Cel's fingers closed around a jagged fragment, its edges sharp enough to part skin with the gentlest touch. Blood welled from tiny cuts across his palm, warm and real in this world of crystalline lies.38Please respect copyright.PENANA0DConknpkN
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His laughter had faded to breathless giggles, but his expression remained - a savage mask of joy that belonged on no sane face.38Please respect copyright.PENANAemVZhGHyen
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His father's towering form stepped forward, his mirror-born body showing the first signs of instability - thin cracks that wept luminous tears.38Please respect copyright.PENANAeOYcIM7EHq
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"You will always be—"38Please respect copyright.PENANAJ11aZiHXuI
38Please respect copyright.PENANAiwZyeF2Ps5
"ALWAYS BE WHAT?" Cel shrieked, voice breaking into hysterical laughter as he lunged forward. The shard punched through Lord Aldric's chest with a sound like winter ice cracking. "Always be ALIVE? Always be STANDING?"38Please respect copyright.PENANAc5890RYivJ
38Please respect copyright.PENANAPcmFK2GNTz
His father's mouth hung open in shock, silver light pouring from the wound. Cel's giggles turned savage as he twisted the blade deeper.38Please respect copyright.PENANAWU4TnndHl7
38Please respect copyright.PENANAmSeebp206k
"What? Nothing to say?" He grinned up at his father's dying face. "Where are all those WONDERFUL words?"38Please respect copyright.PENANAfWbFQIC7dt
38Please respect copyright.PENANAjvWBRrwusJ
Then Lord Aldric exploded, fragments scattering across the obsidian floor. Cel threw back his head and laughed at the beautiful destruction, tears streaming down his cheeks.38Please respect copyright.PENANAz0Ujw5m65D
38Please respect copyright.PENANAdaVNfbqGKT
"Son." His mother's voice drifted from behind him, soft as falling snow.38Please respect copyright.PENANAj1kk093vJL
38Please respect copyright.PENANALC6LBf5X2C
He whirled to face her, that terrible smile stretching wider. She stood with one hand pressed to her throat, her crystalline body catching the phosphorescent light.38Please respect copyright.PENANAw5czDEGEok
38Please respect copyright.PENANA2MnP7yF8JS
"I tried to protect you," she whispered. "But you wouldn't let me."38Please respect copyright.PENANAHteJSSs8vC
38Please respect copyright.PENANArTfZSdHehC
"PROTECT me?" The words came out in a strangled shriek. "You TRIED? You stood there and WATCHED!"38Please respect copyright.PENANA3xS6xnmRIy
38Please respect copyright.PENANAQkvDXZVByu
The fragment drove through her throat before she could finish the lie. Her form shuddered, light bleeding from the wound like luminous blood.38Please respect copyright.PENANAE5QtHnvUvl
38Please respect copyright.PENANAXaHODLL4YS
"How's that for protection?" Cel giggled as she burst into countless pieces. "Much better than what you gave me!"38Please respect copyright.PENANA6bFrGnIQcH
38Please respect copyright.PENANAvSX8OrJRjP
Darian stepped forward, fractures already visible in his translucent flesh. His fists remained clenched at his sides, unchanged from that moment of cowardice.38Please respect copyright.PENANATpxNJfjiQY
38Please respect copyright.PENANAVfk3HCWy6Y
"I couldn't risk it," Darian said, hollow-voiced. "You understand, don't you? My inheritance, my position... I couldn't throw it all away.”38Please respect copyright.PENANA3kYZDTMWjk
38Please respect copyright.PENANA7yPm6Mteqg
Cel's laughter turned bitter, edged with something that might have once been grief. "Oh, I understand PERFECTLY, brother." He hefted the phosphorescent shard, his grin turning feral. "You were always so good at strategy. Cost versus benefit, wasn't it?"38Please respect copyright.PENANAMCRuwBTvrE
38Please respect copyright.PENANAU83NnOZOXR
"I had no choice!"38Please respect copyright.PENANApg8cU3Lfy8
38Please respect copyright.PENANASopeOOltt7
"Haha!" Cel's arm moved with violent joy. The fragment caught his brother in the chest. "Brothers don't weigh POLITICS against BLOOD!"38Please respect copyright.PENANAn670uzQZ1V
