The entrance to the catacombs lay hidden beneath a fractured obelisk at the heart of the crater. It took hours of digging, decoding runes, and Lysar's whispered flame-chants to reveal it: a spiral staircase of obsidian, descending into the depths.
The air shifted as they stepped inside — cooler, older. The kind of stillness that made every breath feel borrowed.
"These tunnels were carved from starfall stone," Lysar murmured. "They channel power… and memory. Be careful what you remember here."
The walls pulsed faintly as they walked. In the dark, the runes lit with Elara's passing — responding to her flame-mark like moths to fire.
Each step deeper was a step back in time.
Elara saw faded murals: a woman of fire cradling a flame; a silver-eyed boy crowned in shadow; and a Gate — split in two — wrapped in chains of light.
She stopped. "This place was built after the Gate broke. To seal the pieces."
"And to test whoever dared seek them," Seris added. "I don't like the way the walls are watching us."
"Because they are," Lysar said. "The first guardian lives in memory. It will take shape from your deepest guilt."
Kael tensed. "Whose guilt?"
Elara didn't have time to ask — the runes flared.
A tremor split the stone.
From the end of the tunnel, a figure emerged — slow, shifting, cloaked in black mist. Its face blurred and twisted, but its eyes were unmistakable.
Elara's eyes.
"No," she whispered, stepping back.
The creature spoke in her voice — warped and hollow.
"Your fire will destroy them. You'll fail them all. Like you failed her."
A wave of cold washed over Elara — memories of running, of her aunt screaming, of herself hiding in fear.
Kael stepped forward, sword drawn. "It's a trick."
But the creature was already shifting — now it wore Kael's brother's face.
"Your blade couldn't save me," it said.
Kael hesitated, rage flickering.
"Don't listen!" Seris shouted.
The illusion turned on her — becoming the child Seris had lost.
"Stop it!" Seris lunged — but passed through it like mist.
Lysar raised his staff. "Elara — it feeds on guilt. Burn it with truth."
She clenched her fists. The mark flared — but the doubt inside her tangled like chains.
Then she heard her mother's whisper again.
Your guilt is not your fire, Elara. Your choice is.
She stepped forward.
"You're not me," she said to the creature. "You're my fear. But I'm more than that."
Her palm flared — light brighter than ever before. It struck the creature full on.
It screamed — the sound of a thousand regrets being torn away — and dissolved into ash.
The catacomb wall cracked open, revealing a chamber of starlit stone. At its center floated a shard — small, glowing like a sun trapped in glass.
"The first seal," Lysar breathed.
Elara stepped forward. Her mark responded, threads of fire connecting her to the shard.
When she touched it, her eyes filled with golden light — and the world shifted again.