decipher.
Ryan, the Dungeon Keeper, stood beside him, arms crossed. His expression was unreadable, yet there was something in his gaze—a silent warning.
Aiden exhaled. "Tch. You know, you could at least pretend to make this feel welcoming."
Ryan didn''t blink. "Fear isn''t meant to be welcoming."
Aiden rolled his shoulders, a smirk creeping onto his face. "Yeah, yeah. ''Face your fear, conquer it, blah blah blah.'' You really love the dramatics, huh?"
Ryan remained silent.
Aiden clicked his tongue. "Fine. Let''s get this over with."
He took a step forward—
And the world swallowed him.
The second his foot crossed the threshold, the stone beneath him vanished. Gravity twisted—no, collapsed—and he was falling. Not through air, not through space—through nothing.
His stomach lurched. His breath caught. His flames flickered to life in instinct—
FWOOOSH!
Bright tongues of fire burst from his hands—only to immediately die out.
His heart skipped a beat.
The fire—his fire—had never failed him before.
Aiden twisted midair, trying to orient himself, trying to see where he was falling—
Then—
THUD!
He hit the ground.
Or at least, something like the ground. It was solid beneath him, but it felt wrong. Like walking on the surface of a frozen lake that was just about to crack.
Aiden groaned, pushing himself up. "Okay. That sucked."
Then he realized—
It was quiet.
Not the peaceful kind.
The kind that made his skin crawl.
No footsteps. No shifting air. No distant sounds of water dripping from the cavern walls. No heartbeat.
Nothing.
Aiden turned, scanning the pitch-black horizon. "Oi!" he called. His voice should have echoed. It didn''t. It just vanished, as if the void had eaten it whole.
Then—
A whisper.
"Alone."
The air turned cold.
Aiden''s breath hitched. Something about that word—about the way it was said—sent a shiver down his spine.
He turned sharply, fists clenching. "Who said that?"
No response.
Then—
The ground beneath him trembled.
And suddenly—he wasn''t alone anymore.
Shadows crawled forth from the abyss, stretching, twisting, pulling themselves into shapes.
Figures.
One by one, they rose, forming a circle around him.
Silent. Watching.
Aiden''s hands burned with instinctive fire—
Nothing.
His flames refused to come.
Aiden gritted his teeth. "Alright. Cute trick. Real spooky. But I don''t scare easy."
Then—
A single voice.
Cold. Familiar.
"You were always weaker."
Aiden''s breath caught.
He turned.
And there—
Stood Ivar.
Not a shadow. Not an illusion.
Ivar.
Expression blank. Eyes like frozen glass.
Not as a brother.
Not as an ally.
But as something far, far worse.
An enemy.
Aiden stared.
His mind knew it wasn''t real. Knew this was the trial. Knew this was all some twisted illusion meant to unearth the deepest fears buried in his soul.
But his heart—
His heart didn''t give a damn.
Ivar stood before him, expression cold, unreadable. His presence was suffocating, an overwhelming chill seeping into Aiden''s bones.
For the first time, Aiden noticed the air around his brother. It wasn''t just cold—it was wrong. The kind of wrong that made the world feel unnatural. Like winter had overstayed its welcome and turned into something else entirely.
"You were always weaker."
Ivar''s voice was like ice scraping against steel.
Aiden clenched his fists. "Tch. Oh yeah? Since when did you start talking like some stuck-up noble?" He forced out a smirk, trying to shake the unease creeping up his spine.
Ivar didn''t respond.
He just stepped forward.
And the world cracked.
CRRRKKK—
The ground beneath them shattered like brittle glass. The void stretched wider, swallowing everything except the two of them. It was just them now—two brothers standing in a world reduced to nothing.
Aiden''s heart pounded. His flames still wouldn''t come. His body still felt sluggish.
Ivar raised a hand.
The temperature plummeted.
FWOOOOSH—
A wave of frost erupted from Ivar''s palm, carving through the ground like a frozen blade. Ice spread, creeping toward Aiden''s feet, devouring every inch of space between them.
Aiden moved—
Too slow.
The ice slammed into his legs, freezing him in place.
His breath hitched. His muscles locked.
Ivar''s eyes bored into him. "You were never meant to stand beside me."
Aiden''s mind screamed at him to move, to fight, to do something—
But his body refused.
Cold wrapped around him like a noose.
Aiden gritted his teeth. "Bullshit."
Ivar didn''t blink. "You always needed me."
The words hit harder than the ice.
Aiden''s breath came in sharp, uneven gasps.
Needed him?
No—Aiden chose to stand with him. He chose to fight alongside Ivar, to be his equal, his rival, his brother.
Didn''t he?
A whisper curled through the void.
"You''ve only ever been his shadow."
Something inside Aiden snapped.
He forced his legs to move. Crack! The ice splintered. His muscles screamed in protest, but he pushed.
"SHUT UP!"
His flames roared to life—FWOOM!—an eruption of fire hotter than anything he had ever summoned before.
The ice melted instantly.
Ivar didn''t react. He just lifted his hand again.
The void darkened.
Then—
CRACK!
The ice beneath Aiden''s feet shattered completely.
And he fell.
Fell into a world of burning frost.
---
To be continued.