Bitter wind howled across the desolate expanse of the lake, carrying the sharp scent of rotten copper and old dust.
Onyx knelt on the slick, uneven surface of the ice sheet, his knuckles white as he gripped the frozen crust.
Beside him, Xime was curled on his side, his breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps that blossomed into white plumes in the freezing air.
Blood dripped from a fresh cut on Onyx’s cheek, freezing into a tiny crimson bead before it could slide down his jaw.
Every muscle in his body screamed from their terrifying descent, but there was no time to rest.
Underneath their fragile platform, the liquid twilight began to churn.
Thick, oily currents swirled in lazy circles, glowing with a faint, corrupted purple light that pulsed like a dying heartbeat.
Deep below, something massive was waking up.
Onyx stared down, his chest tightening as a shape materialized from the dark abyss.
Slowly, a colossal eye blinked open beneath the black water.
It was easily twenty feet wide, its iris a swirling vortex of toxic violet and sickly yellow.
Its pupil was an absolute void, a black hole that seemed to pull the light directly out of the air.
Onyx found himself staring straight into that void, unable to look away.
"Don’t… don’t look," Xime whispered, his voice barely audible over the rising wind.
But it was already too late.
Void in the center of the eye pulsed, sending a ripple of cold energy through the ice.
An invisible wave of psychic energy slammed into Onyx’s mind, shattering his defenses like thin glass.
His vision went black.
His sense of balance evaporated.
He felt himself falling, not into the water, but backward through time.
Cold, dry air suddenly rushed into his lungs.
Onyx blinked against a blinding, white glare.
He was no longer on the lake.
He was kneeling in a vast, empty field of deep, powdery snow.
Looking down, he gasped when he saw his hands.
He was seven years old again, wearing nothing but a thin, tattered tunic that offered no protection against the howling blizzard.
"Mother! Father!" he screamed, his voice high-pitched and trembling with terror.
Ahead of him, two figures walked through the whiteout.
His parents didn’t look back.
They walked with purposeful steps, their heavy fur coats dragging through the snow drifts, moving further and further away.
"Please, wait!" Onyx cried, stumbling forward.
He tripped over a buried branch and plunged face-first into the freezing snow.
Ice packed into his mouth and nose, choking him.
He scrambled up, his knees shaking so violently he could barely stand.
His mother stopped and turned her head, her face partially obscured by the swirling snow.
Her eyes, usually cold, were filled with absolute disgust.
"You are a plague, Onyx," she said, her voice carrying clearly over the roaring wind.
"Your shadows will only bring ruin to everyone who is foolish enough to care for you," his father added, his tone flat and unyielding.
"We are leaving you to the frost, where monsters belong," they said together.
Onyx reached out, but they vanished into the blizzard, leaving him completely alone.
Despair, heavy and suffocating, settled over his chest.
He curled into a ball on the frozen ground, waiting for the cold to take him.
Then, the blizzard around him began to warp and twist.
Swirling snow turned into a sickening, pale gold, like a dying star.
A figure stepped out of the golden haze, tall, radiant, and painfully familiar.
Xime stood before him, looking down with a sneer of pure contempt.
"Did you really think anyone would ever stay?" the illusion of Xime laughed.
Sharp laughter, like breaking glass, echoed in the empty space.
"You are a monster, Onyx. A broken, pathetic creature of the dark," the false light wielder said, stepping closer.
"I only used you because your shadows kept me safe. You were a tool, nothing more," Xime sneered.
"Now that the twilight is consuming this world, you are useless to me. I will leave you here to freeze, just like your parents did," the illusion vowed.
Onyx couldn’t breathe.
Heavy pressure on his chest felt like an anvil pressing down on his chest.
He wanted to scream, to fight, but the despair was too heavy.
It was the truth, wasn’t it?
Everyone he ever trusted had abandoned him.
Why would Xime be any different?
He was a creature of light, and Onyx was nothing but filth and shadow.
"Just let go," the voice whispered.
"It’s easier to freeze."
Onyx’s eyelids grew heavy.
He let his head fall into the snow, welcoming the numbness.
Back on the freezing lake, Onyx’s physical body was trembling violently.
Teeth grinded together so hard they threatened to shatter.
Dark, erratic veins of shadow magic pulsed along his neck and jaw, leaking black mist that hissed against the ice.
His eyes were wide open, but they were glassy, staring blankly into the sky as if he were already dead.
Xime watched in absolute terror as Onyx's breathing slowed to a stop.
Every movement was pure agony.
His ribs screamed with every inch he crawled, and the ice scraped his palms raw.
He could feel the psychic malice radiating from the giant eye below.
It was feeding on Onyx's deepest, darkest memories, draining his will to live.
"I won’t let you die here!" Xime roared, throwing his weight onto Onyx.
He pinned the shadow wielder down, grabbing his cold shoulders.
"Onyx, look at me! It's not real!" Xime yelled, but there was no response.
Desperation clawed at Xime's throat.
He had to break the connection, but his own light magic was nearly depleted.
Using the very last of his energy, Xime cupped Onyx's freezing face with both hands.
Warmth exploded at the point of contact, a sudden, blinding spark of pure sun-magic.
"Look at me," Xime commanded, his voice trembling but fierce.
Inside the vision, the golden illusion of Xime suddenly shattered.
Real warmth flooded Onyx's cheeks, cutting through the biting cold of the memory.
Onyx blinked, the snowstorm dissolving into mist.
He was back on the ice, staring into Xime's actual eyes.
They weren’t cold or mocking; they were filled with a deep, desperate warmth.
"I’m right here," Xime whispered, his breath puffing in the freezing air.
"I am not leaving you. Never," Xime promised, pressing his forehead against Onyx's.
Onyx gasped, drawing a jagged breath into his burning lungs.
Dark veins on his neck receded, the volatile shadows sinking back beneath his skin.
He reached up, his trembling hands gripping Xime's wrists.
"You… you came back," Onyx muttered, his voice hoarse.
"Always," Xime smiled weakly, but his expression quickly turned to one of pure exhaustion.
Vibrant gold in Xime's eyes began to fade, turning a dull, lifeless amber.
Onyx watched in horror as the change spread to Xime's hair.
Brilliant, sun-kissed strands withered, turning a flat, lifeless grey.
It was as if all the life had been drained from him.
Xime collapsed forward, his head resting heavily against Onyx’s chest.
"Xime!" Onyx cried, wrapping his arms around the limp light wielder.
He squeezed him tight, desperate to share his own body heat.
But Xime was completely cold, his breathing shallow and faint.
---
A loud, sharp crack echoed across the silent lake.
Onyx looked up, his heart freezing in his chest.
Liquid twilight around their raft was changing.
Ripples froze mid-motion, turning into jagged peaks of dark ice.
A spiderweb of thick, black frost shot outward from the giant eye below.
Giant eye itself glazed over, sealed beneath a thick layer of ice.
With terrifying speed, the entire lake began to solidify.
Screeching sounds of expanding ice filled the air, a deafening grinding noise.
Onyx held Xime closer, watching the black frost race toward them.
It reached their raft, fusing the fragile ice sheet with the rest of the lake.
Suddenly, the lake begins to rapidly freeze solid, trapping their floating ice sheet in the center of a vast, inescapable sheet of black glass.