“Welcome to Terpola!” Amneris said with no enthusiasm as she stepped from the bright, swirling portal. “Lovely red skies, tons of black dirt.” She lifted a shoe to brush off the mud, pulling away with a surprised noise. Then she realised what caused it. “Argh. And fragments of scarlet budtorite as far as the eye can see.”

“Come now, Tali,” Colt laughed, swinging an arm around her shoulders. “At least it is not raining.”

Xix watched the pair with a smile as they begun walking. “You two seem perfect for each other.”

Amneris tossed her braid over her shoulder. “We do our best. What about you?”

“I had someone once. Her name was Iris.” Xix’s smile faltered, turning to something more pained. “She died.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It was a few years ago. I’m okay now.” She laughed. “Besides, she would haunt me if I stayed mopey forever.”

At that, Amneris laughed. “Believe me when I say, ‘I know the feeling’—ow!” She glared at Colt who was pretending he hadn’t pulled her braid. “Rude.”

“How did your talk with Kek go?” Colt asked.

Xix hummed, clasping her hands behind her back. “He knows many things he should not. I believe he broke into the Castle Library at some point.”

“Speaking of breaking out of things,” Amneris said, “was that really you who broke out of the Mines?”

“Yes, it was.” Xix pulled her bangs to the side, revealing the mark given to those in the Mines. They varied from Mine to Mine, each having their own identifying mark. Ema had a different one to her. Xix dropped her hair. “Too many losses that day.

Amneris frowned at her. “You can wait out here while we find the entrance.”

“No.” She shook her head. “It must be me.”

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Tara met them at the entrance through the Castle and led them to the central chamber. “We have looked everywhere,” she was saying as they walked. “No secret entrances have been found, not even on scans.”

Amneris made to touch the wall but flinched away. “If it’s anything like the one back home, it won’t show up on scans. Only Balance Keepers will be able to find it.” As they continued through to another part of the Castle, she said, “There should be a section of wall we should be able to walk through.”

Xix was no longer listening. She ran her hands across the wall of her childhood home as they walked, taking in the familiar rough-but-polished feel of the ancient stone. She followed the wall around the corner, reaching a dead end. Strange. She’d never seen that there before.

As she got closer, Xix couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong with the wall. It didn’t look quite right. She glanced back to where Amneris, Colt and Tara continued talking, then made her way to the end of the corridor, coming face to face with the wall. She put her hands on her hips. Why was a wall making her feel strange?

Xix pressed one side of the corridor. Solid. She moved to the other. Also solid. She faced the end wall and pushed against it—

Only to fall straight through the wall.

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The three ran toward the sound of Xix’s surprised shriek. The corridor was empty. There was no sign anyone had been there.

Amneris braced her hands on her hips. “I think she found it.”

“How do we follow her?” Colt asked.

“Well, if it’s anything like the one back home, you can’t.” She smiled. “Only Balance Keepers can pass through the barriers. Never tested the theory on Terpola, though. You guys will have to wait here.” Amneris cracked her fingers. “Here goes something.”

Amneris, a hand out in front of her, stepped through the false wall.

The path leading down was similar to the one on Terpola. It lead further beneath the Castle to a cave system beneath. Xix was pushing herself to her feet a few metres away, having rolled down the first part of ramp when she fell. Amneris hurried to help her up. Together, they begun down the path.

It started out as a narrow tunnel but opened up into a large chasm. The path remained narrow, barely large enough for the pair to walk side-by-side as they crossed the seemingly bottomless pit on either side of them. It was clear the path hadn’t been used in a long time. Not having any exposure to Naka’s power meant the gold had long-since warn away to brown.

Crystal-covered glowing stalagmites lit the way to the other side of the chasm. Xix made the mistake of looking down. She yelped and hurried back to the centre of the path, holding onto Amneris from behind. The Lyriumian rolled her eyes but continued on. It wasn’t until they reached the other side of the chasm that Xix let go.

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The path once again became a tunnel. They followed it for minutes until they found a door. It was the same as the one on Lyriumia, Amneris realised. Well, same as in the symbols from a language long since forgotten covered it in the same way. It was different in colour – gold and red instead of silver and blue.

“This is it,” Amneris said. “I’d say Naka is on the other side.”

Xix stared at the door. “It’s not actually real, is it.”

“Felt the same way my first time. And no, it’s not.” She gave Xix a reassuring smile. “You should be able to pass straight through it.”

“This is a terrible idea.”

“Oh, definitely. Want to make it worse?”

Xix stared at her with wide eyes. “What are you talking about?”

Amneris pulled her pendant from her neck and tossed it into the air. “I summon Naiu!”

In a flash of light, the Goddess appeared. Her appearance had changed slightly from earlier. Her long white hair was pinned in a high bun. Her usual dress and shawl had been traded for a different style – long sleeves, the silver skirts falling to the ground, and a bright blue belt around her waist. A diamond necklace hung around her neck, and diamond bracelets hung from her wrists. A diadem made of crystal rested on her brow. Wings of rainbow light burned at her back.

