Tales of chronicles

"I am Seraphis, Keeper of the Temple of Shadows,"

she said, rich authority laced thickly through every syllable.

"I have watched you, Lita, almost from the moment you unveiled your magic six months ago. You stand heir to powers both magnificent and terrible—powers that could change the world for all time. Yet a threat you are too; an unstable factor that could wipe everything out, just like your mother."

That name...her mother. Lita's heart skipped a beat.

"You knew my mother?"

Seraphis's smile vanished, replaced with a grim expression.

"Your mother was once a student here, just as you are."

She had intended for this temple to hone her control of her powers. But it turned out that she became something much worse than we had ever thought."

Lita's thoughts swirled. Her mother had trained here, in this temple within which she stood.

"What do you mean? What happened to her?"

Seraphis took another step toward her, her eyes gleaming with dark intensity.

"Your mother passed the trials, just as you must. But the power she gained... it corrupted her. She became the Destroyer, the force that annihilated the Northern Kingdom. And now her legacy is alive in you."

Lita staggered back, her hands starting to shake.

"No. That's not who I am. I'm not her."

Seraphis smiled again, now colder.

"Perhaps not yet. But you will reveal your true self through the trials. The temple does not lie. It will push every inch of you; should you prevail, you will be transformed into something greater. But should you fail..."

As the shadows darkened around them, Seraphis dropped her tone to a whisper.

"If you fail, the temple will claim you."

Lita swallowed thickly, almost faltering. But then Flare's words came rushing back alongside the shades and the power surging through her. She was not her mother; she would not become her.

"I won't fail,"

Lita spoke, a steely resolution lacing her tones.

"I will suffer through whatever trials the temple wants to put me through. And if you happen to be part of them, then I'm going to take you on as well."

Seraphis's eyes sparkled with laughter.

"We'll see. The first trial begins now."

Before Lita could react, shadows flooded her field of vision, swallowing her whole and pulling her into the temple's depths. The air turned frigid, and the world shifted underfoot, twisted and twisted, bending as if itself were being rewritten.

The test of the Temple of Shadows had begun, and it was no longer possible to turn back.

But even as Seraphis summoned her lost shadows, Flare, who had been watching the escalating tension in the room, stepped forth. Her eyes filled with fury, her hand rested on the hilt of her hidden blade.

"Flare?"

Lita shot a confused look.

But Flare's focus was on Seraphis. Their collective tension reverberated almost palpably in the space in between.

"They have no right to do with us as they please,"

Flare whispered, her voice low and absolutely freezing. As she drew her blade, she shifted her stance from that of a calm and collected maid to a vicious assassin of yore.

"Enough is enough."

Seraphis grinned, amusement flitting across her face.

"And what will you do, Flare? You're nothing more than a servant—an assassin bound by duty. You cannot stand against me."

But Flare's smile widened, a glint of dark excitement flickering in her eyes.

"Oh, Seraphis, you have no idea who you're dealing with."

Venom dripped from her words, and for the first time, Lita saw just how formidable a power Flare possessed—and just how bloodthirsty she could be.

Without waiting for a command, Seraphis swung her hand and shadows erupted—her army emerged, with dozens of limbs, black figures, quiet and deadly, hurling themselves toward Flare in an instant. Flare wasn't quaking in her boots. In fact, her grin widened even more as she twirled her blade.

"It's been too long since I've had some real fun,"

Flare said, her voice dripping with wicked glee.

"Let's make this interesting."

That was the moment she erupted into action. Flare surged forth, faster than Lita could ever have expected, flashing out her blade to cut through Seraphis's ranks with fatal accuracy. Shadows fell in torrents behind her, forms dissolving into fog as she pirouetted among them with a deadly grace: all fluidity yet totally merciless.

Precise with each movement, kill counted as clean and efficient. The enjoyment in her eyes was unmistakable. This was what she thrived on. Battle. Bloodshed. The thrill of an entire fight.

Her smirk faded as Seraphis watched her armies fall before Flare's onslaught.

"Impressive,"

she muttered under her breath.

"But you're still just a weapon."

With a gesture, Seraphis summoned indeed great number of shadows that surrounded Flare on every side. But all the while flying the bloodlust phrase, Flare just laughed.

"You think these weaklings would stop me?"

Flare taunted, spinning her blade and slashing at two shades in the same movement.

"I'll cut through every last one of them."

Lita stood frozen, watching in shock while Flare drew on her full potential. Here, then, was the real Flare: the cut-throat assassin who took pleasure in ruin. Now, for the first time, Lita understood just what kind of danger Flare really was.

Seeing her troops being reduced to mere numbers, Seraphis frowned and stepped forward.

"Enough of this!"

With a flick of her wrist, dark tendrils of magic shot out, aimed directly at Flare.

Flare, however, was prepared. She dodged easily enough, without letting her grin slip.

"Is that all you've got, Seraphis?"

she jeered, parrying another attack and then cutting down two more of Seraphis's soldiers.

"How dare you make a mockery of me? You are nothing more than a servant, an assassin under the heel of the Valliere family!"

Seraphis growled in frustration. 

Flare chuckled, her eyes darkly glinting with malice.

"I serve no one; I do what I want. And right now, I want to make you pay for what you have done." 

In one deft motion, Flare closed the distance between herself and Seraphis, blade flashing towards Seraphis. With a wave of dark magic, Seraphis blocked the strike, but Flare pressed on, attacking at such high speed and ferocity that Seraphis was forced to retreat. 

Seraphis snarled, and her frustration turned to rage. Separating herself from Flare, she summoned a wall of shadows but only accomplished bringing Flare in enjoyment.

"So you're running away already?" 

Caught in the midst of awe and fear by the sheer intensity of the battle,

"Lita,"

was one person who did not find this strength all that new with Flare. This Flare was terrifying-a cold bloodthirsty killer reveling in battle. 

"Flare, stop!"

shouted Lita, but her voice was drowned by the clash of steel and magic.