The journey continued for days, through forests breathing ash and winds whispering the voices of ancient dead people, until Eren and Leylin finally stood before the imposing Mountain of Winds.
The mountain was hidden behind thick gray clouds, from which flowed a cold, skin-stinging wind. Black rocks pulsed with a faint green glow, like buried hearts slowly beating.
"This is where the Wind Ancestors sealed the spirits of the Shadows."
Zerath said, slowly advancing toward the massive stone gate hidden in the mountain.
Temple Entrance:
The gate bore the inscriptions of wind and fire intertwined, while a curtain of dark wind hung above it, as if guarding the place.
Eren raised his hand, and the winds protecting the gate passed over his skin, feeling his soul before slowly retreating, opening the way for them.
"It's as if she's testing us..."
Lylin said, a golden spark igniting in her hand, and she felt the stone inscriptions.
They stepped into the temple, where dark passages narrowed and branched, and the walls were covered with carvings depicting an ancient battle between the ancestors of the Wind and Fire against the Shadows.
Ancient Mysteries:
They stopped before a second stone gate, inscribed with:
"When fire consumes the wind, the storm is born, but when the wind protects the fire, the Shadows are broken."
Eren whispered, "What does it mean...?"
But Lylin placed her hand on the inscription and said, "Fire alone destroys, and wind alone scatters, but together... they face the Shadows."
A faint purple glow appeared in the inscription, before the gate slowly opened, revealing a circular hall, at the center of which was a stone well from which a light black wind emanated, punctuated by a faint red glow.
First Sighting of the Shadows' Bond to Fire:
Eren and Leylin approached the well cautiously. When they peered inside, they saw a whirl of black wind filled with ancient screaming faces, and at its center, a small red flame, beating slowly like a breathing heart.
Leylin felt a strange heat pierce her hand despite the darkness, while Eren felt the winds inside him contract in sudden pain.
"What is this flame... It feels... like my fire."
Leylin whispered, her eyes shining with worry.
Zerath said in a low voice, "This is the Shadows' Bond to Fire... A thousand years ago, a forbidden fire was used to bind the Shadows to this place, but it was never completely extinguished, instead becoming the eternal body of the Shadows."
"Does this mean... that fire and Shadows were linked from the beginning?"
Eren asked, amazed.
Zerath nodded slowly.
"If we don't find a way to break this bond, any great fire will become a new gateway to shadows."
An ancient message appeared:
Suddenly, the wind rose in the hall, and from it formed the ghostly image of an ancient fire heir, her hair ablaze with red flame, her eyes like sparks. Her voice echoed off the walls:
"You who bear fire and wind... if you wish to break the shadows, you must first free fire from its chains."
The image vanished, only the echo of her words still echoing in the hall.
Lylin looked at Eren, the flame trembling in her hand.
"If the path to freeing fire means confronting the shadows within... I will."
Eren reached out and grasped hers tightly.
"You will not be alone on this path... Together we will protect the fire."
Chapter Ending:
As they left the hall, the winds swirled around the temple, carrying with them the sounds of ancient whispers:
"Free the fire... Free the winds... Or the shadows will consume the world."
Eren and Leylin looked toward the horizon, where dark clouds were gathering, knowing that the journey ahead would not be just a fight against the shadows, but a battle to free fire itself from the shackles it had created a thousand years earlier.