The next morning came with the sound of distant thunder.
Not the kind from the skies—this one rumbled from deep beneath the earth, like something massive shifting in its sleep.
Troady jolted awake inside the hollow tree hut, clutching his chest. The Fragment of Aethern was glowing again—hotter, faster.
"Not now," he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. "You're like a broken alarm clock that screams 'apocalypse o'clock' every morning."
Lira burst through the doorway, her cloak half-fastened and eyes wide.
"They're here."
Troady blinked. "Who's 'they'?"
Before she could answer, the ground cracked open outside. From the fissures crawled creatures of pure void—faceless, liquid-shadow forms that warped the air around them.
The villagers screamed.
"Nullspawn," Lira hissed, loading her crossbow. "Run if you value your life."
Troady stood frozen as the shard in his chest pulsed violently. The same chaotic pressure from the battlefield flooded back—his curse responding instinctively to the monsters' presence.
"Run?" he muttered, shaking his head. "I already died once. Not again."
The Fragment blazed.
---
Reality bent.
Every step the Nullspawn took seemed to distort, their own attacks misfiring—shadows missing their marks, claws striking their own allies.
Troady's misfortune was spreading like wildfire.
But the backlash came too.
His footing gave out, debris fell from above, and a burst of raw energy scorched the ground inches from his face.
Lira grabbed his arm, dragging him behind a broken root. "You'll kill us both if you lose control!"
He grit his teeth. "I'm trying not to!"
She glared, then whispered words in a language that twisted the air—suddenly, glowing runes encircled them. The Nullspawn recoiled, hissing.
Troady's eyes widened. "You—You're using Fragment magic too?"
Lira didn't answer, her focus unwavering as her runes expanded into a radiant barrier. But for a moment, he saw the same faint crystal light in her wrist—a smaller shard embedded under her skin.
She's a vessel too.
---
Minutes passed like hours. Between Troady's chaotic aura and Lira's stabilizing magic, the swarm began collapsing—each Nullspawn vanishing in distorted flashes.
When the final one fell, the silence returned. Only the heavy sound of their breathing filled the air.
Lira lowered her hand slowly. The runes faded.
Troady leaned against the tree trunk, trembling. "You could've told me you were one of us."
She looked away. "Because I wasn't supposed to be. My Fragment was incomplete… dying. I hid it so the Council wouldn't hunt me down."
"The Council?"
"The Divine Council," she said bitterly. "The so-called gods who summon and discard vessels like weapons. You think they saved you? They cursed you."
Troady's chest tightened. "Then why did Heaven send me?"
Lira met his gaze. "Because the heavens are cracking, Troady. And you're the fracture they fear the most."
---
A cold wind swept through the ruined village, carrying whispers only the cursed could hear.
> "Fate bends… balance breaks… the Vessel awakens…"
Troady clenched his fists, staring at the flickering light in his chest. For the first time, fear wasn't the loudest voice inside him—resolve was.
"Then let them fear me," he said quietly. "If I'm a fracture, I'll decide what breaks."
The Fragment pulsed in agreement, the glow now steady—not as a curse, but as a heartbeat.
Far above, unseen by either of them, celestial eyes watched from the fractured heavens.
The gods stirred.
To be continued…