Tower Overlook – Midnight?

  The wind lashed the heights with restless force. Clouds swirled above Aarush as if hiding more than just rain. From the overlook, the city resembled a board of flickering lights, distant, unaware of what was about to unfold.?

  Kali rubbed her bare arms as they advanced. Dahlia followed a few steps behind, jaw clenched. Nicco brought up the rear, eyes scanning the gloom, every muscle alert.?

  The abandoned structure of the overlook was a skeleton of rusted metal and half-built walls. A remnant of some luxury project that never materialized.?

  And there she was.?

  A slender figure, wrapped in a black coat that billowed like smoke. Her red hair fell in waves to her waist, and her eyes—an unnatural, almost fluorescent blue—watched them calmly.?

  Skyler.?

  "Thank you for coming," she said, unmoving. "We didn't have time for games. The awakening of the Stone has accelerated everything."?

  Kali narrowed her eyes.?

  "Who are you?"?

  "Skyler. Though that name only makes sense now. In another life... I was your ally. A soul sister. A loyal shadow."?

  Dahlia stepped forward.?

  "And what do you know about us?"?

  "Everything," Skyler replied, and as she spoke, her voice seemed to resonate beyond her throat. "I know your powers awakened prematurely. I know you've felt the pulse. The rupture. And I know you don't understand why."?

  Kali crossed her arms, though her voice no longer sounded so defiant.?

  "Then explain it. Now."?

  Skyler nodded and extended her hand toward a semi-ruined stone bench. A faint, pale light emerged from her palm. An illusion, a vision projected before them like dense smoke taking shape.?

  A face appeared. A man with empty eyes and a crown of thorns. A silhouette made of shadows, tall, imposing, with hands that didn't seem human.?

  "His name was Umbrosar," Skyler said. "He ruled with an iron fist for centuries. He didn't govern kingdoms. He ruled fear. Wherever he went, the light faded. And so did the will of the people."?

  The image showed a land covered in shadows. Collapsing cities, crying children, parched fields under black skies.?

  "But you," Skyler continued, pointing to Kali and Dahlia. "In your first life, you were more than human. You weren't born with power. You took it. Because that was the only way to defeat him."?

  Kali swallowed hard.?

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "We took his power?"?

  "Yes. With cunning. Not with strength," Skyler explained. "You set a trap for him. And when he fell, you divided him. You tore him from his body and locked him in the Obsidian Stone. A fragment of his essence sealed forever."?

  "And we kept it?" Dahlia asked, barely audible.?

  Skyler nodded.?

  "You divided his essence among yourselves. That's why your powers are... unbalanced. Kali, you carry the fire. The impulse, the living fury of his rage. Dahlia... you bear the cold. The darkness that corrodes from within. The void."?

  Dahlia lowered her gaze. Kali stepped back, as if something inside her twisted.?

  "And me?" Nicco asked softly.?

  Skyler finally looked at him.?

  "You're not part of that essence. But you were there. In every life. As a shield. As an anchor. You always returned to them."?

  A brutal silence fell over the three.?

  "And now what?" Kali whispered. "We defeated him, didn't we? Isn't he locked away?"?

  Skyler pressed her lips together.?

  "That's what you thought. But the Stone... is no longer hidden. Someone has found it. And Umbrosar... has begun to return."?

  The wind blew harder. As if the night itself responded to that name.?

  "How?" Dahlia murmured. "How does something without a body return?"?

  "Because he's searching for one," Skyler said. "Through you. Your emotions feed him. Every hatred, every anger, every unhealed wound... is a thread guiding him back to this world."?

  Kali placed a hand on her chest. She could feel it. Something beating differently inside her. Like a distant, but growing pulse.?

  "What do we do?"?

  "Learn to control it. Or it will destroy everything. As it has once before. As it did with that village."?

  "And you?" he asked Skyler. "What role do you play now?"?

  Skyler smiled, for the first time.?

  "The same as before. To help you remember what you were. And to decide if you want to be that again. And listen carefully," she said, with a gravity that tightened their chests. "It's not just Umbrosar that has awakened. Now that his fragments are active, many things will feel it."?

  Kali frowned.?

  "What things?"?

  Skyler looked at her with those eyes that didn't seem entirely human.?

  "There are beings who never forgot what you did. Entities that lived under his reign... and worshipped him. Others who feared his power and now seek to destroy it at its root. Some... simply feel the call of chaos."?

  Dahlia swallowed hard. Her voice was barely a thread:?

  "Are you saying they're coming for us?"?

  "Yes. And not all will want to kill you. Some will want to use you. Or worse... open what is still sealed."?

  Nicco clenched his fists. Took a step forward.?

  "And how do we recognize them?"?

  Skyler tilted her head, as if she had anticipated that question.?

  "You can't. Not all will have monstrous forms. Some will look like friends, companions... even people you already know."?

  Kali felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cold.?

  "You mean they're already close?"?

  Skyler nodded.?

  "At this moment... more than one might be watching you. Waiting for you to lower your guard."?

  Silence fell like a sentence. The darkness seemed denser suddenly. As if the night itself closed in around them.?

  "And how do you know all this?" Dahlia asked, not looking away.?

  Skyler barely smiled, but her eyes burned.?

  "Because I also bear a mark. A memory. A piece of the truth he couldn't take from me. I was there, at the end. And I've waited every life, every cycle... to help you remember who you are."?

  Kali stepped toward her, gaze firm.?

  "Then teach us. If this has already begun, I won't hide."?

  "Nor will I," Dahlia said, voice low but determined.?

  Nicco looked at both of them, then at Skyler.?

  "I won't leave them alone. Even if all hell comes."?

  Skyler observed them, and in her eyes, a spark ignited that didn't seem like hope, but recognition.?

  "Very well. But there's no turning back. From this night, you'll begin to see the world as it truly is. The shadows will no longer hide."?

  She turned and headed to a crumbling stone column, where she placed a kind of small, blackened circular mirror with ancient engravings.?

  "We'll meet here, every night, during the dark moons. And you'll train. You'll learn to control what you are... before others try to do it for you."?

  Kali took one last look at the city from the edge of the overlook.?

  The night didn't seem the same.