The shadow collector
869 Words
The Two Worlds
Episode 4: The Shadow Collector
The temple was collapsing.
Ancient stone pillars crashed around Arjun and Maya as they sprinted through the ruins. Dust filled the air. Cracks spread across the walls like lightning.
Behind them, the Shadow Collector walked calmly through the destruction.
As if the temple itself obeyed him.
"Faster!" Maya shouted.
"I am trying!" Arjun yelled.
A massive stone block crashed between them.
For a terrifying second, neither could see the other.
"Maya!"
"I'm here!"
Relief washed over him.
The feeling surprised him.
---
They burst from the temple just as the entrance collapsed behind them.
The mountain shook.
The ancient shrine disappeared beneath tons of rock.
For several moments neither spoke.
Then they heard applause.
Slow.
Mocking.
The Shadow Collector stood atop a nearby cliff.
The golden mask reflected moonlight.
"You've done well."
Maya tightened her grip on the First Key.
"What do you want?"
The masked figure tilted his head.
"The same thing you want."
"The keys?"
"No."
His gaze shifted toward Arjun.
"You."
Silence fell.
Arjun frowned.
"What?"
The Shadow Collector laughed softly.
"You truly don't remember."
---
Before Arjun could ask another question, the villain raised his hand.
Dark energy exploded outward.
The sky turned black.
The forest vanished.
The world dissolved around them.
Suddenly Arjun and Maya found themselves standing somewhere else entirely.
A city.
But not one they recognized.
Buildings floated in the air.
Giant mirrors hung between the clouds.
Lightning flashed through crimson skies.
"What is this place?" Maya whispered.
"The future."
The Shadow Collector's voice echoed everywhere.
Arjun's heart stopped.
In the center of the city stood a throne.
And sitting on it...
Was him.
Older.
Colder.
More powerful.
His future self.
---
The older Arjun rose from the throne.
Dark armor covered his body.
His eyes glowed silver.
Entire armies knelt before him.
The sight sent chills through Arjun.
"No."
The word escaped his lips before he could stop it.
The Shadow Collector's voice echoed again.
"This is what you become."
The vision changed.
Cities burned.
Worlds collapsed.
Mirror shards rained from the sky.
And standing at the center of the destruction...
Was Future Arjun.
---
The vision shattered.
The forest returned.
Arjun stumbled backward.
His hands were shaking.
"That's impossible."
"Is it?" asked the Shadow Collector.
"You lie."
"Do I?"
The villain turned toward Maya.
"Perhaps she would like to see her future as well."
Before Maya could respond, darkness surrounded her.
A second vision appeared.
---
Maya stood frozen.
She saw herself older.
Standing alone on a battlefield.
Broken weapons littered the ground.
Around her lay countless fallen warriors.
The world was silent.
Empty.
Lonely.
The future version of Maya stared toward the horizon.
Waiting.
Searching.
For someone who never came back.
---
The vision ended.
Maya gasped.
Her face had gone pale.
"What was that?"
"A possibility," the Shadow Collector answered.
"A future that can still happen."
---
For the first time, neither Arjun nor Maya spoke.
Both were shaken.
Both had seen something they wished they hadn't.
The Shadow Collector stepped closer.
"You think the keys will save your worlds."
He shook his head.
"The keys are not locks."
"What do you mean?" Maya asked.
"They are doors."
The words hung in the air.
"What door?" Arjun demanded.
The villain smiled beneath his mask.
"The prison."
Thunder echoed across the forest.
The temperature suddenly dropped.
Even the trees seemed afraid.
"The Mirror King was never destroyed."
Arjun and Maya exchanged shocked glances.
"The stories said he died centuries ago."
"Stories lie."
The Shadow Collector's voice became deadly serious.
"If all seven keys are gathered..."
"The prison opens."
"And the Mirror King returns."
---
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Maya frowned.
"Wait."
"If gathering the keys frees him..."
"Why are you collecting them?"
The Shadow Collector laughed.
A strange, bitter laugh.
"Because some prisons should never have existed."
Before either could react, he threw something toward them.
A small silver shard.
Arjun caught it.
Inside the shard was a moving image.
A young man wearing the same golden mask.
Without the mask.
Without the darkness.
Without the hatred.
"What is this?" Arjun asked.
The Shadow Collector's voice suddenly sounded sad.
"It is who I used to be."
The wind howled.
And then he vanished.
Gone.
As though he had never been there.
---
Only silence remained.
Arjun looked down at the silver shard.
The image inside continued moving.
The young man smiled.
A normal smile.
Not the smile of a villain.
Not the smile of a monster.
A memory.
A clue.
A secret.
Maya stared at the shard.
"Who do you think he is?"
Arjun looked toward the dark forest.
"I don't know."
"But I think he's connected to the Mirror King."
A new message suddenly appeared on both their phones.
SECOND KEY DETECTED
LOCATION: THE SUNKEN PALACE OF VELLIYAM
TIME REMAINING: 63 HOURS
Maya grinned despite everything.
"An underwater palace."
Arjun groaned.
"Why can't the next key be in a library?"
Together they started walking into the night.
Neither noticed the silver shard glowing faintly in Arjun's pocket.
Or the whisper that escaped it.
A whisper only the reader would hear.
"Find me before he does..."
To Be Continued...
- Writer
