Nox did not sleep until dawn. The words from his dream, or perhaps not a dream, still echoed in his head like the echo of distant thunder. «You are walking the right path, child. Continue. I am waiting.» He did not know who had spoken to him. The being on the throne, woven from shadows, with eyes reflecting infinity, was unfamiliar. And yet, somewhere deep inside, at the level of blood, at the level of Shadow pulsing along his spine, he felt that this was not an enemy. This was someone who had been waiting for him. For a very, very long time.
He sat up in bed and looked at his hands. In the faint predawn light filtering through the curtains, they looked ordinary: dirty, scratched, with dark half moons under the nails. The hands of a slum boy who fought for food and slept on the floor. But he knew that was not true. These hands held Shadow. These hands created weapons from pure darkness. These hands commanded servants woven from the echoes of dead creatures. And one day, if the prophecy he did not yet know about was true, these hands would free the Lord of Shadows from his eternal prison.
Kane stirred on his bed and opened his eyes. He looked at Nox sitting in the half darkness and immediately understood that something had happened.
«Did you not sleep again?»
«I slept. But I saw… something. I do not know if it was a dream or a vision. A creature of shadows spoke to me. It said I was walking the right path and that it was waiting for me.»
Kane sat up, rubbed his face with his palms to dispel the remnants of sleep, and looked carefully at his friend. «A creature of shadows. The Lord of Shadows?»
«I do not know. I have never seen him. But Shadow inside me… it recognized him. As if he was dear to it. As if it had come home after a long separation.»
Silence fell over the room. Kane was not a Shadow bearer, he could not understand what Nox felt, but he saw his face. Saw the confusion mixed with something else. With hope? With anticipation? With what a person feels when they suddenly realize that their life has a meaning they had not even suspected.
«You need to tell Lady Morvane about this,» Kane said finally. «She knows more than we do. Perhaps she can explain what it was.»
Nox nodded. «I will tell her. But later. First, I need to go to the catacombs. Check on Lin, make sure she is alright. And… I want to try something. Something I have been putting off for a long time.»
«What exactly?»
«The second trial of the dragon blood. In the temple beneath the academy. I feel that I am ready. After this night, after what I saw, I know that I must go further. Become stronger. There is little time.»
Kane wanted to object, to say it was dangerous, that Nox had not slept, not eaten, that he needed to rest and prepare. But he looked into his friend's eyes and said nothing. He saw determination there. The very same determination that had driven Nox through the slums, through battles, through all the trials that had fallen to his lot. And he knew that arguing was useless.
«I am with you,» he said simply.
Nox shook his head. «No. This trial I must face alone. That is what the guardians said last time. But you can help me another way. Cover for me with the instructors if anyone asks. Say I am sick, that I have a fever, that I cannot leave my room. Anything. I need time. How much, I do not know. Maybe a day. Maybe more.»
Kane nodded. «I will manage. Go. And come back. Lin is waiting for you. And we are all waiting.»
Nox stood up, dressed, and checked that all his artifacts were in place: his father's belt, his mother's dagger, the pendant with the Shadow Dragon, the sand charges Kane had given him, Iris and Ren's amulets, Mira's stone plates. He did not know what awaited him in the second trial, but he wanted to be ready for anything.
He left the room and headed for the basement of the east wing. The academy was still quiet, students and instructors asleep, only a few servants crossed his path, but they paid him no attention. He went down to the basement, passed through the narrow passage, and entered the catacombs. Here it was dark and cold, but Shadow inside him stirred joyfully, recognizing its native element. He summoned his servants, and they emerged from the darkness: a dozen goblins, the crawler centipede, a pack of rats. All looked at him with empty eye sockets, awaiting orders.
«Lin,» he said. «How is she?»
One of the rats transmitted an image: the round chamber, in the center sat a girl with light hair, legs crossed, the Abyss on her wrists pulsing in time with her breathing. Around her, shadows swirled, not Nox's servants, but her own, born from the Abyss. She was training. She was fine. Nox exhaled in relief and ordered his servants to continue guarding her, while he moved deeper into the catacombs, toward the temple.
The journey took about an hour. He passed the forks he already knew by heart, walked through the caves where he had once fought goblins and crawlers, and finally stood before the door. Huge, carved from black stone, with two intertwined symbols: the Shadow Dragon and the Eye in the spiral of darkness. He touched the door, and it opened, admitting him.
The hall was as it had been the first time. Vast, dark, with two altars in the center. But today, something else was here. Or perhaps someone was not. The shadow guardians who had met him last time did not appear. Instead, a single figure emerged from the darkness. Tall, stately, woven from pure Shadow, but denser and more ancient than any Nox had seen before. It had no face, only eyes burning with crimson fire, and from it emanated a power that took Nox's breath away.
