🌙 The Broken Shrine

Moonlight poured through the shattered ceiling, painting the ruins in silver and shadow. The Reality Gem pulsed inside Eryndor’s chest, its colors twisting the air. Kaelen and Liora lay motionless on the floor, their bodies half-fading from existence.

You stood alone — sword trembling in your hand, heart hammering. Your child clung to you, his small voice shaking.

Ryan: “Mom… what’s happening? I’m scared…”

Eryndor raised his hand. The air bent, rippling like liquid glass. You tried to move — to shield him — but your body locked, frozen under the crushing weight of the Gem’s will.

Ryan screamed. His voice cracked, breaking into a sound not his own. His form shimmered, bones and light twisting. Hair spilled down in dark waves, his small frame reshaping, softening, until a woman stood where your son once was — trembling, radiant, confused.

Eryndor: “Your son never existed. In this world, there is only Lady Arienne — the bride of destiny.”

You reached out, but the world itself denied you. Your fingers passed through her like smoke.

Eryndor smiled faintly, eyes glowing with cruel serenity. The Gem pulsed once — and the air screamed.

The Gem’s power flared. A shockwave of shimmering, reality-tearing energy erupted toward you, bending stone and air alike. The shrine walls liquefied, colors smearing into nothingness. Your sword shattered; your legs gave way. The pressure crushed the air from your lungs, dragging you down into a spiral of collapsing space.

You hit the ground — then the ground was gone. The world fractured into shards of light and silence.