The mountain groaned as Malrik rose from the shattered stone, no longer cloaked in the form of a man but something far more monstrous. His body stretched, splitting apart as jagged plates of shadow-armored flesh formed across his frame. His limbs warped into talons, his spine arched with spines of black fire, and his face twisted into a grotesque mockery of his former self—half-warlord, half-abyss.
The night air thickened until it was hard to breathe. Every flicker of flame on the battlefield dimmed, suffocated by the void he exuded. Even the stars above seemed to vanish, swallowed by the unnatural storm gathering around him.
"Witness the true form of your ruin!" Malrik bellowed, his voice layered with unholy echoes that made the ground quake. "If light will not bow, then I will smother it in endless dark!"
He slammed one clawed hand into the earth, and rivers of shadow split across the battlefield, swallowing warriors whole. The ground itself cracked open like a wound, and from its depths surged creatures born of nightmare—shadows with blazing red eyes, their howls echoing across the chaos.
Selene's heart clenched as she stepped in front of Rael, raising her sword though her arms trembled. Rael, though blazing with golden fire, faltered for the first time. His newfound freedom weighed heavy, his breaths ragged. His power had cost him, and she could see how close he was to collapsing.
Kieran moved to her side, his blade drawn, his face hard as stone. "He's weakened, but not enough. We can't let him reach Rael again."
Malrik's gaze burned toward them, glowing pits of hatred. "The boy's light is nothing but borrowed flame. When I rip his soul apart, you'll see—he was always mine."
Selene's fury boiled. "He was never yours!" she screamed, her voice cutting through the night like a whip. "And he never will be!"
Golden fire suddenly flared at her side—Rael, though swaying, stood straighter, his eyes blazing once more. His voice trembled but carried iron.
"You chained me. You tried to make me into a monster. But I am my own."
Malrik's roar shook the skies. In a single movement, his wings—massive and torn, dripping shadows like blood—unfurled and beat downward, sending a hurricane of darkness sweeping across the battlefield. Warriors were flung like leaves; entire stone outcroppings shattered under the impact.
Selene dug her blade into the ground, holding her footing, her hair whipping violently around her. Kieran shielded them both with his body, his warrior's strength resisting the gale. But Rael… Rael spread his golden wings wide, their light anchoring him like roots in the earth. The clash of dark and light collided between them, a storm of opposites tearing the night asunder.
Malrik lunged, his claws reaching straight for Rael's heart.
Selene moved without thought. She intercepted, her blade ringing against the monstrous talons. The force threw her back, her body slamming into the dirt, but she had bought Rael a breath of time.
Kieran was there in an instant, his sword carving a blazing arc of steel and fire, striking against Malrik's corrupted arm. The monster howled, but the blow barely scratched his abyssal armor.
And then Rael moved.
Golden fire erupted from him once more, but this time it was sharper, honed. He raised his hands, and a spear of light formed between them, longer and brighter than the one before. He hurled it with a cry that echoed his mother's fury, his father's strength, and his own hard-earned defiance.
The spear struck Malrik square in the chest.
For a heartbeat—just one—there was silence.
Then Malrik screamed.
The light tore into him, cracking the armor of darkness that cloaked him, spilling fire and ichor across the battlefield. His wings faltered, his form collapsing inward, writhing against the light that burned through him.
But he did not fall.
No—he changed.
The abyss within him split wide open, consuming what was left of his flesh. His body dissolved into a mass of pure shadow and fire, a storm of claws and teeth and unending hunger.
He had become the very essence of darkness unbound.
Selene, pulling herself to her feet, could only stare. This was no longer a man, nor even a beast. Malrik was now the storm itself—the nightmare given form.
And the storm was coming for them.