Follow Her

Seredain’s cloak shimmers as fragments of light pierce the blackened sky. At the edge of the clouds, dawn begins to break, an orange glow burning at the heart of the darkness. But its battle is far from over.

And neither is mine.

He stands before a fork in the road, arms raised.

“Two paths lie before you, Caden. One burns with the embers of your past. The other swallows the light of your becoming. Both will take you to the fortress… but only one will show you who you truly are.”

He lowers his arms slowly, his voice softer now.

“I know this, because this is the trial that deemed me unworthy, the one that took my life and sealed it away here.”

Seredain turns toward one of the roads. I follow his gaze. The cobblestones stretch into the distance, vanishing into a veil of deepening shadow. The longer I stare, the darker it becomes, as if the road itself absorbs the light around it.

My nerves prickle. My mouth goes dry and a cold shiver runs up my spine. I turn away, uneasy, and look to the second path.

It couldn’t be more different.

Sunlight breaks through above it. Warmth brushes against my skin as I gaze down its length, a golden hue illuminating the way. I feel it in my chest, an almost magnetic pull, inviting me forward.

The choice seems simple.

Yet something feels… wrong.

I glance back at Seredain. His eyes are still locked on the darkened path, lost in thought.

I ask, “Is that the one you took?”

He blinks, as if breaking from a trance. Slowly, he turns to me, hesitation tightening his features.

“No. It’s the path I should have taken.”

His voice lowers, tinged with regret.

“I was arrogant. I believed I could conquer any trial placed before me. I chose the path of light… thinking it would reveal the way. And yes, it did, every moment, every memory, exactly as it happened. Across every verse.”

He pauses.

“But that’s all it showed. No challenge. No growth. No transformation.”

He looks up, and the grief in his eyes is unmistakable.

“The Flamepool placed these paths before you, Caden. It is preparing you. If you choose without wisdom… if you walk the wrong path and come away unchanged… it will deem you unworthy.”

He steps back, the wind catching his cloak like smoke unravelling into the air.

“And you will remain here. Just like me.”

I nod in acceptance. “I understand. But if I choose the darkened path… what chance do I have of making it through? What if I never reach the fortress?”

Her image flashes in my mind, and for a moment, the breath leaves my lungs. Her beauty stops my heart. My grip tightens around the Mimic’s hilt as I steady myself.

My voice falls to a whisper.

“I must find her.”

I turn and walk toward the road of light. The warmth intensifies with each step, soothing, familiar, like the memory of home. I stop at its edge and peer ahead. If both roads lead to the Cracked Fortress. To her. Then surely I should take the one that offers safety, certainty.

But Seredain’s voice cuts through the stillness.

“Beware the easy warmth. The Lighted Path reveals much… but what it shows is not always your truth. Comfort can be a veil, just as darkness can be a mirror.”

I glance back at him, uncertainty curling in my gut.

“So, you think I should take the darkened path?”

Seredain shakes his head.

“No, Caden. Only you can choose the path you must take.”

He pauses, voice steady and low.

“Some must walk through memory, to reclaim what was lost, to understand who they were before the fire. Only then can they move forward.”

His smokey eyes narrow, shadowed by thought.

“Others must face what lies ahead, not who they were, but who they might become. And not all who see that truth survive it.”

I turn back toward the sunlit road. Its warmth seeps into me, easing the tension in my limbs. My legs twitch in anticipation, eager to step forward. But I resist.

Then I realise, the wind is gone. Only warmth remains.

I listen for her voice.

Nothing.

No whispers. No melody. No presence.

Only the faint crackle of flame beneath the skin of the world… and the path, winding into a place where I now know, her voice cannot follow.

My heart begins to race. I stumble back from the lighted path as if some beast of the night had raised its head. My foot catches, and I fall to one knee. Breath short. Hands trembling. Not from fear for myself, but fear for her.

The absence of her presence strikes me like a blow. My hands won’t still. It’s as if her voice had been the source of my strength, my courage, and without it, I begin to fray.

Seredain appears beside me, his form swirling into being. Dust and smoke gather in spirals, coalescing into shape until he kneels at my side and places a steadying hand on my shoulder.

“Caden,” he says gently, his voice tinged with concern, “are you all right?”

I draw a long, trembling breath, and then it comes: a breeze brushing my cheek, soft as memory.

I listen.

And I hear her, barely more than breath, a whisper echoing with the wind.

“Lira… Lira…”

A rush of blood surges through my limbs as her voice fills my thoughts. Another memory flashes behind my eyes. Her gaze, steady and certain, as her words echo through me:

“You are not ready… but you are the one. I know it.”

The shaking stops. My thoughts sharpen.

I know what I must do.

Seredain’s voice calls me back into the world. “Caden… are you all right?”

I rise slowly, eyes fixed on the darkened path.

“No,” I say, my voice firm. “But I will be.”

I glance at Seredain.

“I’m going to take the path you didn’t. I may have forgotten my past, but that’s not what matters now. I have to keep moving forward. I have to follow her voice.”

I turn toward the shadows ahead.

“If I must face my fate on the road to her… then I’ll welcome it. I’ll endure whatever it takes, for her, and for what it will make of me.”

Seredain watches me, the smoke in his eyes swirling, unreadable. He says nothing for a moment, only studies me with a solemn stillness. Then he speaks.

“Are you certain?”

His voice is low, weighty.

“Once you set foot on this path, there’s no turning back. You must see it through, to the very end.”

I walk to the edge of the darkened road. The wind howls now, fierce and biting. Her voice rises with it, no longer a whisper, but a call.

The warmth I felt earlier is gone, like a fading dream.

But her voice remains. And that is enough.

I glance over my shoulder at Seredain.

“Are you coming?” I ask, though I already know the answer.

Without waiting, I turn and step forward, no hesitation, no fear.

The world lurches.

Time fractures. The path surges beneath me like a river of shadows. Wind roars past my ears, and the world becomes a blur, a smear of motion and speed. Then, a sudden jolt. Time slams back into place.

I stumble, catching myself.

I stand now at the edge of an ancient forest, its towering trees rising like pillars from another age. Their trunks twist and stretch skyward, gnarled and massive, blocking all light from above. The path narrows, winding into the dark.

No sun reaches through the canopy. No warmth follows.

But her voice is there, steady, strong, echoing from within the trees.

Calling me on.

I take one step into the forest, and Seredain’s voice rings out behind me.

“WAIT!”

But it’s too late.

The air thickens. The trees swallow the light. The ground beneath my feet trembles.

A low growl rises from the darkness ahead… and two red eyes ignite in the black, fixed on me.

Something ancient stirs.

And it’s coming.