Chapter Next: "The Breachwalker's Trial"
The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Above, the cracks in the sky widened, bleeding light and shadow in equal measure. From each fracture, snippets of alternate realities bled through—laughter from a world where they had won, screams from one where they'd never met. The multiverse was unraveling, thread by thread.
Eryon's voice was grim. "The Architects are accelerating the Collapse. We're running out of time."
Kai gritted his teeth. "Then where's the third shard?"
Lina already felt it—like a distant hum in her bones, resonating with the two shards they carried. She closed her eyes, letting the sensation guide her.
"There," she said quietly, pointing toward the horizon, where a jagged tower rose from the edge of a swirling abyss. "It's inside the Riftspire."
Eryon inhaled sharply. "That tower bridges dimensions. It used to be a temple of passage… before the Breachwalker claimed it."
Lina opened her eyes. "Who is the Breachwalker?"
"Not a who," Eryon said. "A what. It was once a guardian of pathways—until the Architects corrupted it. Now it devours potential futures, anchoring them to the Collapse. To enter the Spire is to face every path you could have taken… and the weight of the ones you didn't."
Kai looked at Lina. "If this is another mirror fight, I swear—"
"No," Eryon cut in. "It's worse. The Breachwalker doesn't mimic. It remembers."
They reached the Riftspire's base. The tower loomed above them, twisting as if made from strands of frozen time. At its heart, a doorway pulsed—no handle, no keyhole, just a barrier of pure will.
Lina stepped forward and placed a hand on it.
It rippled.
And without warning, she was alone.
She stood in a hallway of endless doors. Each bore a symbol—some familiar, others ancient. A voice echoed, not hostile, but patient.
"Choose, Fragmented One. The path you did not walk. The life you left behind."
The nearest door opened on its own.
Inside, she saw a world where she had never met Kai. Where she lived in peace, unknown and untouched by war. A quiet life. A garden. Laughter. Children.
Lina stepped back.
"No."
She moved to the next.
A world where she was the Architect—a being of order and cruelty, feared across galaxies. Her eyes glowed gold, and her voice commanded empires.
"No."
One by one, the doors showed her all she could have been: savior, tyrant, martyr, monster.
And then… one door that was dark. Silent.
She opened it.
Inside was nothing.
No future. No memory. Just a void.
The voice returned.
"This is the path you walk now. Unwritten. Undefined. Dangerous."
Lina clenched her fists. "Then that's where I belong."
The void rippled—and from its heart, a shard emerged.
Black, veined with silver. The Third Key: The Unmade Choice.
She reached for it—
—and the Breachwalker emerged.
It towered over her, draped in rags stitched from timelines, its face a rotating spiral of masks—each one screaming, laughing, weeping. It spoke with every voice she'd ever known and never known.
"You reject certainty. You are the flaw. You must be erased."
But Lina held her ground. "I'm not here to be certain. I'm here to fight."
She summoned her blade.
The Breachwalker lunged.
Outside the Riftspire, Kai and Eryon saw the tower shudder.
"She's in," Eryon whispered. "She's facing it alone."
Kai's knuckles whitened. "Then we go in after her."
"No," Eryon stopped him. "If she's chosen the void… no one else can follow."
Inside, Lina fought.
The Breachwalker struck with forgotten futures—moments she could have lived, weaponized against her. She bled memories. But each time she staggered, she remembered who she was now. Who she chose to become.
With one final cry, she plunged her blade into the Breachwalker's heart.
It shattered, unraveling into sparks and silence.
The shard fell into her palm.
The tower collapsed.
Lina stumbled from the dust, eyes blazing.
Kai caught her, relief etched across his face. "You did it."
She nodded. "One more to go."
Eryon pointed to the horizon.
There, rising from the horizon like a jagged crown, was a floating monolith surrounded by storms.
The final shard awaited.
And so did the Architects.