Shadows of Ascension

53. Liars

As Shadowbane's ominous words echoed through the chamber, a heavy silence fell upon the group. Riona's shoulders trembled with silent sobs, her tears glistening in the dim light of the Well of Fate.

Luca turned to her, concern etched into his features. "Riona, what's wrong?" he asked gently, his voice filled with empathy.

Riona shook her head, unable to speak as the weight of her visions pressed down upon her. She wanted to tell them, to share the truth of what she had seen, but the words caught in her throat, suffocated by fear and uncertainty.

Aiden's eyes narrowed with suspicion as he turned to Shadowbane, his voice laced with accusation. "What did you do to her?" he demanded, his fists clenched at his sides.

Shadowbane merely smirked in response, his dark gaze fixed on Aiden with unsettling intensity. "Nothing," he replied calmly, his tone dripping with malice.

Aiden scoffed, his anger bubbling to the surface. "Liar," he spat, his voice sharp with contempt.

Shadowbane's smirk widened into a cruel grin. "Me, a liar?" he taunted. "If anyone is a liar here, it's you, Aiden."

"The Well of Fate is no joke," Shadowbane continued, his voice cold and calculating. "It only shows you visions of your own future."

Aiden's heart pounded in his chest as the weight of Shadowbane's words settled upon him. He knew he couldn't hide from the truth any longer, couldn't deny the visions that had haunted him since he had gazed into the depths of the well.

"Tell us now," Shadowbane demanded, his voice echoing in the silence of the chamber. "What is it that you saw that you don't want us to find out?"

Aiden's throat tightened with fear as he struggled to find the courage to speak the words that lay buried deep within his soul. But as he met Shadowbane's piercing gaze, he knew that he could no longer hide from the truth. With a heavy heart, he began to speak.

"I...I did lie," Aiden admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. "I saw me and Luca fighting."

Luca's brow furrowed with concern as he turned to his friend, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes. "Well, maybe it was just training," he suggested, his tone filled with reassurance.

But Aiden shook his head, a sense of unease gnawing at the pit of his stomach. "No...I sensed the killing intent," he said, his voice tinged with dread.

Shadowbane interjected, his voice cutting through the tension like a knife. "It could also have been a hunter with the powers of shapeshifting," he suggested, his eyes narrowing in thought. "Like Kaiden, for example..."

Riona's scream of anger pierced the air, her fists clenched at her sides as she launched herself at Shadowbane with reckless abandon. But Shadowbane merely smirked, effortlessly sidestepping her attack and halting her momentum with a single gesture.

"I am a B-rank hunter," Shadowbane proclaimed proudly, his chest puffed out with arrogance. "See my mark?" he continued, gesturing to the symbol emblazoned on his chest. "You C-rank hunters can't beat me."

As Riona recoiled from Shadowbane's words, her eyes blazing with fury, he turned his attention back to the group with a knowing smirk.

"Back to what I was saying," Shadowbane continued, his voice dripping with malice. "Riona is a liar. She didn't actually tell you what happened to Kaiden."

A chill ran down Luca's spine as he exchanged a wary glance with Aiden, the weight of Shadowbane's words settling like a heavy cloak upon their shoulders.

"We are all liars," Shadowbane declared ominously, his eyes flickering with a dark intensity. "Luca is also keeping a secret from us. Unfortunately, I have no idea what it is."

A sense of unease settled over the group as they grappled with the implications of Shadowbane's revelation. Could it be true? Had their destinies been intertwined by secrets and lies far deeper than they could have ever imagined?