The world around Kael dissolved into shadow. One heartbeat he was kneeling on cracked stone, the next he stood in an endless void, stars scattered like broken glass across an abyss without horizon.
The Abyss took form before him. It was not a beast, nor a man—it was everything. Shifting shapes, dripping black light, a presence that pressed down on Kael's chest until his lungs screamed for air. Within its mass, eyes opened and closed, whispering truths too cruel for words.
"Here," it hissed, "you cannot hide. Here, only your soul speaks. And your soul, Kael, is mine."
Chains erupted from the ground, glowing with a faint silver light. They wrapped around his arms, legs, and chest, binding him in place. Kael gritted his teeth, recognizing them not as the Abyss's shackles—but his own. Each link glimmered with fragments of memory.
He saw Lyra's smile, bright even in despair. Nyra's blade raised to defend him. The faces of those he had sworn to protect, even when it cost him his freedom.
The Abyss's laughter filled the void, shaking the very stars. "Pathetic. You forge chains of love, of duty, of weakness. How long until they strangle you? Break them, and ascend."
The chains pulled tighter, biting into his flesh. Kael's knees buckled as visions pierced him like arrows.
—Lyra, abandoning him.
—Nyra, betraying him.
—The world burning as his so-called allies turned their backs.
The Abyss whispered, "They will all betray you. Only I remain. Only I am eternal."
Kael's jaw clenched. "No."
A crack split one of the chains, not from breaking—but from his will solidifying.
He lifted his head, eyes blazing. "These chains aren't my prison. They are my anchor."
The visions faltered.
Kael pulled against the bindings, each movement radiating a blinding light that burned through the Abyss's shadows. "Lyra's faith. Nyra's loyalty. My vow to the fallen… they are not weakness. They are the strength you'll never understand."
The chains glowed brighter, transforming into radiant bindings of celestial flame. With a roar, Kael shattered them—not to be free of them, but to wield them. The broken links hovered around him, reforged into glowing weapons of light, each infused with a fragment of his soul.
The Abyss shrieked, recoiling as the void trembled.
Kael raised his hand, and the chains whipped forward, wrapping around the Abyss's shifting mass. For the first time, the formless horror convulsed as if bound.
"Enough," Kael thundered. His voice carried not just strength but divinity. "You do not command me. You will bend, or you will be broken."
The Abyss writhed, hissing in fury, but the chains of Kael's soul tightened, dragging it closer. Its endless whispers grew desperate, panicked.
Kael stood firm, his gaze unwavering. He was no longer the hunted.
He was the one holding the leash.