38Please respect copyright.PENANAb6lXWLv5DR
Darian's form held longer than the others, crystalline features cracking slowly. "You would have done the same," he said, his voice growing fainter as fractures spread. "In my position... you would have made the same choice."38Please respect copyright.PENANAzcaOC4CzRF
38Please respect copyright.PENANATvQ7NfEmwM
"Would I?" Cel's laughter bubbled up fresh and wild. "We'll never know!"38Please respect copyright.PENANAQnDBMK2I3k
38Please respect copyright.PENANARZWyPNKdf3
Then Darian shattered, and Cel giggled at the beautiful sound of his excuses dying.38Please respect copyright.PENANAJ7Wm0qvTV8
38Please respect copyright.PENANA6MTeDKUBbk
The clan members fell next in sprays of silver light, each destruction punctuated by his delirious mockery. The servants burst like glass ornaments while he made jokes about their loyalty. The cultists shattered into glittering fragments as his laughter grew hoarse but never stopped38Please respect copyright.PENANAsZEBesklHv
38Please respect copyright.PENANAHB5kyt3nUZ
With each killing, something shifted. The crushing weight of their judgment shattered alongside them. But the madness remained, coloring everything with bitter joy.38Please respect copyright.PENANAiPlyD3cTM2
38Please respect copyright.PENANApJXG5nc0bV
Soon, only one figure remained among the mirrored ruins.38Please respect copyright.PENANAWkAa6ZeBYE
38Please respect copyright.PENANArN21dR7Mbq
This reflection wore Cel's current face with the lean severity of the starved. It stood perfectly still among the glittering debris, watching him with eyes that held no accusation, no mockery. Only the blank stare of someone who had stopped caring.38Please respect copyright.PENANACfFdjfldhc
38Please respect copyright.PENANAcL5C8nc97F
The sight of it made Cel's laughter falter. His smile wavered for the first time since the violence began.38Please respect copyright.PENANAvGejTfeUaR
38Please respect copyright.PENANAs0zhKnupb8
"You missed one," it said simply.38Please respect copyright.PENANAeYmsERUQdk
38Please respect copyright.PENANAUBnmJGi73W
Cel's hand shook as he raised the shard. Blood ran in steady streams from his lacerated palm. The madness was draining away now, leaving behind something rawer.38Please respect copyright.PENANAL7FqsRLXpZ
38Please respect copyright.PENANAFS7Jwva0Ds
"I know."38Please respect copyright.PENANAAEDZBdzrFm
38Please respect copyright.PENANAAhkXUWPKAU
The reflection didn't move, didn't flinch as Cel approached. It just watched with those hollow eyes - the eyes of someone who had given up long before the first blow fell.38Please respect copyright.PENANA1P6geqbNjF
38Please respect copyright.PENANAq1THZ7vQFx
"You're the worst of them," Cel said, his voice hoarse from laughter and screaming. "You're the one who let it all happen."38Please respect copyright.PENANA4lfCrFc3lx
38Please respect copyright.PENANA4Mb368GA6C
The reflection said nothing. It simply stood there, passive and broken, everything Cel had refused to become.38Please respect copyright.PENANAbmaKrSMNzk
38Please respect copyright.PENANA6XEuSVaNVs
"Say something!" Cel snarled, raising the shard higher. "Fight back! Argue! Anything!"38Please respect copyright.PENANAtOCnYGIYyI
38Please respect copyright.PENANAicMxbnmabF
But the reflection remained silent, indifferent. That empty acceptance was worse than any sneer or mockery.38Please respect copyright.PENANAWu6gUXAgN1
38Please respect copyright.PENANAvGWY0pSGwn
Cel's fury reignited, burning away the last traces of his savage joy. This thing wearing his face represented every moment he'd wanted to give up, every second he'd considered letting them win.38Please respect copyright.PENANAvKODDtXF22
38Please respect copyright.PENANAhqNcaDQ4XI
"This ends now," he said through gritted teeth.38Please respect copyright.PENANAIoxI9SLv9Q
38Please respect copyright.PENANAQCJakUTVN0
The reflection finally moved, lips curving into the faintest smile - not cruel, not twisted, just... knowing. 38Please respect copyright.PENANABVCHQQEYqI
