After barely escaping the assassin's ambush, Lysara sends word to her remaining allies in the capital, hoping to gain reinforcements. Instead, she learns that a warlord named Lord Vareth has declared himself king. Without the crown, the nobles have turned against her, and she is now a queen in name only.
The third shard is hidden in the Ruins of Aelthar, the ancient capital of the kingdom's first rulers. As Lysara and her companions explore the ruins, they find cryptic murals depicting the forging of the crown—and its true purpose as a prison. The murals suggest that the Forsaken One was a god, one who was sealed away after nearly consuming the world.
The deeper they go into the ruins, the more Lysara hears whispers in her mind. The Forsaken One speaks to her, offering her power beyond imagination. It claims that the kingdom was never meant to exist, that the gods themselves tried to erase it, and that Lysara's rule is built on a lie. As she resists, Vaelin begins to waver—his scholarly mind questioning whether they should even be stopping this ancient being at all.
A powerful sorcerer named Malrik appears, claiming to be the last guardian of the crown's secret. He warns Lysara that the shards can only be reforged at a terrible cost—one that no ruler has ever been willing to pay. He offers her another path: destroy the shards completely and break the kingdom's cycle of corruption.
Despite Malrik's warning, Lysara pushes forward and claims the third shard. The ruins begin to shake, and she sees the Forsaken One's true form—still trapped, but now more awake than ever. The presence nearly overwhelms her mind, and only Garran's intervention stops her from losing herself. However, the Forsaken One is no longer merely stirring—it is fully aware of her now.
As they leave the ruins, they find that war has already begun in the kingdom. Lord Vareth's armies clash against rival warlords, and the land is burning. Lysara is faced with an impossible choice: race to find the last shard, or return to her people to stop the war. If she chooses the shard, her kingdom may fall before she can fix it. If she chooses her people, the Forsaken One may be freed before she can stop it.
While Lysara debates her choice, the sky darkens unnaturally. The Forsaken One is no longer waiting—it is reaching through the cracks in the world, corrupting the land itself. The dead begin to rise, twisted into monstrous forms, and cities fall into chaos. Lysara realizes that time has run out.
Lysara chooses to go after the final shard, hidden in a cursed valley where the Forsaken One's influence is strongest. However, she is betrayed—Vaelin steals the shard, believing that freeing the Forsaken One is the only way to break the cycle of suffering. Before she can stop him, he disappears into the darkness, taking the last shard with him.
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