Chapter 105 | Shadow and Light | Leah
The black silhouette at the vortex's center was getting clearer.
Not Kael. It copied his appearance, but not his eyes—those ice-blue vertical pupils that always made my heart jump. The silhouette was just a shell, a puppet stitched from shadow, every movement stiff and mechanical.
"What is that?" I asked again, voice shaking.
Elune didn't answer. Her light body flickered, and those golden-silver pupils showed something I couldn't read—panic? Or was it—
calculation.
"Silver Moon Returned," she finally said, her voice back to its usual calm, "that is the future you must prevent. If the Waning Moon falls, the Light-Eaters will take his power and become something you can never defeat."
"How do I prevent it?"
"Become the nexus." She reached out her hand, light flowing from her fingertips like liquid mercury. "Accept the Light Source's power. Let me guide you, let you become the bridge between two worlds. Only then can you protect him."
I looked at her hand.
Fair, almost see-through, giving off a soft glow. On the surface, it looked like a hand offering salvation. But through the Bloodbond, I felt Kael's emotions—he was doing something, something dangerous, something that was draining his power fast. And that engraving on the light wall—"Don't believe the light"—
Ophelia's warning.
"I need time to think," I said.
"You don't have time." Elune's voice tightened slightly. "The Light-Eaters are spreading. Every second you wait, more nodes go dark."
"Then let me see him," I said. "Let me see Kael. After that, I'll make my decision."
Elune went quiet for a moment. Then nodded.
"Alright," she said. "But you need to understand—the Waning Moon is no longer the prince you knew. He's weakening. Dying. Even if you see him, you can't change anything."
She led me down the spiral stairs. The light at the vortex's center grew brighter, heat waves warping the air until everything looked unreal. I could feel the Light-Eaters nearby—not far off, writhing at the edges of the network, waiting for the moment to swallow everything.
But something felt wrong.
If Elune truly wanted me to become the nexus, why show me all this? Why let me see the Light-Eaters' threat? This felt less like guidance and more like—a threat. Using fear to push me into a choice.
Just like Chaos did.
The thought made me shiver. Chaos used Shadow Walkers to create a crisis, then stepped in as the savior. Elune used Light-Eaters to create fear, then offered herself as the guide. Different methods, same game—
control.
We reached the entrance of the light prison. But the door was open.
"Impossible—" For the first time, Elune's voice changed, carrying real surprise. "He should be inside—"
I ran in.
Empty.
The light prison was empty. No Kael. Just a fading light wall, and—
an engraving on the wall.
"Don't believe the light."
Below it, a red thread stretched out and disappeared into the floor.
"He escaped?" Elune's voice was filled with disbelief. "Impossible. No one escapes the light prison—unless—"
She stopped.
"Unless what?"
"Unless he gave up all his power," Elune's voice dropped low. "Made himself ordinary. But that way, he'll die. In this world, without power, he can't survive."
My heart squeezed tight.
Kael. What did you do?
I crouched down and touched the red thread. It was warm, pulsing like a heartbeat in a vein. Through it, I felt Kael's presence—weak, but still alive. He was following this thread, heading somewhere deeper.
"Where does this go?" I asked.
Elune didn't answer. Her light body flickered, and in her pupils I finally saw something I could read—
fear.
"The Dark Source," she finally said, voice like it was being squeezed through her teeth. "He's going to the Dark Source."
"What's the Dark Source?"
"The opposite of the Light Source," Elune said. "The source of all darkness. Legend says it can give power to those who seek darkness, but it also—devours their souls."
She turned to me, those golden-silver pupils burning with something complicated.
"Silver Moon Returned, you have to stop him. If he touches the Dark Source, he'll become something you can't imagine—worse than the Light-Eaters, more dangerous than the Shadow Walkers."
"Why?"
"Because—" For the first time, Elune's voice shook. "The Dark Source isn't power. It's consciousness. An ancient, hungry consciousness. It will possess whoever seeks it, use their body, their memories, their feelings—"
She paused.
"—including his love for you."
My blood went cold.
If Elune was right—Kael would become someone else. A being possessed by the Dark Source, keeping his memories, his voice, his eyes, but the soul inside—
wouldn't be him anymore.
"I have to find him," I said.
"Then you have to choose," Elune said. "Follow him to the Dark Source, or stay here, become the nexus, protect both worlds. You can't have both."
I looked at her.
Then looked at that red thread, stretching into the deeper darkness.
Two choices. Two paths. Just like in the Progenitor ruins.
But this time, I knew the answer.
"I choose—" I said, "the third path."
"There is no third path."
"There's always a third path," I said, my silver-gray eyes flashing with light. "You just haven't found it yet."
I reached out and grabbed the red thread. The Progenitor's blood surged through my body, silver light spilling from my skin and mixing with the thread's warmth.
"I won't be your nexus," I said to Elune. "And I won't let Kael become the Dark Source's sacrifice. I'll find my own way. Our way."
Elune's light body started shaking. Not from anger, but from—
fear.
"You don't understand—" her voice went sharp. "If you refuse, both worlds will—"
"Then let both worlds find a new balance," I cut her off. "Not built on sacrifice, not built on control, but—built on trust."
I spread my wings. Silver light wrapped around my body, forming a shield.
"Goodbye, Light Source Priestess," I said. "Thanks for showing me the truth. But my choice is mine."
I jumped, following the red thread into the deeper darkness.
Behind me, Elune's scream echoed through the hall, but I didn't look back.
Because ahead of me—
was Kael.
No matter what he'd become, I would find him.
Bring him home.