The wind howled through the trees, carrying with it the lingering echoes of the whispers from the forest. Aedan and Kael barely had time to catch their breath before the temperature around them plunged.
A chill unlike anything natural.
Aedan's instincts screamed at him. Move!
He barely had time to react before something slammed into him—a blur of darkness, faster than his eyes could track.
Pain exploded in his ribs as he was hurled backwards, his body crashing through a half-rotted fence. The impact knocked the air from his lungs, and his vision blurred.
Kael barely managed to dodge, rolling to the side before springing up, sword flashing as he turned to face—
The thing from the forest.
But it had changed.
No longer just a mockery of Aedan's form, it had shifted, its body warping like ink spilling through water. Its limbs stretched unnaturally, its face melting and reforming, flickering between different versions of Aedan, of Kael, of people they didn't even know.
And its eyes—deep pits of endless void—were locked on Aedan.
Kael tightened his grip on his sword. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."
The creature moved, a ripple of shadow twisting as it lunged again.
Kael reacted instantly, bringing his sword down in a swift, precise strike—
The blade passed through nothing.
The creature vanished—its form dissolving into tendrils of darkness—before reappearing directly behind him.
Kael's instincts saved him. He ducked, narrowly avoiding a clawed hand aimed straight for his throat. He twisted, slashing low—this time his sword connected, but instead of flesh, it felt like cutting through thick smoke.
Aedan forced himself up, ignoring the pain in his ribs. He had to move.
His dagger was already in his hand before he even realized it, the edge gleaming in the pale moonlight. He charged.
The creature shifted again, its form flickering like a distorted image. As Kael drove forward with another strike, Aedan flanked—his dagger aiming for where its heart should be.
The blade sank in.
For a split second, Aedan thought it had worked.
Then the thing laughed.
Not a sound made for human ears. A dozen voices—some childlike, some ancient, some full of sorrow, others of madness—all spilling from its shifting maw.
Then it exploded outward, darkness unraveling into a massive shockwave.
Kael and Aedan were thrown back, tumbling across the dirt.
Aedan coughed, trying to push himself up. His entire body ached.
Kael groaned, spitting out a curse. "Alright. That's it."
He slammed his palm against the ground. The air hummed, and the faint blue glow of his Seal of Embers flared to life. Fire burst from his fingertips, the flames twisting and spiraling into his blade, setting the steel ablaze.
"Let's see how you handle fire, you ugly bastard."
The creature didn't hesitate. It lunged again.
This time, Kael was ready.
He dodged the first swipe, rolling under its outstretched claw before bringing his flaming blade upward in a brutal arc.
The fire tore through it, and for the first time, the creature screamed—a shriek of pure rage and pain.
Aedan didn't waste the opening.
The shard in his pocket burned hotter than ever, its energy pulsing through him. Without thinking, he reached for it—
And the world shifted.
For a single instant, everything slowed.
He could see it—threads of darkness connecting the creature to the very shadows around them. He could feel the way it twisted through reality, how it existed in multiple places at once, slipping through the gaps between moments.
And he knew what he had to do.
Aedan moved.
He wasn't as fast as the creature. But he didn't need to be.
Because this time, he knew where it would be.
As Kael's flames burned through its side, the creature reeled, shifting away from the fire—
Right into Aedan's waiting blade.
With all his strength, Aedan drove the dagger straight through its chest.
The creature convulsed, its shifting form snapping back into one shape—a twisted, monstrous version of Aedan, its gaping mouth frozen in a silent scream.
Then—
It shattered.
Darkness erupted outward, dissipating into nothing.
Silence followed.
Aedan stood there, panting. His dagger was still outstretched, but the creature was gone.
Kael let out a long, shaky breath. "Please tell me that was the only one."
Aedan didn't answer.
Because deep in his pocket, the shard's heat hadn't faded.
It had intensified.
And in the distance, past the trees, more whispers stirred.
The silence was suffocating.
Aedan's fingers trembled around the hilt of his dagger, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His body screamed in protest, exhaustion weighing him down like a leaden cloak. Kael wasn't faring much better—his sword, still wreathed in faint embers, hung loosely in his grip, and his stance was unsteady.