38Please respect copyright.PENANAnwy8JO7Vla
"Does it?"38Please respect copyright.PENANAouKKWRiPId
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“It does!” Cel drove the shard deep into its chest. Cracks spread across the reflection's surface, but that small, terrible smile never wavered.38Please respect copyright.PENANAJ0JgpA1q63
38Please respect copyright.PENANAsvNnAgoYMq
As the fractures reached its face, the reflection spoke at last:38Please respect copyright.PENANAmJEhwDLN9P
38Please respect copyright.PENANA8kiEyZbJBH
"We will see." 38Please respect copyright.PENANAT8VJkJ9En5
38Please respect copyright.PENANAJpEQrqDHh0
With that, it shattered completely, leaving Cel alone among the ruins of his past. The silence that followed felt expectant. As if the world itself were holding its breath.38Please respect copyright.PENANAhaQKxOn06D
38Please respect copyright.PENANAdQrneadA9F
Then, the crystalline walls began to shake.38Please respect copyright.PENANAOrbJglHKd4
38Please respect copyright.PENANATzuXZFfZYI
Hairline fractures appeared in the black glass, spreading outward like spider webs. The phosphorescent glow flickered and pulsed. A grinding roar filled the air as the walls collapsed inward.38Please respect copyright.PENANAlc3vuyCcLd
38Please respect copyright.PENANAzsRw5C10Qb
An invisible fist seized him and hurled him backward. The world became a blur of spinning light and shadow, his stomach lurching as he tumbled through empty space.38Please respect copyright.PENANAGfDYiSs2rq
38Please respect copyright.PENANA43YAjI4QZ7
He slammed into jagged stone with enough force to drive the breath from his lungs. Stars exploded across his vision as his head cracked against crystal.38Please respect copyright.PENANAaUttwzx1YD
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Slowly, the world swam back into focus.38Please respect copyright.PENANAQoYjss4YHW
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The four suns had vanished behind the crystalline peaks, leaving only the soft ghostly glow of crystalline formations to paint everything in familiar, hostile violet hues. Night had fallen over the maze - the real maze.38Please respect copyright.PENANAqf6rsmjSLg
38Please respect copyright.PENANAUXpl4sTq46
Crushing fatigue settled into his limbs. Every muscle felt leaden, hands shaking with the aftershocks of what he'd just experienced. Cel's face felt strange, unfamiliar - the manic grin finally relaxing into something hollow. The fevered heat that had driven him through the violence drained away, leaving only cold emptiness in its wake.38Please respect copyright.PENANAoWNOcbS1ew
38Please respect copyright.PENANAT0PmfsqM7S
Eventually, Cel pushed himself up on trembling arms. The silence pressed against his damaged eardrums like cotton. No whispers. No accusations. Just the hollow quiet that had become his constant companion.38Please respect copyright.PENANAhkHI60C0x8
38Please respect copyright.PENANARKIV2IYJ3s
His eyes found the lake's surface, expecting to see that perfect mirror that had started his torment. Instead, the liquid stretched before him like polished obsidian, absolutely flat and utterly empty. No reflections stared back. Not the crystals, not the dark sky, not even his own battered form.38Please respect copyright.PENANAJsmLlXMYau
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Nothing.38Please respect copyright.PENANA8X8dH9Hs8x
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Cel crept closer, heart hammering. As he gazed into that perfect emptiness, unease crept up his spine. The absence felt wrong somehow, too complete. It was as if the lake had devoured not just his painful memories, but his very existence.38Please respect copyright.PENANA7JBmC53Ry3
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A tremor ran through the ground.38Please respect copyright.PENANAttnvqk2xVM
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The vibration traveled up through his knees, subtle but unmistakable. Cel froze, every instinct screaming danger. The lake's surface remained perfectly still, but something had changed.38Please respect copyright.PENANAwqhBpZOQrC