«You have come for the second trial,» the figure said. Its voice was low, vibrating, like the rumble of a distant volcano. «You have awakened the dragon blood. You have learned to create echoes. You are ready to go further. But know this: the second trial is harder than the first. You must face your fear. Not an enemy you can kill. Not an obstacle you can overcome. Fear itself. What lives in the depths of your soul and whispers that you are unworthy. That you are weak. That you are alone. Are you ready to face that?»
Nox looked at the guardian and felt everything inside him clench. Fear. He knew it. Knew it too well. Fear for Lin, fear of the Moon Goddess, fear of failing, of not being in time, of not protecting. Fear that he truly was unworthy. That he was just a boy from the slums who had accidentally received power and did not know what to do with it. That fear had always been with him. He hid it deep, beneath layers of determination and anger, but it was there. And now he had to face it.
«I am ready,» he said. And he was surprised at how steady his voice sounded.
The guardian nodded and stepped aside, opening the way to the right altar, the one glowing with crimson light. Nox approached it, placed his hands on the cold stone, and closed his eyes.
The world around him disappeared. He found himself in another place. Or perhaps another time. He stood in the middle of Ravnes. Not the Ravnes he remembered. This one was different. Empty. Dead. The scrap metal houses where people had once lived stood abandoned, with broken windows and collapsed roofs. The streets were littered with garbage and bones. The sky above was gray, without a single break, and ash fell slowly from it, covering everything in a gray shroud. And in that dead silence, Nox heard a voice. His own. But distorted, as if coming from a deep well.
«You are nothing. You have always been nothing. A slum boy who thinks he can become someone. Pathetic. You could not even protect your sister. She hides in the underground like a rat because you failed. Sylvana is in the Goddess's captivity because you failed. Your parents are dead because you failed. You are a failure, Nox. You have always been a failure. And you always will be.»
Nox stood and listened. The voice was his own, but the words were not his. This was fear. The very fear that lived in the depths of his soul and whispered to him at night when he could not sleep. The fear that it was all for nothing. That he was not strong enough. That he would let down everyone who believed in him. He looked at the dead Ravnes, at the ash falling from the sky, and felt that fear rising from the depths, filling him, choking him. He wanted to fall to his knees and scream. To admit that the voice was right. That he truly was nothing. But he did not fall. He stood. Because somewhere out there, beyond this dead city, Lin was waiting for him. Kane was waiting. Iris, Eveline, Ren, and Mira were waiting. Lady Morvane was waiting. The Lord of Shadows, who believed in him, was waiting. His father, who had given his life for him, was waiting. His mother, whom he barely remembered, but whose blood flowed in his veins, was waiting.
«You are wrong,» he said to the voice. «I am not nothing. I am Nox Endragon. The last of the Shadow Dragon bloodline. I have been through the slums, through hunger, through fear, through pain. I fought a hunter of the Goddess and survived. I awakened the dragon blood. I created a shadow army. I am not a failure. I am the one who moves forward, no matter what. And I will not stop. Never.»
The voice fell silent. The dead Ravnes around him began to fade, crumble into ash, and through it, another world emerged. Living. Real. The one worth fighting for. Nox opened his eyes. He was back in the temple, before the altar, his hands still resting on the cold stone. But something had changed. Inside him. Where fear had been, now there was emptiness. Not the emptiness that frightens. Another. Calm. Confident. As if he had finally thrown off something that had been hindering his breath.
«You have passed the second trial,» the guardian said. «You faced your fear and did not give in. The dragon blood within you has grown stronger. Now you can summon not only the echoes of defeated creatures but also their essence. Their main ability. Once. For a short time. Use this wisely.»
Nox removed his hands from the altar and stepped back. He felt… different. Not physically stronger. Deeper. As if his connection to the dragon blood had strengthened, and Shadow inside him had gained new shades. He could summon the essence of creatures. Their main ability. It was incredible. It opened up possibilities he had never dreamed of. He thanked the guardian and walked toward the exit. Ahead lay one more trial. The third. The hardest. But he was not yet ready for it. He needed time to master his new power, understand its limits, learn to use it in battle. And he needed to return to Lin. To make sure she was alright. To tell her what had happened. She had a right to know. She was his sister. His family. The only one he had left in this world.
He walked through the dark corridors of the catacombs and felt something new growing inside him. Confidence? No. Rather, understanding. He was not alone. He had a sister, friends, mentors, and somewhere out there, beyond reality, the Lord of Shadows was waiting for him. Waiting for him to become strong enough to free him. And he would become strong. He would become strong. Because he was Nox Endragon. The Shadow Child. And his path was only beginning.