š The Map of Bones
Arav stood beneath a twilight sky, his body still shaking from the vision.
In his hand, the fragment of the Eye of Ruin pulsed with a dull red glow. It whispered in broken voices ā warnings or riddles, he couldn't tell. The Warden had vanished, leaving behind only blood-written markings on the shrine's wall.
A map.
A destination.
The Temple That Bleeds ā the heart of the Forgotten Faith. A place even the gods had abandoned.
He folded the map into his satchel and walked alone, the cursed blade humming against his spine. He could feel time thinning ā something ancient had been awakened.
And it was hunting him.
---
šÆļø The Red March
Days passed. The terrain turned strange.
Mountains bled down their sides like open wounds. Trees whispered, not in leaves but in secrets ā old names Arav had never spoken. Animals refused to come near. His food turned to ash in his mouth. The sky was always red.
And thenā¦ he found it.
Nestled inside a canyon of jagged bone stood the Temple ā no doors, no roof, just a bleeding monolith rising into the sky. Its walls pulsed like flesh. Every breath it took sounded like a dying god.
Arav clutched Zia's scarf tighter.
He stepped inside.
---
ā©ļø Inside the Temple
It was alive.
The walls dripped with black ichor. Veins pulsed beneath cracked stone. Massive statues of faceless monks lined the corridor, each holding a bleeding bowl.
He moved silently.
Whispers echoed from above.
> "You shouldn't be hereā¦"
> "This is where warriors go to dieā¦"
Suddenly ā a ringing in his ears. The Eye fragment pulsed.
Arav dropped to one knee, pain splitting through his skull.
The ground trembled.
And thenā¦ the voice came.
---
š©ø The Voice of the Forgotten
From behind the altar of bone emerged a woman ā floating, blindfolded, with blood streaming from her palms.
Her name, Arav would later learn, was The Forgotten Mother.
"You carry the ruin," she said, voice hollow. "The Eye sees youā¦ and still doubts."
"I came to prove myself."
"To who?"
"ā¦To myself."
The temple groaned. Walls cracked. Her form shimmered between beauty and rot.
"You want power to stop your brother? Then offer me your truth."
"What do you mean?"
She raised a hand. A pool of blood formed ā reflective like a mirror.
"Step inside. See who you are."
---
š The Mirror of Blood
The blood pulled him in.
Arav sank beneath the surface and fell into memory.
First ā his mother's death. Not by accidentā¦ but by Kalo's hand.
Next ā the moment Zia kissed himā¦ then looked away, realizing she had chosen a cursed boy.
Then ā Arav holding a sword over a crying child in a burning village. His hands were already red.
"No more," he whispered.
But the mirror didn't stop.
It showed him future truths:
Kalo, falling ā not by fate, but by Arav's rage.
Zia, lying on a temple floor, eyes dim, reaching out.
Himself ā alone, a king of ashes.
The mirror shattered.
---
āļø Trial of Blood
Back in the temple, Arav stood ā trembling, enraged.
"I won't let that be my fate!"
The Forgotten Mother smiled. "Then fight it."
From the blood rose a doppelgƤnger ā another Arav, cloaked in white, face calm but eyes cold. He wielded the same sword.
A voice echoed:
> "You are your own end."
The fight began.
---
š„ The Battle Within
The temple cracked with every strike.
Steel met steel. Fire met shadow.
The real Arav fought not just to win ā but to resist becoming the monster he saw in the mirror.
But the fake Arav whispered every dark truth:
> "You loved the killing."
> "You chose revenge over Zia."
> "You are your brother."
"Iā¦ am notā¦ him!" Arav roared, thrusting the blade through his copy's heart.
The vision bled light ā and vanished.
---
šļø A New Mark
The Forgotten Mother stepped forward and touched his chest.
"You've passed," she said.
A new mark formed over his heart ā a sigil resembling an open eye pierced by a sword.
"The third key is now yours."
"What are the others?"
"You'll know. But hurryā¦ your brother walks the River of Souls. When he crosses, the world will bleed."
---
ā°ļø Epilogue: Zia's Awakening
Far away, in the ruins of Velmora...
Zia stood before a broken altar. Her eyes were distant, her hands trembling.
She had seen Arav in her dreams ā dying. Fighting himself. Failing.
A voice spoke from the shadows behind her:
"You can still save him."
She turned.
It was Kalo.
And in his arms ā he held the same Eye fragment Arav had bled for.