The ground trembled violently beneath my feet, and I stumbled, barely keeping my balance as the world around me seemed to shatter like glass. I blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. The air was thick with an unnatural energy, crackling and hissing as if it were alive, and the sky above was a swirling mass of dark clouds and blinding light.Everything was wrong. It was as if reality itself was coming apart at the seams.“What’s happening?” I shouted, my voice barely audible over the deafening roar of the storm.Mia was beside me, her face pale and drawn. “The ritual,” she gasped, eyes wide with horror. “It’s tearing the veil between worlds.”I glanced around, trying to take it all in. The landscape was shifting and changing before my eyes, the ground rising and falling like waves on a stormy sea. Trees grew and withered in an instant, their branches twisting and contorting into unnatural shapes. Ghostly figures flickered in and out of existence, their eyes hollo
The vision lingered in my mind like a haunting specter, refusing to fade. I could still see the cold, hardened version of myself staring back at me, emotionless and distant. I could still feel the weight of the artifact in my hand, heavy with power and responsibility. But more than anything, I felt the crushing dread of that future, a future where Silverwood survived, but I was lost to darkness.Mia was tugging on my arm, shouting at me to move, to run. The ground beneath us continued to crack and shift, the storm overhead raging with a fury that seemed to mirror the turmoil inside my heart. I knew we couldn’t stay here. We had to keep moving, to find a way out of this chaos.But the vision had shown me something I couldn’t ignore. A path that would save Silverwood. A path that would cost me everything.“Sera, we have to go!” Mia’s voice was urgent, filled with a fear that cut through the storm like a knife. “If we don’t move now, we’ll be trapped here forever!”“I can’t,” I murmur
The darkness around me shattered like glass, sending shards of light piercing through my vision. I stumbled backward, disoriented, as the world around me warped and twisted. It felt as if reality itself was being torn apart at the seams, the very fabric of existence unraveling in response to my choice. “What have I done?” I muttered, my voice barely a whisper against the roaring chaos.The ground beneath my feet was no longer solid. It shifted like sand, swirling with colors and shadows that defied logic. Time seemed to fold in on itself, moments collapsing and expanding in ways that made my head spin. I saw flashes of the past and glimpses of a future that could never be. Faces I recognized flickered in and out of existence, some smiling, others twisted in pain and fear.“Get a grip, Sera,” I told myself, trying to focus. But how could I? The world was disintegrating before my eyes, and I was the cause. The weight of my decision pressed down on me, heavy and unforgiving.“Sera!
The eerie calm hung in the air, thick and oppressive, as if the world itself was holding its breath. The figure from my past stood before me, their presence both a comfort and a stark reminder of everything I had lost. My heart pounded in my chest, a mix of fear, hope, and confusion. How could they be here? “Start talking,” I demanded, my voice steadier than I felt. “How are you alive? How did you survive?”They glanced around at the broken landscape, their expression unreadable. “I’m not from your timeline, Sera. I’m from another world—one where the Great Cleansing succeeded. Where everything we fought for was lost.”The words hit me like a physical blow, and I stumbled back, my mind reeling. “An alternate timeline? How is that even possible?”“In the world I come from, the Cleansing was completed,” they continued, ignoring my question. “Silverwood fell, and the world was reshaped in darkness. I saw it all happen, felt it all fall apart. And I knew I had to find a way to change
The artifact’s energy crackled around me, pulling me toward its core, a swirling vortex of power and ancient magic. My thoughts were a blur, my emotions a tangled mess as I grappled with the enormity of what I was about to do. Sacrificing my identity—who I was, every memory, every relationship, every part of me that made me —it felt like a fate worse than death.My mind raced with flashes of my past: my parents’ smiles, the first time I shifted, the nights spent laughing with friends around the fire, every battle, every tear, every triumph. Would all of that be erased? Could I really let go of everything I had been, everything I had loved, to save Silverwood?The artifact’s pull grew stronger, and I felt my grip on my sense of self slipping. “I can’t do this,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I can’t just erase who I am. There has to be another way.”A familiar, mocking voice cut through the chaos. “Still clinging to your identity, Sera? How quaint. And here I thought you were willing
The mastermind’s words hung heavy in the air, suffocating me with their poisonous promise. Save Silverwood or save the world—one or the other. My heart pounded against my ribs, a frantic rhythm that echoed the chaos swirling in my mind.“It’s a simple choice, really,” the mastermind said, their voice as smooth as silk but as sharp as a blade. “One little decision, and you get to keep everything you’ve ever loved. Isn’t that what you want, Sera?”My fingers tightened around the artifact, the cold metal biting into my skin. I could feel its power thrumming beneath my touch, waiting, ready to be unleashed. But I couldn’t—use it the way the mastermind wanted.“I can’t just abandon the rest of the world,” I said, my voice barely a whisper. “It’s not right. I won’t do it.”The mastermind’s smile faded, replaced by a look of mocking pity. “Always so self-righteous. Always trying to be the hero.” They leaned closer, their eyes boring into mine. “But you’re not a hero, Sera. You’re a leader
Smoke stung my eyes as I struggled to see through the chaos. The flames flickered and danced around me, casting eerie shadows on the ground. Bodies lay everywhere, each one a familiar face, each one a fresh wound on my heart. I felt like I was drowning in a sea of my own failures.“Is this what you wanted?” a voice hissed in my ear. It was the mastermind again, but now their voice was different—softer, almost gentle. “Is this what all your noble choices have led to?”“No,” I croaked, my voice hoarse from the smoke and tears. “This isn’t real. It can’t be.”“Oh, it’s very real, Sera. It’s the reality you’ve created with your decisions. You could have saved them, all of them, but instead, you let them burn.”I wanted to scream, to shout back that it wasn’t true, but deep down, I knew they were right. Every choice I’d made, every sacrifice, every time I’d refused to compromise—it had all led to this moment, this nightmare. What if I’d been wrong all along? What if my stubbornness, my r
The flames crackled around me, closing in as the darkness inside me whispered promises of strength and survival. My dark doppelgänger watched with an expectant grin, her eyes glowing like coals, waiting for me to make the choice she knew I was teetering on. The familiar voice that had interrupted us was gone, fading back into the shadows without a trace. Maybe it was a trick—another mind game from the mastermind to confuse me, to make me doubt myself.I clenched my fists, feeling the weight of my decision pressing down on me like a physical force. The nightmare continued to burn all around me, the vision of a ruined Silverwood smothering my senses. I needed to get out. I needed to end this.“I don’t want to be like you,” I said to my dark self, my voice trembling with a mix of fear and defiance. “But I can’t let this continue either. If the darkness is the only way to save them...”“Then embrace it,” she urged, her smile widening. “Let it consume you. Use it to destroy the mastermi