The storm swallowed the mountainside. Alex and the priestess pressed against the cliff face, battered by wind and stinging rain. Violet lightning seared the sky—each strike synced with the scar's pulse, now a dull throb beneath Alex's ribs.
"Hold here!" the priestess shouted, gripping his arm as debris hurtled past. A boulder shattered nearby, revealing jagged crystal veins beneath the rock—the same violet hue as his scar.
The scar stirred, its voice slippery with false concern. She'll let you die here. Let me protect us.
Alex clenched his jaw. Ahead, the path had collapsed, leaving a gaping crevice. "We need to jump!"
The priestess shook her head. "The storm's magic corrupts the air. A normal leap won't—"
Alex didn't wait. He sprinted, the scar screeching as he vaulted over the edge. For a heartbeat, weightless, he felt the scar's power surge—an offered hand. He refused.
He landed hard, knees buckling on the far side. The priestess followed, her leap unnaturally graceful, golden light flaring at her heels.
"You gamble recklessly," she said, but her eyes betrayed a flicker of respect.
The scar hissed. She envies your defiance.
Lightning struck the cliff above. The ground shuddered, and the remaining path crumbled. Alex slid, clawing at wet stone. The priestess caught his wrist, her grip iron-strong.
"Climb!" she ordered.
Below, the crevice yawned, glowing with those same violet crystals. The scar writhed, whispering of their power, their kinship. Alex kicked upward, ignoring it.
They collapsed in a shallow cave, breath ragged. Outside, the storm raged on. The cave trembled with each thunderclap. Alex pressed his palm to the scar, willing its whispers to silence. The priestess rummaged through her soaked satchel, pulling out a vial of murky liquid. She drank it grimaced, then offered it to him.
"Strength," she said. "But it burns."
The scar purred. Poison. She fears what you'll become.
Alex hesitated, then swallowed a gulp. Fire seared his throat. His vision sharpened—the cave walls weren't bare stone. Faint symbols shimmered, eroded by time.
"Wards," the priestess muttered, tracing a glyph. "Ancient. Broken."
A crash echoed from the cave's depths. Something scraped against rock—a slow, grating drag.
Alex stood, fists raised. "What else is in here?"
The priestess unsheathed a dagger glowing faintly gold. "Nothing living."
The scar laughed. Liar.
They edged deeper. The symbols thickened, swirling around a massive crystal jutting from the floor—cracked, oozing violet smoke. The scar bucked in Alex's chest, hungry.
"Don't touch it," the priestess warned.
But the crystal pulsed, singing a note that vibrated Alex's teeth. The scar's voice merged with it, sweet and urgent. One fragment. Just one.
Lightning struck outside. The cave's entrance collapsed, sealing them in darkness. The cave's collapse forced them into a narrow tunnel, its walls slick with glowing lichen. Alex's violet-stained hand left faint smears on the stone, the scar humming like a struck bell. The priestess led in silence, her dagger's dim light barely piercing the gloom.