Lira Valenti's wrists bled, the light-chains biting into her skin as Sarn's ruins glowed under a storm-torn sky. Sand stung her face, coarse and warm, the air heavy with dust and dread. Her runes flickered, silver light fading, stolen by the Silent Council's crystal. The spectral army's chant echoed—"Blood seals the Accord"—their blades glinting like stars. The sea beast's jaws snapped, venom dripping, while Kael's possessed figure loomed on the Council's ship, his second crystal pulsing with Lira's stolen light. Veyra stood frozen, her third crystal glowing, tears streaking her face.
"I had no choice," she whispered, her betrayal a knife in Lira's heart.
Elias tore at the chains, his sea-glass eyes wild with desperation.
"I won't let you go!" His voice cracked, his hands rough but warm, anchoring her.
But the mysterious figure's voice—Lira's voice—rang out:
"The blood pact ends tonight."
Her own voice, alive, impossible, chilled her to the bone.
Koren, the sixth-nation survivor, swung his star-etched staff, silver light slicing a spectral warrior. It dissolved, ash scattering, but more rose, their eyes glowing like Kael's.
"The Accord was a sacrifice," Koren shouted, dodging a blade.
"The sixth nation gave their Voicekeeper's blood to bind Solara's tides, Sarn's warriors, Veyra's scholars, Thryme's smiths, Kyris's riders. They erased her to hide the cost."
Lira's heart pounded. Her blood, her curse, was the Accord's foundation?
Her Echowriting, her rune-magic, was her only weapon, but it faltered under the crystal's curse.
Lira's runes sparked, defiance flaring. She scratched a star-circle into the sand, her nails tearing. Silver light burst, shattering the chains.
The beast roared, lunging, but Elias tackled her behind a glowing pillar, his body shielding hers.
"Stay with me," he whispered, his breath hot on her cheek, their faces inches apart.
Her pulse raced, his Veyran pendant—silver, tree-etched—pressed against her palm.
"I knew Mira before," he said, voice low, pained.
"She loved the Accord, like my mother. I trusted her, but she chose the Council. I won't make that mistake with you."
His fingers brushed her lips, a near-kiss, his eyes a vow.
Her heart fluttered, wanting to trust, but the figure's voice—her voice—echoed, sowing doubt.
---
✦ Mira's Memory ✦
Mira gripped the crystal on the Council's ship, its pulse burning her hand. Lira's face—her twin's—flashed in her mind, eight years old, giggling on Solara's docks before the ritual stole her voice.
Mira had been nine, trembling as the Council demanded a Voicekeeper's silence. She'd chosen Lira, her weaker twin, to save herself, a child's fear driving her.
Now Lira's Echowriting threatened to unravel the lie, exposing Mira's guilt.
"I didn't want this," she whispered, rain mixing with tears.
The beast's roar shook her, hunting Lira in Sarn's sands. The Council's whispers filled her mind—"Kill her"—but her heart rebelled. Could she save her sister, or was she too far gone?
✦ End of Memory ✦
----
The beast's claws raked the pillar, sand exploding. Koren's staff blazed, starlight deflecting its strike, but the spectral army closed in, blades drawn.
"Your Echowriting is the sixth nation's revenge," Koren said, voice strained.
"The Voicekeeper's blood sealed the Accord, but they betrayed her, burned her people. You're her echo."
Lira's breath caught.
An echo?
She knelt, scratching a jagged rune into the pillar. Light flared, shattering three spectral warriors, but pain stabbed her arm, her power draining. The crystal's curse tightened, her throat burning—"Your voice is ours."
Veyra stumbled forward, her crystal glowing blood-red.
"My brother," she sobbed.
"They'll kill him if I don't."
Lira's heart twisted—betrayal, again. Elias pulled her toward a hidden shrine in the ruins, its walls etched with runes that hummed with her parchment.
"It's sixth-nation," he said, his hand tight on hers.
"It might stop the ritual."
Inside, starlight illuminated a stone altar, a cracked scroll glowing with runes.
Lira touched it, and a vision hit—sand under a crimson sky, a Voicekeeper weaving runes as shadows struck.
"They lied!" she screamed, blood pooling, Kael's younger face watching, cold.
Lira gasped, the vision breaking, her knees buckling.
Elias caught her, his arms strong, his lips brushing her forehead.
"I've got you," he whispered, his warmth a lifeline.
Her heart blazed, but Kael's betrayal—years ago?—gnawed at her.
Mira appeared at the shrine's entrance, her crimson cloak dripping.
"Sister," she said, voice soft but sharp.
"We end this now."
Her hands flared with dark energy, tendrils snaking toward Lira.
Lira scratched a star-circle into the altar, silver light clashing with Mira's darkness.
The shrine quaked, a Fracture splitting the floor.
"You were my sacrifice," Mira said, her dagger flashing.
"Your light ruins everything."
Lira's runes burned, shoving Mira back, but the beast crashed through the wall, its jaws snapping.
Koren's staff deflected it, but his light dimmed.
"The ritual's growing," he warned.
"It'll take your life."
✦ Mira's Memory ✦
Mira staggered in the ruins, the crystal heavy, its whispers drowning her.
Lira's Echowriting was waking the truth she'd buried—her betrayal, her shame.
She saw their childhood, Lira's trust before the silence, her own tears as she gave her twin to the Council.
"I can't lose you again," she whispered, her resolve cracking.
The beast's roar shook her, but she ran toward the shrine, dagger raised, torn between the Council's orders and a sister's love.
Could she defy them, or was Lira's death her only path?
✦ End of Memory ✦
----
Lira's runes faltered, pain searing her arm. She scratched another rune, light flaring, but the second beast rose from the sand, its eyes locked on Elias.
"No!" Lira lunged, her light shoving it back, but her vision blurred, the curse tightening.
Koren led them deeper into the shrine, to a hidden chamber where a sixth-nation artifact—a star-shaped stone—pulsed with light.
"It holds the Voicekeeper's truth," he said.
"Touch it."
Lira did, and a vision surged—a Voicekeeper bleeding on this altar, her runes sealing the Accord as Kael betrayed her.
"Your blood breaks it," she whispered.
Lira woke, gasping, the scroll's words burning:
"The Voicekeeper's blood ends the Accord."
Veyra's crystal pulsed, and the second beast roared, claws raking the shrine.
"I'm sorry," Veyra cried, raising the crystal.
A red flare lit the sky, signaling Kael's ship.
The spectral army surged, blades glowing, and Kael's voice boomed:
"The Accord is ours."
The mysterious figure appeared, cloaked, holding a blade etched with Lira's runes.
"Your voice, your blood," it said—Lira's voice, alive, cold.
"I am your echo, freed to end you."
Elias tackled Lira, shielding her from the figure's blade.
"I won't let you die!" His voice broke, his pendant glowing.
But Koren's eyes flicked away, hiding something.
"The artifact can break the pact," he said, too quick.
Was he lying?
Veyra's crystal flared, summoning a third beast, its scales shimmering, chanting Lira's name.
Mira screamed, turning her energy on the figure, her eyes wet.
"Lira, run!"
The figure laughed, raising the blade—
And the shrine collapsed, sand swallowing them as the beasts closed in.