Lumis and Eili stood motionless, trying to adjust to the new space. The air was thick, like mist, but filled with a strange light that seemed to pour from every direction. Yet behind this glow, there was an unease, as if the very space was breathing and watching them.
Before them loomed a structure resembling a labyrinth of living light. Its walls pulsed, casting shadowy imprints of faces that shifted with each step.
“What is this place?” Eili asked, clutching a shard that now emitted a faint warmth.
“I don’t know,” Lumis replied, though his voice sounded different. It had gained a note of determination. “But I feel we’re getting closer to the answer.”
They moved forward, stepping carefully on the smooth surface that gleamed beneath their feet like moonlight. Each step resonated in the space, creating an echo that didn’t fade, but dissolved into the light.
“Can you see it?” Eili suddenly asked, pointing to one of the walls of the labyrinth.
Lumis stopped and squinted. On the glowing wall, symbols appeared. They shifted, forming patterns that seemed to try and convey something.
“These are the same marks as on the obelisk,” Lumis said. “But they… they’re clearer.”
“Maybe these aren’t just symbols… but a map?” Eili suggested, her voice filled with both anxiety and curiosity.
Lumis studied it closely. The symbols formed a shape that resembled a spiral, moving deeper into the labyrinth.
“You’re right,” he agreed. “This is a direction. But what happens when we reach the center?”
The answer came quickly. The labyrinth trembled, and the light grew blinding. The space around them shifted—the walls parted, and ahead appeared an arch, adorned with engraved symbols that shone in gold.
“That way,” Lumis said briefly and moved forward.
Eili followed him, but her unease grew. Each step became heavier, and her shard began pulsing faster, as if warning her of something.
When they reached the arch, the light became so bright that their eyes could hardly bear it. Suddenly, a voice—deep, as if the echo of hundreds of voices—cut through the silence:
“To enter, you must renounce that which holds you here.”
Eili and Lumis exchanged looks.
“Renounce?” she asked, her voice trembling. “What does that mean?”
Lumis pondered, his gaze fixed on the shard in his hand. “Perhaps it’s our shards. They are what bind us to this place.”
“But they help us,” Eili countered. “Without them…”
She fell silent, realizing that continuing was pointless. Her fear turned into a painful realization: their path depended on their willingness to let go of what had seemed to save them until now.
“Only through loss can one reach the truth,” Lumis whispered, more to himself than to her.
He looked at Eili, and his hand slowly opened. The shard flashed brightly, then dissolved into the light.
Eili froze, her heart tightening with fear. But looking at Lumis, she understood that there was no other way. She too opened her hand, and her shard vanished in the same blinding glow.
The arch gleamed even brighter, then dissolved, revealing the path ahead.
“We’ve lost what protected us,” Eili said, her voice hollow.
“No,” Lumis replied, staring into the space ahead. “We left behind what held us back.”
Together, they stepped forward, into the space that awaited them with new mysteries.