But the moment of reprieve was short-lived.
The whispers grew louder.
Aedan barely had time to react before the temperature plummeted again, an unnatural cold seeping into his bones. The very air around them thickened, growing heavy with something unseen—something watching.
Then, from the shadows, they emerged.
First one. Then two. Then three.
Figures, their shapes barely distinguishable in the dim moonlight, peeling themselves from the darkness as if stepping through an unseen veil. Their forms flickered and twisted like the first one, shifting between countless faces, countless identities.
But these ones were different.
Stronger. More solid.
And they were surrounding them.
Kael muttered a curse under his breath, forcing himself into a fighting stance. "You've got to be kidding me."
Aedan clenched his teeth. The shard in his pocket burned hotter, pulsing in sync with his own rapid heartbeat.
This wasn't over.
It had only just begun.
The figures didn't charge immediately. They simply stood there, watching—studying. Their shifting faces flickered, each one lingering just long enough to be recognizable before melting into another. Some were familiar. Others were disturbingly alien.
Then, one of them moved.
Faster than before.
Aedan barely had time to react. The creature's arm extended unnaturally, stretching across the space between them in an instant. A clawed hand shot forward—aiming straight for his throat.
Too fast.
He twisted, barely dodging, but the force of the attack sent him stumbling back. The creature didn't stop. It followed through, its form dissolving into a smear of darkness before reappearing inches from him.
Aedan's eyes widened.
A sharp impact slammed into his gut, launching him backwards. He hit the ground hard, pain lancing through his body as he tumbled across the dirt.
Kael was already moving.
With a fierce snarl, he brought his sword down in a flaming arc, aiming for the creature's head—
But the second one was faster.
A blur of motion—then Kael was gone.
One of the figures had snatched him mid-strike, twisting its formless mass around his body like a living shadow. Kael let out a choked gasp as he was yanked off his feet, the creature dragging him backwards into the depths of the darkened forest.
Aedan's blood ran cold.
"No—!"
He forced himself up, ignoring the pain, but before he could move, the first creature was already on him again.
This time, he wasn't fast enough.
A clawed hand wrapped around his throat.
Ice-cold fingers dug into his skin, lifting him off the ground with inhuman strength. Aedan gasped, struggling, but the grip tightened—his lungs burned, his vision blurred.
Then, it spoke.
Not in words. Not in any language he could understand.
It spoke directly into his mind.
"Not yet."
Aedan's body froze.
A wave of something alien crashed through him—an overwhelming presence, ancient and vast, pressing against his very being. It wasn't just looking at him. It was inside him, peeling apart the layers of his thoughts, sifting through his memories.
"You are not ready."
His heartbeat slowed.
Everything around him faded.
Darkness began to consume his vision.
Then—
A spark.
A flicker of something deep within him—something dormant, waiting.
The shard in his pocket blazed.
The presence recoiled—hissing, withdrawing like a hand burned by fire. The fingers around his throat loosened.
Aedan moved.
With every ounce of strength he had left, he wrenched his dagger free and drove it forward—straight into the creature's arm.
The moment the blade pierced its flesh, the thing screamed—an ear-splitting, distorted wail.
Aedan didn't stop. He twisted the dagger, his vision swimming from the effort, and a pulse of something erupted from the shard within him.
The creature's form shuddered.
For the first time, it looked afraid.
Then, without warning—it let go.
Aedan hit the ground hard, gasping for air. His throat burned, but he didn't hesitate. He pushed himself up, his body screaming in protest.
Kael.
Where was Kael?
His gaze snapped to the trees where the second figure had dragged him.
Nothing but darkness.
No sound. No movement.
Aedan's pulse pounded in his ears. He ran.
His legs barely carried him forward, his vision still blurred from lack of oxygen, but he didn't stop. The forest loomed around him, thick with unnatural shadows, and every instinct in his body screamed at him to turn back.
But he couldn't.
Kael was in there.
And he was not going to let him die.
Not like this.
Not alone.
With a final breath, Aedan plunged into the dark.