A Symphony of Blades and Broken Stars

The broken sword floated above the pool.

Its blade was split clean down the middle, but it did not sink. It hovered in the air, glowing with a faint red light. The song from the water continued, soft and distant, like a voice trying to speak across time.

Elion stared at it without blinking.

His chest ached. The mark burned brighter. Not in pain, but in warning.

Kaela took a cautious step forward. "This sword belonged to you once. It was part of the oath you broke."

Lys narrowed her eyes. "Why is it rising now?"

"Because," Elion said, "it remembers me."

He stepped closer.

The sword drifted toward him. For a moment, it looked whole again, the broken halves glowing as if they could mend themselves in his hands.

Then he reached out.

The moment his fingers touched the hilt, a flash of light filled the chamber.

Elion was no longer standing in the ruin.

He was on a battlefield.

The sky above him was filled with ash and fire. Bodies lay all around. Creatures of shadow circled overhead. He held the sword, whole and shining, in both hands.

Behind him stood Kaela and Lys, though they were dressed differently. Their eyes were hardened. Their clothes worn and bloodied.

"You are not ready," Kaela shouted.

Lys aimed fire at a charging beast. "We cannot hold them back!"

Elion saw another version of himself across the battlefield, standing still while everything burned.

That version turned to him.

"You made the wrong choice," it said.

Then the sword cracked.

The memory ended.

Elion gasped and dropped to one knee in the chamber.

Kaela caught him. "What did you see?"

"My failure," he said quietly. "All of it."

The sword now lay at his feet, broken again, but no longer glowing.

Lys looked between them. "So what does that mean? Is it just a memory, or something worse?"

Kaela shook her head. "It means the past is not done with him. Not yet."

Elion picked up the broken sword.

Even shattered, it felt heavy.

He looked at the others. "This weapon was made to protect something important. But I used it to destroy. Now it wants me to remember why."

The song from the pool faded.

The chamber fell silent again.

But something had changed.

The sword no longer burned in anger.

It waited.