Xix stared at her in awe. “You actually summoned her . . .”

“Yup.” Amneris eyed the Goddess. “Apparently she can help.”

“Naka and I are First Beings,” Naiu said, voice echoing in an otherworldly way. “We may be enemies, opposites, but we still share a connection.”

Amneris winked at Xix. “Last chance to back out.”

“Nice try.” The Terpolite let out a deep breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Together, they stepped through the door.

On the other side of the mirage, Amneris found a familiar scene. A circular chamber with walls, floor and the ceiling covered in polished gold. The names covering the walls, unlike back home, were made of the red crystal. Xix’s entire family. Every Naka’Idis in history. Torches sparked to life moments later, casting the room in a deep orange glow.

The Terpolite looked on in awe, spinning on the spot to take in every detail.

Amneris was looking elsewhere.

A single golden pillar in similar design to the pale on back home stood in the centre of the room. Hovering above it was a dark red-black orb. It seemed to suck the light from the fire, and from Naiu, into its form. A black hole in the shape of a perfect sphere. The Silent Core. The very essence of Naka himself. Which left only one question.

“If this is the Silent Core,” Amneris said, “then where’s Naka?”

“He’s here?” Xix asked, suddenly finding herself on edge.

Amneris nodded. “Naiu inhabits the Chamber of the Photon Core. It holds her essence. This is the Chamber of the Silent Core. Naka should be able to take on form.”

“He’s here,” Naiu said quietly from behind. “I sense him.”

“Of course, you sense him.” Amneris gestured at the Silent Core. “That is literally him. Is there a way to make him take on a form we can actually talk to?”

“You think I would know?”

Xix moved closer to the Core, barely listening to the argument beginning behind her. There was something there. Something inside the Core. A shadow. Xix leaned closer. She wanted – no, she needed to know what it was. Whatever it was, she could swear it was watching her. Xix reached out slowly to touch the shadow.

In a distant part of her mind, she heard Amneris yell, “Xix, no!”

Her fingertips touched the Core.

Shadows exploded around her. Xix jumped away, making a run for the others in the room. Something hit them hard, sending them flying to the other side of the room. They hit the wall and slumped at the bottom.

Xix stopped. The shadows were closing in around her from ever side. “Okay,” she said to herself, unable to stop the shake in her voice. “Time to get out of here.”

Xix spun on the spot, taking in everything around her. She found what looked like the thinnest part of the shadows and ran. The light was becoming dimmer from there but she could make it through. They were just shadows. Even if they had some mass, surely they weren’t too solid when they weren’t full formed. She ran toward it at full speed—

Contact. Xix stumbled back, grasping her head. Those weren’t shadows! They were far too solid. Solid, and about to trap her inside them! The light was fading. There was nowhere she could reach in time. The shadows were hardening too fast for her to do anything! There was no way out!

The shadows around her began to laugh and spoke in a voice like the night itself. “Why in the worlds would I let you leave?”

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Amneris came around with a groan and a dull pain in her head. “Ugh, whose idea was this?” She sighed. “Right. Mine. Great going, Amneris. Fabulous idea.” A light ahead told her Naiu had already recovered. “How you holding up there?”

Naiu didn’t answer, her eyes focused on the shadowy hurricane at the centre of the room.

Amneris dashed to her side, holding a hand in front of her to protect her eyes from the wind. “Oh, that’s bad.”

“She’s in there,” the Goddess said.

“Of course she is. What can we do to help?”

“Nothing.” Naiu’s eyes narrowed. “She is on her own.”

Amneris clenched her fist. This was definitely very bad.

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Xix was frozen. The shadows whipped around her with dizzying speed. She couldn’t move, couldn’t fight against it. She was completely at their mercy.

In the darkness, something begun to take shape. Dark brown eyes appeared in the shadows, hovering before her. They vanished. A face made of the shadows formed before her. Xix couldn’t quite see it, but she was certain it was a face.

The face spoke. “Xix Acheron,” it said. “My new form. At last we meet.”

Xix felt her mouth go dry. “You . . . You’re Naka.”

“Correct, and you are my new host.”

New host? Wait, she knew this. Amneris had told her before they left. “You took over my ancestors,” Xix said. “You were the one who did those terrible things, not them!”

The face smiled cruelly. “Eternity is a bore, my dear. Watching others wield my power became tiresome aeons ago. I merely gave them a front row seat to my new adventures.”

She glowered defiantly. “You really are evil.”

Naka’s smile only grew. “I am evil. I am chaos. I am the darkness that will remain when Time and Creation die.”

“You’ve tried to end both many times in our history.” Something in her heart ached. “Do you truly wish to be alone for eternity? Is that your purpose?”

“My, my, it has been some time since one like you has come to me. Taking control of your form will bring me great joy.”

“Taking control of my body?” Xix tried to move away but couldn’t. She couldn’t move at all.

The shadows closed in as Naka spoke. “Time to find out just how strong you really are.”