The light emanating from the crystal lamp on the ceiling of Mira's room was dim, giving the place a sense of calm and seclusion, as if it were shielded from the clamor of the outside world. To Eliana, it felt as though she had entered a bubble of suspended time, where the clock's hands had stopped thirty years ago.
"Look at these diagrams," Selene whispered, bending over scattered papers on a small table. "They're... incredibly complex."
The papers were filled with meticulously drawn schematics of the seven crystals, each surrounded by a halo of symbols and equations. What especially caught their attention was a central drawing depicting the seven crystals arranged in a circle, with a mysterious shape in the center, colored in a blend of black and blue.
"The eighth crystal..." Lemon murmured as he examined the drawing. "But it's... different from your crystal, Eliana."
He was right. The crystal in the drawing was oval, glowing with gradients of both light and shadow, while Eliana's crystal was entirely black, except for a single point of light at its center.
"I think this is Mira's vision of what the eighth crystal should be," Eliana said after a moment's thought. "Perfect balance. But Cairn... when he made my crystal, shadow was dominant."
"Look there," Lemon pointed to a small drawer in the table, slightly open, as if something prevented it from closing completely. "There's something."
Eliana carefully reached out and opened the drawer fully. Inside was a notebook bound in soft white leather, adorned with silver edges. Beside it was a small pendant—a fine silver chain holding a very tiny, completely transparent crystal, devoid of any color.
"This... is an empty crystal?" Selene wondered, as Eliana carefully lifted the pendant, examining it in the light.
"Not empty, but... asleep. Not yet awakened," Eliana said, as if drawing her knowledge from a mysterious source, an instinct or ancient memory.
She opened the notebook and found its pages filled with precise writing, in an elegant feminine hand. They weren't personal diaries, but more like scientific records, full of notes and thoughts about the crystals and the Age of Oblivion.
"This is Mira's research journal," Eliana said as she carefully flipped through the pages. "And there's so much..."
She suddenly stopped at a particular page, her eyes widening in astonishment. "Listen to this..."
She began to read softly:
"Balance is not in the stability of the state, but in the continuation of movement. Light and shadow are not opposing forces, but two sides of the same power—the power of consciousness. I now realize that the problem of the First Age was not in favoring one side over the other, but in trying to separate them. Like trying to split the banks of a river—it is impossible without destroying the river itself.
The seven crystals are attempts to contain this apparent contradiction, each in its own way. But they are not enough. We need something new—the eighth crystal, which does not contain light and shadow, but becomes balance itself.
My son... my little child, carries the key. Half of him is of eternal shadow, and half of me. He is the living embodiment of the balance we seek. These ideas may seem foolish, but whenever I watch him sleep, I see in him a possibility no one has ever imagined. And the Eternal Shadow knows this, which is why it chose me—not for revenge or manipulation as I thought at first, but because it also saw the possibility of transcendence in me.
But his development is proceeding differently than I expected. His power grows rapidly, and the older he grows, the more I realize his fate is tied to the fate of the entire world. And so... I will do what must be done, no matter the cost."
Their collective breaths were the only sound breaking the silence after Eliana finished reading. Lemon was the first to speak:
"It sounds like she knew... she knew Cairn would change everything."
"More than that," Eliana added, flipping through the pages more quickly, searching for further answers. "It seems she was preparing Cairn from the very beginning for a specific role, as part of a greater plan."
"Look, there's more, in the last pages," Selene pointed to the end of the notebook.
The final writings were hurried, less organized, as if written in haste or under intense emotion:
"The storm is coming, and I no longer trust the Council. Balance is deteriorating faster than I expected, and the Keepers are moving. I must hide Cairn. The last test I ran on the crystal showed it has become completely unstable. I can't leave him here.
I have arranged everything. Sandol will help me escape tonight. We will take the northern Path of Light and reach the far side of the mountain before dawn. There, in the Valley of Forgotten Light, I can hide Cairn temporarily, until I find a safer place...
...I feel the balance collapsing. My dreams are growing darker. I saw seven cycles fail, seven forms of the world collapse. But I also saw... an eighth possibility, a last chance. I saw Cairn, grown, standing at the edge of the abyss, the seven crystals spinning around him. Then I saw... I saw the girl with the ashen eyes, holding the eighth crystal. She is the last possibility. She is the key. Balance lies in the process, not in the result.
These may be my last words. If you find this notebook, reader, know that hope remains, even in the darkest hours. The se—"
Here, the words ended abruptly, as if cut off mid-word. A long black line stretched from the last letter, as if the pen had been forcefully pulled from the page.
"What happened to her?" Selene whispered, fear clear in her voice. "Do you think the Keepers found her?"
"Maybe," Lemon replied seriously. "But it seems she at least succeeded in hiding Cairn. But... the girl with the ashen eyes?"
Eliana was now standing, stunned, before the old mirror in the corner of the room. Her gaze fixed on the reflection of her own... ashen eyes.
"I..." she whispered. "I think she was talking about me."
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, her expression had changed—it was more determined, more resolute.
"Mira saw this thirty years ago. She saw the seven cycles, and the eighth possibility... the one we are living in now, after the world was reshaped. That means..."
"...that we are on the right path," Lemon finished her sentence.
"But there's something else that worries me," Selene said, glancing again at the drawings and diagrams. "If the Echo of Shadow is the embodiment of the shadow's refusal to merge, and Sanaa is the embodiment of the light's refusal of balance... then where is the Eternal Shadow itself? Cairn's father?"