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Another tremor, stronger this time.38Please respect copyright.PENANAYg4kbdNBPt
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Cel took a careful step backward, never taking his eyes off the void. The silence that had plagued him since the previous day felt different now - not empty, but waiting. As if the world were holding its breath.38Please respect copyright.PENANAYnyeFLTGPX
38Please respect copyright.PENANAnbMn9OkOWM
The liquid began to ripple.38Please respect copyright.PENANAsxJxPX5vtI
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It started as barely perceptible movement at the center, rings spreading outward like a stone dropped into still water. But there had been no stone. No disturbance except the trembling ground beneath his feet.38Please respect copyright.PENANAg4cTsD8716
38Please respect copyright.PENANAGcQGiMrpdu
The ripples grew larger, more violent. The boundaries of the lake shuddered, then began to push outward. Dark liquid seeped across the crystalline ground like spilled ink, moving with unnatural purpose.38Please respect copyright.PENANAqMQ41xyt1F
38Please respect copyright.PENANAActKvpu9Kh
Cel's blood turned to ice. Whatever he had unleashed by destroying the reflections, it wasn't finished with him.38Please respect copyright.PENANAbdHPZaKF18
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His eyes swept the maze walls until they found the distant spire piercing the darkening sky like a needle of violet light.38Please respect copyright.PENANAqdlvuTDSyB
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He had to move. Now.38Please respect copyright.PENANAhPeNkfh6Gq
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Cel's legs shook from exhaustion. Every step felt like walking through deep sand, his body protesting the abuse it had endured. He stumbled more than ran, one shoulder scraping against crystal walls for support. The hysterical euphoria that had carried him through the violence was gone, leaving behind a hollow ache that seemed to echo in his bones.38Please respect copyright.PENANAhmgdaxi2It
38Please respect copyright.PENANAm0bdVFE68e
The crystals around him pulsed with soft violet light, releasing the energy they'd absorbed from the four suns throughout the day. The ethereal radiance painted everything in ghostly hues, casting eerie shadows that made the passages seem to writhe and shift.38Please respect copyright.PENANAoV4J0ob4fw
38Please respect copyright.PENANApbf1TRowIa
Minutes crawled by. Or maybe hours. Time felt as broken as everything else in this place. His breathing grew ragged, each inhalation burning his throat. The cuts on his palm from gripping the shard had reopened, leaving a trail of dark spots on the luminescent ground behind him.38Please respect copyright.PENANA17YoxHrpHk
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A vibration through the crystal walls made him freeze - not the gentle tremors from before, but something deliberate. Something following his bloody trail.38Please respect copyright.PENANAgoHEpp8uFZ
38Please respect copyright.PENANAYM8sa7c7UZ
Cel pressed himself against the nearest wall, heart hammering. The vibration came again, stronger now. A rhythmic pulse through the stone, like something vast dragging itself forward. The void wasn't just spreading - it was hunting. 38Please respect copyright.PENANAQCQ37ns37z
38Please respect copyright.PENANArXon13T7Ib
It was hunting him.38Please respect copyright.PENANAr0FCf5hdnd
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A sharp turn brought him face-to-face with a dead end.38Please respect copyright.PENANA62rNtphsoA
38Please respect copyright.PENANAhbDW3LUhyL
Behind him, the vibrations grew stronger - rhythmic pulses through stone punctuated by sharp, staccato tremors. The void crept around the corner, its perfect darkness swallowing the crystals' glow as it climbed the walls.38Please respect copyright.PENANAFBuWjlRYek
38Please respect copyright.PENANAhWkg9biNrV
