The forest was drowned in a heavy silence, as if the night itself was watching our steps.
Linor walked ahead of me, her steps quiet but confident. It was clear that she knew the way well. Still, I could no longer bear her prolonged silence.
"You know more about me than you should."
She didn't stop walking, but a faint smile appeared on her lips before she said:
"I know that you're not just someone searching for his lost power. You are something older... something the very realms have feared since the beginning of time."
I stopped in my tracks, glaring at her, but her eyes remained calm, as if she had expected this.
"You were the first catastrophe... the entity that even the higher beings couldn't erase, so they resorted to dismantling your essence and spreading it across thirty worlds, to prevent you from returning to what you were."
This wasn't a new revelation, but it was a confirmation of what I had already known. Since the moment I realized my power wasn't meant to be taken from me, I had been certain that I was no mere man cursed with power— I was something that should not have existed again.
"So… you know how to defeat Lilen."
She nodded. "She was merely a tool in the hands of Miira. She had no real power, only what Miira granted her."
I didn't respond. I kept walking, but deep inside me, this wasn't just a journey to regain my power; it was a war to reclaim what was mine from the very beginning.
After hours, we arrived at the entrance of a cave hidden among the trees. It wasn't an ordinary cave—it pulsed with a strange, unsettlingly familiar energy.
Linor entered first, and I followed cautiously. As soon as we passed the entrance, the scene completely changed—this wasn't the dark cave I had expected, but a vast cavern, its walls glowing with multicolored stones, and the floor covered with a light mist that emitted a strange warmth.
Linor removed her black cloak, revealing her body and the rest of her face. She wasn't fully human—her skin was unnaturally pale, and her eyes were a strange shade of violet.
She gestured for me to sit, and I sat silently.
"Before we go further, you need to know who I am."
I waited patiently.
"I was once the ruler of the world of Ilthar. But, like others, I was foolish enough to oppose the rule of Miira, the Mistress of Wisdom. I wanted independence from her corrupted system. I wanted to control my own fate, but she wouldn't allow it."
I noticed how tightly her hand clenched as she spoke of Miira, as if just mentioning her was enough to stir up old anger.
"She sent Lilen against me as a chosen champion. She didn't kill me; she made me something less than what I was. She took my world, my power, my people, and controlled them in my name, leaving me a shadow of what I once was."
She stared at the ground for a moment before returning her gaze to me.
"But why are you helping me? What makes you think I will stand by your side?"
"Because I know your truth. You're not just looking for revenge, nor for power. You want to reclaim what is yours, and I want the same thing—revenge. We're more alike than you think."
I didn't say a word. There was nothing to be said, because a part of me understood that she was right.
After a few moments, she took another step forward and said seriously:
"As for Lilen, there's a weakness you haven't discovered yet. Her power isn't inherent; it's derived from Miira. As long as Miira grants her power, she cannot be defeated."
I narrowed my eyes. "Then we need to cut off her source of power."
"Exactly."
She then sat down in front of me, looking at me steadily before she said:
"There's something Lilen didn't tell you when she fought you... There is a way to reclaim parts of your essence, but you'll need something more than just power. You need the key."
I felt something strange in her voice, as though she was testing my reaction.
"A key?" I asked cautiously.
She smiled, but it was a smile devoid of warmth.
"Yes… and I have one of them. Miira's bow, which was once a part of your power, is the link between Miira and Lilen. Also, she was one of Seraphim's disciples, the hero of Nirvana. She prefers hand-to-hand combat over using the bow and arrow."
At that moment, I felt a slight tremor in the air, as if something was changing. It wasn't dangerous, but more like something awakening after a long slumber.
Then, out of nowhere, the stone walls of the cavern began to pulse with slow beats, as though they were responding to her words. The ancient carvings on them started to glow with a faint blue color, pulsing in time with my breath.
I slowly rose to my feet, staring at the carvings that hadn't been there just moments ago. They weren't just decorations—they were a map, a path to something deeper.
"This place…" I muttered, but couldn't finish the sentence.
Linor smiled a small smile, her eyes gleaming with a quiet triumph.
"Now… do you still doubt that I know the way to reclaim what is mine… and what is yours?"
I didn't answer. But I knew that I had just begun a new phase of my journey—
A phase where there would be no turning back.