CHAPTER 9: The First Forgotten
694 Words
The light behind the temple wall faded… and the sky turned black.
No stars.
No moon.
Just him.
The First Forgotten.
A giant shadow with glowing white eyes, shaped like a twisted version of a human. No face. No heart. Just memory turned to rage.
Yllar floated protectively in front of us. “He is older than time in this world. Born from the first broken promise… the first lie… the first child left behind.”
His voice trembled.
“He was once a guardian like me.”
Czar took a step forward. “What happened to him?”
“He remembered what he was meant to forget… and let pain twist him into hunger.”
The ground beneath us cracked. The temple shook.
From the skies, whispers fell like rain.
“You left me…”
“You broke the promise…”
“You chose each other and forgot me…”
Each whisper hit my chest like a hammer. My knees buckled.
Czar caught me.
“Don’t listen to it,” he said, voice tight. “It’s trying to get in our heads.”
“But what if it’s right?” I said. “What if we did leave something—someone—behind?”
The shadow moved closer, reaching out a hand longer than a tree. “Give me your light. Let me carry your memories. Let me free you from your pain…”
We stepped back.
“No,” Czar growled. “You don’t get to twist what we fought to remember.”
He looked at me, his hand reaching for mine. “You with me?”
I nodded.
“Always.”
Yllar’s light expanded around us. “Then accept what you are.”
Suddenly—pain.
A burning in my chest. My back. My hands.
Czar cried out too.
Then—wings.
Wings of flame erupted from Czar’s back, orange and gold, crackling with fury.
Mine glowed white and blue, soft but radiant like starlight. Light and fire. Flame and memory.
Two powers—meant to heal the Veil.
We rose into the air together.
The First Forgotten screamed—a howl so loud the temple shattered behind us.
Yllar circled him in threads of light, binding his arms. “He’s weaker when bound by truth! Strike now!”
Czar clenched his fists. “Let’s end this.”
We dove toward the shadow, spinning in midair—two stars falling back to earth.
I held out my hand. “Together!”
Our palms met—and light exploded outward.
All the memories we had recovered—the truth about our past, our pain, our love and fear and mistakes—they burned, not to destroy, but to cleanse.
The First Forgotten shrieked as beams of light shot through him—splitting the dark open like thunder across the sky.
He didn’t disappear.
He changed.
The shadow shrank, the glowing eyes softening.
Then, for a moment, it took the shape of a child—alone, crying.
Yllar approached. “You were never meant to be forgotten. Only healed.”
He reached out.
The child-shadow looked at us… then faded into light.
Peace.
Silence.
Then—
The sky cleared.
The Veil pulsed with color. Trees bloomed with crystal fruit. The mirrors in the temple rebuilt themselves, reflecting joy instead of pain.
And from the highest point, Yllar spoke.
“Diva and Czar of Elari… you have restored balance to the Veil.”
I turned to Czar, tears in my eyes.
“I didn’t know I needed to remember… until I almost lost everything.”
He smiled. A real one.
“Guess forgetting isn’t the worst thing. Not remembering who you care about—that’s the real danger.”
He paused, hand still holding mine.
“And now that I remember you… I don’t want to forget again.”
I smiled, cheeks burning. “Good. Because I’m not letting you.”
But just as the celebration began…
Yllar’s face darkened. “There’s something else.”
We looked at him.
“What is it?”
He whispered—
“The Veil may be healed… but your world is not. And time is running out.”
- Writer