His fingers found purchase on razor-sharp crystal edges. Each grip sliced deeper into his lacerated palm, warm blood making the surfaces slippery, but he hauled himself upward, crystal by agonizing crystal. The jagged formations cut through his already torn rags, leaving fresh wounds along his arms and chest.38Please respect copyright.PENANAzCasF27Lvl
38Please respect copyright.PENANAwFnywI4Anb
He pulled himself over the crystalline barrier just as the void reached where he'd been standing, rolling away from the wall and landing hard on his side. Shattered crystal fragments bit into his skin. For a moment he lay there gasping, blood filling his mouth.38Please respect copyright.PENANAB9CksLTdV8
38Please respect copyright.PENANAYpOOyHE38y
When he finally lifted his head, the spire loomed larger against the dark sky. And before it, carved into the hillside and bathed in the crystals' gentle radiance, the familiar silhouette of the ruined structure.38Please respect copyright.PENANAC62OeNRh1P
38Please respect copyright.PENANA1fFcohM4bK
His sanctuary.38Please respect copyright.PENANANJWrn3BwcA
38Please respect copyright.PENANAQzux66a8HF
Cel forced himself to his feet, stumbling forward across the crystalline ground. Every step sent fresh jolts of pain through his battered body, but he pressed on until the flat maze floor gave way to a rocky slope that forced him into a slow, stumbling climb. His legs felt like they were made of wet rope, muscles cramping at every move. His breathing grew labored as the incline steepened.38Please respect copyright.PENANA9ZmwO1pgTF
38Please respect copyright.PENANAOw89Ez5KLB
Behind him, vibrations through the ground told him the void was still coming.38Please respect copyright.PENANA76DyKqNkf6
38Please respect copyright.PENANAOHuMChS6GQ
His hands found purchase on jutting stones and glowing crystal outcroppings, pulling himself up the steep slope one painful grip at a time. The ethereal light helped him find handholds, but his vision kept narrowing to tunnels of gray at the edges.38Please respect copyright.PENANAuyTZHjqWIt
38Please respect copyright.PENANAZkPeu5hhx6
The ancient threshold seemed impossibly far above him. His arms shook with each pull, threatening to give out entirely. But the alternative was the void, and that thought alone kept him moving.38Please respect copyright.PENANAizDWgoSdaA
38Please respect copyright.PENANA56Zch9gJHP
Finally, he hauled himself over the broken threshold and collapsed inside the ruin's embrace. The stone floor was cold against his cheek, solid and real. He lay there for long minutes, chest heaving.38Please respect copyright.PENANAt6RQSeOuzi
38Please respect copyright.PENANA3NCnJE0Xba
Only when his breathing steadied and strength began to return did he force himself to look back outside.38Please respect copyright.PENANAKk8aJE7v2Y
38Please respect copyright.PENANAFA6OCdoJqp
The liquid had reached the bottom of the hill, its absolute darkness a stark contrast to the crystals' soft glow. It lapped against the rocky slope but stopped there, as if some invisible barrier held it at bay.38Please respect copyright.PENANAuUhl8DWF5x
38Please respect copyright.PENANAwV3JvOzFsC
He pressed his back against the nearest wall and slid down until he was sitting. His fingers traced the ancient carved stones, each fissure familiar as old scars. Whatever force had built this place held fast against the encroaching void.38Please respect copyright.PENANAwRh3gotLJy
38Please respect copyright.PENANA0aQS6hd1db
"Thank you," he whispered to the ancient stones.
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Lunar Legacy
Author:
Celastos
ISSUE #12
Chapter 11: Shattering the Past
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Lunar Legacy
Fantasy
Action
Dark
Last updated: Nov 1, 2025
Total word count: 38,319
Total reading time: 177 Minutes
Writer:
fantasy
horror
dark
mystery
tragedy
demons
darkfantasy
betrayal
psychological
monsters
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gods
fantasyrealm
survival
medieval
maleprotagonist
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