Chapter 5: The Spark of Betrayal

Elara's Pov

The forest trees stretched towards the heavens, skeletal hands swaying like they told the wind a secret. With every step, a snapping sound travelled through the brush, yet the silence surrounding me was suffocating.

I held the scale of the dragon against my body, its warm pulse the lone heat in freezing, choking darkness. My respiration was small, shallow gulps, and my heart was racing from sheer exhaustion and fear. The recall of the sacrifice of the dragon tormented me, repeating on repeat in my mind.

You can't leave me. The words were meaningless as I watched it become ash. I had no idea what had happened—why its power had dropped into me, why the scale pulsed with a heartbeat in my hands. But one thing was certain: halting meant death. Or worse.

And then the voices.Whispers at first, as if the wind bore them.Then growing louder.Foreign words, a language I didn't know, writhed in the air, curling around my head like tendrils of smoke. A shiver ran down my spine. I turned rapidly, glancing around into the darkness for the source. Nothing but writhing shadows.

Then, movement.They emerged from the trees, their eyes afire with an otherworldly light. They moved silently, their shapes indistinct like mist but heavy enough to make me jump with fear.

One of them advanced. It stood taller than the rest, its dark red mantel an oily counterpoint to the black nothingness of the forest. There was a strange, crushing pressure in the air as if something unseen weighed heavily upon my breast.

"Elara," the figure stated, its voice the screeching of metal on stone. "You cannot escape us."

I clenched tight. "Who are you?" I strived to stay firm on the voice. "What do you want?"

The form took a step closer and was oppressive all around me. "The scale," it uttered with force. "It doesn't belong to you."

My mind had already taken a better hold on the glinting piece. "It chose me," I lashed back, but barely aware of what it was saying.

A slow head nod. "You are nothing more than a maid," the woman said to me, nearly with amusement. "A servant pushed into a world beyond your understanding. The power of the scale is not yours. Give it up, and you can still live."Something inside me flared at their words. "I don't think you do," I said firmly.The red figure chuckled low, the sound unbecoming—too empty, too chilling. "You think that the dragon's sacrifice will be your salvation?" it taunted. "The Void does not remember. The Void devours everything."

I flinched at the mention of the dragon. Rage welled up inside me, stronger than my fear. "You will never take this from me," I growled.

The figure sighed as if I were a child who refused to listen. "Foolish girl," it whispered.

With a flick of its wrist, the shadows struck.Dark tendrils lashed out towards me, their forms twisting and flowing like living abominations. My instincts took over—I raised the scale on reflex.

A blinding flash of light burst.The shadows recoiled, hissing as they dissolved into mist. The red figure let out a low growl, stepping back. Its glowing eyes flickered with something unreadable.

“You think light can drive away the dark?” it sneered. “You don’t even know what you’re wielding.”The shadows burst once more, this time harder. The scale shook violently in my hand, the power within it searing through me as fire and ice. My eyes stung, the world spinning as the pure power threatened to overwhelm me.

I stumbled, knees crunching onto the wet earth. My head spun, my ragged breathing.A shadow fell across the light."This ends now," the red one stated, raising a hand.The gusting, icy wind snarled, its bite cutting harder than a thousand knives. I stood solid—But the scale radiated once more.

A light ring exploded around me, countering the blast of the wind and shooting sparks streaming into the blackness.

The figure spat in irritation. "You are more powerful than I had assumed," it said. "Yet mere power shall not save you."

I barely had time to react before the shadows moved again, boiling like a storm. My hands trembled. The scale vibrated, calling up something inside of me.

My hands held the scale firmly. Its pulse accelerated, in tandem with mine. A warmth flowed over me, dispelling the cold.I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.When I opened them again, the world was changed.

Glittering lines of power extended through the air, connecting everything—the trees, the shadows, the red figure. The light of the scale pulsed in the centre of it all, a heartbeat.

The red figure was frozen. "What is she doing?" it whispered.I had no idea. But I knew I needed to do something.I lifted the scale, its red intensifying. A blast of energy radiated outward, forcing the darkness away. The dragon's act had left something in me—strength, understanding, something I barely grasped.

The red creature snarled. "Enough."It raised both arms. The cold wind formed, condensing into a huge spear of ice and darkness."This is over," it declared, shooting the spear straight at me.Time went slow.I saw the frost glinting in the air and felt the corpse-cold radiating from it.

The scale throbbed again, creating a shield around me. The wind howled and the spear hit the shield in a shower of sparks. The red shape growled, its voice furious. "You can't kill me, Elara. The Void will claim what's owed to it." The light of the scale intensified, on the brink of blinding. The shadows shrieked and fell back, but the red figure did not move

. "You are more powerful than I expected," it said, sounding almost impressed. "But having power alone will not keep you safe." The figure attacked, becoming a body of darkness that wrapped around me. I screamed as the chill invaded my body, numbing me. The light on the scale blazed, and I almost thought it would die. But then I experienced a warmth deep inside me that resisted the cold. The scale radiated again, more brightly than anything, and the darkness was torn asunder. I moved back, holding the scale tightly.

"Go away," I said to it, though my voice shook. The red figure stumbled back, its shape quivering like a flickering flame. "Impossible," it growled. You are… nothing." I stood there, the balance shining in my hand. "I might be nothing to you," I said, my voice firm despite the fear that lingered. "But I won't give up." The creature growled, its glowing eyes blazing with fury.

"This isn't finished, Elara. The Void will claim you." And with that, it melted into the darkness, and the forest fell silent again. I collapsed to the ground, exhausted. The light on the balance decreased, but the warmth lingered, a comfort after combat. Even as I strained to fill my lungs with enough air, I knew the battle was not over. The voice of the red figure echoed within me, a foreboding threat of coming danger.