The ground beneath Kael was no longer dirt but bone
Cracked remains stretched across the earth like a graveyard built from forgotten wars
Ash fell from the sky coating his shoulders like snow made of sorrow
Kael moved through the field slowly
The fog here did not shift or break
It hung like a curse thick and unmoving
Each breath he took tasted like burnt flesh and decay
Whispers crawled inside his ears
Voices of the dead
Thousands of them
Begging
Mocking
Warning
He heard his name repeated over and over
Kael
Kael
Kael
He stopped at the center of the field
There was no sky here
Only blackness above and death below
The bones around him began to move
Rattling
Scraping against each other
They began to form shapes
Not men
Not beasts
But twisted things made from agony and hate
The largest of them rose first
A tower of flesh and bone
Eyes stitched shut
Mouth sewn with iron
Chains wrapped around its limbs
It breathed without lungs
Kael stood still as it came closer
Its steps made the ground cry
Then Kael lifted his hand
The shadows answered
Coiled around his fingers like snakes waiting to strike
The creature lunged with silent rage
Kael met it head on
He did not block its blow
He let it strike him
Its claws shredded his side
Blood poured from the wound
Kael roared
Not in pain
In fury
His shadow exploded
Spikes of cursed energy ripping through the creature's chest
It staggered back
Chains screaming as they broke
But it did not fall
Kael raised both arms
Darkness poured from them like rivers
He shaped it into a blade longer than his own body
The creature charged again
Kael dashed forward
Their bodies met with thunder
Kael drove the blade into the creature's stomach
The bone cracked
The darkness hissed
The creature opened its mouth and screamed
A soundless roar that shattered the bones around them
Kael twisted the blade
Then pulled upward
Splitting the monster in two
Its pieces fell to the ground like collapsed statues
Silence returned
But the whispers did not stop
Kael turned around
The bones were moving again
One by one
Spirits began to rise from them
They had no faces
Only glowing wounds where their eyes should be
They floated above the earth watching him
Then they spoke
Not with mouths
But through the air itself
You have taken the mark
You have broken the chains
You will carry us now
Kael fell to one knee
The pain in his arms burned deeper
His veins pulsed with dark light
The shadows beneath his skin twisted like worms
The spirits circled him
He did not cry out
He did not resist
He accepted them
And they entered him
Each scream each memory each torment became part of him
His blood turned darker
His eyes burned hotter
When he stood again
He was no longer alone
The spirits were part of him
And he was part of the curse
He looked to the sky
Still black
Still silent
But now he saw something beyond it
A tear
A crack in the world itself
He knew where to go next
The cursed mountain
The place where the gods first fell
Kael stepped forward
His wounds closing
The air around him shivered
He did not smile
He did not speak
He simply walked
And the bones behind him began to weep