Night draped its heavy veil across the ruined land as Kael, Lyra, and Nyra camped in the hollow remains of an ancient temple. The firelight flickered weakly, barely holding back the shadows that seemed thicker than they should be.
Kael sat apart from the others, his back to a crumbled pillar, eyes fixed on the flames. His body was still, but his mind… his mind was no longer his own.
The Abyss stirred.
"You think you've won, little godling?" The voice coiled through his thoughts like venom, smooth and persuasive. "You chained me, yes. But chains are only as strong as the hand that holds them. And your hand… trembles."
Kael's fingers dug into the stone floor until it cracked. His breath grew uneven. He wanted to shut it out, to silence it—but the Abyss did not speak with words. It spoke with truths.
Visions assaulted him.
He saw Lyra turning from him, her once-bright eyes cold and cruel. She stood beside another man, a faceless figure cloaked in celestial light, her laughter sharp as glass as she left Kael behind.
Then Nyra, blade in hand, driving it through his chest while whispering, "You were always a fool to trust me."
Kael's heart raced. He knew these were lies—illusions meant to fracture him. Yet they burrowed deep, feeding on the sliver of doubt every heart carried.
"Stop," he growled under his breath. "You won't break me."
But the Abyss's laughter was low, intimate, almost gentle. "Break you? No. I will perfect you. You cling to love, to hope, to fragile mortals who will one day betray you. Cast them aside, and you will be free—unchained, unstoppable."
The pillar behind him cracked again, this time not from his grip, but from the shadow spilling across his skin. His veins glowed faintly black, pulsing in rhythm with the whispers.
Lyra, sensing something wrong, looked up from the fire. Her eyes widened. "Kael…?"
He snapped his head toward her. For an instant, his face wasn't his own—half cloaked in darkness, his irises glowing like twin voids.
Lyra scrambled to her feet, rushing toward him, but Nyra stepped between them, hand on her blade. "Don't. He's not stable."
"I can help him!" Lyra cried.
But Kael was no longer listening. His vision blurred as shadows pressed closer, and the firelight dimmed as if suffocated. Within the storm of his mind, the Abyss hissed one final promise:
"Embrace me, Kael. Together, we will devour gods and forge a new eternity."
Kael clutched his chest, torn between the warmth of Lyra's voice calling his name and the cold certainty of the Abyss promising him dominion.
And then—his body went still. The shadows froze around him, and the temple itself seemed to hold its breath.
Would he break… or would he bend the Abyss to his will?