The question hung in the air, heavy and unanswered. Eliana felt the black crystal pulsing on her chest, as if making a silent attempt to answer.
"Cairn merged with the Eternal Shadow when the world was reshaped," she finally said. "The greater part of both is trapped in the limbo between worlds. But... a part of the Eternal Shadow may still be present, somehow."
She looked at the small transparent crystal she had found, contemplating it. "I think this... might be very important. A sleeping crystal... a crystal in waiting."
"In waiting for what?" Lemon asked. "In anticipation of the shape its bearer will grant it," Aliana replied, as if knowledge was flowing from some deep place within her. "In anticipation of balance."
They heard a gentle knock on the door, and then Xenera's face appeared.
"I hope you've found what you were looking for," she said kindly. "The sun will be setting soon, and the guesthouse is ready for you."
She glanced at the notebook in Aliana's hand, then at the small clear crystal, and gave a mysterious smile.
"I see you've found Mira's last tools. I always wondered when someone would come who understood their value."
"Do you… do you know what happened to Mira in the end?" Aliana asked hesitantly.
Xenera's eyes grew sad. "Not with certainty. That night, thirty years ago, she fled with her child. But the Guardians were watching her, and they caught up with her quickly. There was a great battle in the Valley of Forgotten Light… Witnesses said the sky split, and the earth shook. When we arrived, we found only traces of the battle. No bodies, no remains. Only this…"
She reached into the pocket of her robe and took out something small—a silver pin shaped like a tiny sun, broken in half.
"This was Mira's emblem. She always wore it." She handed it to Aliana, who took it with trembling hands.
"And Kyren?" Aliana asked. "What happened to the child?"
"We found no trace of him. For years, we thought he was killed in the battle. But some priests… believed that Mira succeeded in hiding him, and that he would return one day. And when I see the crystal you're carrying… I think they were right."
Aliana nodded slowly, a new set of thoughts and theories forming in her mind.
"Come," Xenera said at last. "You'll need your rest before tomorrow. Facing Sena will require all your strength."
As they followed her outside, the light gradually changed through the windows of the great hall. The sun was setting behind the Sierra mountains, leaving golden and purple threads dancing in the sky. Atop the central temple, the Crystal of Light glowed ever brighter as the natural daylight faded, as if preparing for a long night of solitary vigil.
In the guesthouse, after a light and silent dinner, each of them withdrew to their own room. But sleep did not come easily, especially for Aliana, who sat by the window, gazing at the distant central temple and the growing radiance emanating from it.
The black crystal at her chest pulsed with a strange rhythm, in sync with her breathing, as if it knew something, sensing something approaching. In her other hand, she held the small clear crystal she had found in Mira's drawer, rolling it between her fingers, contemplating its faint shimmer in the moonlight.
"What are you hiding?" she whispered to the crystal, as if expecting an answer.
A soft knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. It was Selene, wearing a light white robe that Xenera had given her.
"I couldn't sleep," she said with a shy smile. "I thought you might feel the same."
Aliana invited her in, and they sat together by the window, gazing at the crystal city below, sunk in a restless slumber.
"Each time we face one of these… entities, I feel we're a step closer to our goal," Selene said after a few minutes of silence. "But I also feel there's… a greater force moving behind the scenes."
"I feel that too," Aliana nodded. "As if reshaping the world wasn't the end of the story, but only its beginning."
"Do you think we'll succeed tomorrow? That we can defeat Sena?"
Aliana sighed and looked at the black crystal. "I think the Crystal of Balance will help us. But Sena is stronger than the Shadow Echo, and his power is different. We'll need… something more."
"The clear crystal," Selene said, pointing to the small crystal in Aliana's hand. "What is it, really?"
"I'm not sure, but I feel it's… Mira's personal crystal. Every priest or priestess in Ayloria crafts their own crystal, reflecting their essence. Maybe this was Mira's, and when she disappeared…"
"…the crystal lost its power and color," Selene finished.
"Or maybe it was waiting… for someone who could revive it."
A third voice joined them—it was Limon, standing in the open doorway.
"Sorry to intrude, but I heard your voices and couldn't sleep either." He came in and joined them, sitting on the floor by the window. "There's something else that worries me…"
"What is it?" Aliana asked.
"We know Kyren merged with the Eternal Shadow, and that the Shadow Echo is the part of the Shadow that refused the merging. And Sena is the part of the Light that refused balance… but where exactly did Sena come from? Mira was the bearer of the Light Crystal. Is it possible that Sena is Mira, or a part of her?"
The thought made Aliana freeze for a moment, her eyes wide with shock. "I hadn't considered that possibility…"
Before she could continue her thoughts, the sound of bells from the city rose, urgent and angry. The three of them leapt to their feet and looked out the window.
Something was happening at the central temple. The sphere of light above it, containing the crystal, was pulsing wildly, sending sharp rays of light in every direction. At the entrance to the temple, figures moved swiftly, gathering and shouting.
"Something's happening!" Limon shouted, already running for the door. "We have to—"
He didn't finish his sentence. Because at that moment, a massive pillar of pure white light exploded from the top of the temple, piercing the sky like a giant sword, splitting the night in two. And if the sounds were to be believed, a non-human scream drowned out everything else—a scream full of pain, anger, and something that was once pure, now burning in its own fire.
"Sena…" Aliana whispered, pressing the black crystal hard against her chest. "It's begun."