The door that opened from the base of the obelisk was unlike any they had seen before. It wasn't made of stone or wood, but something between shadow and light—constantly shifting, as if refusing to settle into a shape.
Kael stood before it, his Thorn mark glowing faintly on his chest. Selene reached for her blade but didn't draw it. She was tense, unsure. Not afraid of what was behind the door—but of what it might mean for Kael.
"Do you hear that?" Kael asked.
Selene nodded slowly. "Whispers."
Faint voices drifted from the doorway, not loud but countless. Like every soul the city had ever held was murmuring just beyond the threshold.
Kael stepped forward, and the door reacted. The shadow bent toward him like smoke in a breeze. As he touched it, the door parted without resistance.
Inside, they found a long corridor lit by blue fire. The walls were mirrored obsidian, reflecting not just their forms—but distorted, twisted versions of themselves. Kael's reflection grinned back at him with hollow eyes. Selene's image bled shadows from her mouth.
"This place isn't right," she muttered.
They walked deeper. At the end of the hall stood a pedestal. Upon it was a single, ancient scroll wrapped in dark silk.
As Kael reached for it, the room shifted. One of the mirrors cracked and a figure stepped out—Kael's reflection. But not exactly him.
The mirrored Kael wore full black armor and a bloodstained crown. His eyes were dead, his smile cruel.
"You shouldn't be here," it said. "You left this city in ruin. You left me behind."
Kael froze. "What are you?"
"A warning. A truth. A future you'll become… unless you remember."
Selene stepped beside Kael. "Then we'll fight it."
But the mirrored Kael shook his head. "I'm not here to fight. I'm here to offer."
He extended a hand, and the scroll unraveled itself. It showed an ancient map—one that led far deeper below the city.
"To find what you lost, you'll have to descend further. Past memory. Past death. Into the roots."
Kael hesitated. But he took the scroll.
The mirror self vanished with a cold laugh.
Behind the pedestal, another door appeared—this one carved from bone and gold, with symbols older than language.
Selene looked to Kael. "We keep going?"
He nodded. "Until the end."