Chapter 25: The Price of Memory

The crimson twilight bathed the battlefield in ghostly hues, as if the sky itself mourned the fallen.

Kairo stood motionless, staring at the lifeless husks around him. Enemies, comrades, innocents—none spared. The forbidden spell had worked... but at a price. His vision blurred. His limbs felt heavy. His thoughts, fragmented.

"Why... can’t I remember their faces?" he whispered, kneeling down and clutching his head.

Behind him, a voice emerged, soft yet sharp as a blade.

“You tampered with what should never be touched, Kairo.”

It was Elaris, cloaked in mourning gray, her eyes dim with disappointment. “Your spell rewrote the moment… but erased the souls tethered to it.”

Kairo’s chest tightened. “Then I… killed them again?”

“No,” she replied, stepping forward. “You saved everyone... but forgot why you did. That’s the price.”

He reached into his satchel, pulling out a broken pendant—one he didn’t remember owning, yet felt impossibly important.

“Who did I lose…?” His voice trembled.

Suddenly, his shadow twitched.

From it rose a faint figure—feminine, graceful, sorrowful. “You promised you wouldn’t forget me, Kairo…”

The figure vanished.

And Kairo screamed.