The moment my hand touched the black crystal, my vision shattered.
I stood in a memory.
Not mine.
The sky was red. The earth cracked. Demons and humans alike burned in silver fire. And in the center of it all, a man—Kael Ren—stood with a blade of pure light, facing a figure cloaked in gold.
The same figure I’d driven back from the sky.
"You think you can seal it," Kael shouted. "But it always returns!"
The golden figure raised a hand.
Kael screamed.
The memory rewound. Again. And again.
Each time, Kael died.
Each time, the shard reset.
I fell to my knees as the visions ended. The crystal dimmed, as if it had shared its last secret.
Lilith caught me before I collapsed. "What did you see?"
"Everything," I whispered. "The shards... weren’t made to protect us."
Valmira’s eyes narrowed. "They were made to repeat time. Preserve it."
"Like a cage," Seraphina said softly.
I stood, the shard in my palm dull now, like it, too, was beginning to doubt itself.
"They made me to fix it," I said. "But I’m starting to wonder if I’m supposed to break it instead."