Kael gripped the hilt of his shadowblade tightly.
Taren stood before him, no longer the fresh-faced knight Kael remembered, but a survivor—scarred, older, and carrying the same aura the Abyss imprinted on Kael himself.
> "How are you alive?" Kael asked, voice cold.
Taren didn't answer at first. He removed his hood slowly. One of his eyes had turned completely black—no iris, no white. The Abyss had marked him too.
> "The same way you are," he finally said.
"The Abyss doesn't just consume... it chooses."
Kael's grip didn't loosen.
> "You betrayed us, Taren. Left me to die."
Taren stepped closer, unafraid. "No, Kael. I saved you—by letting you fall. That was the only way you'd survive the Council's purge."
Memories came rushing back—whispers in the dark, orders from noble men in gold robes, the night of Kael's execution... disguised as a mission.
---
Suddenly, the ground trembled. A pulse of raw malice rippled through the Veil. Even the air tasted wrong.
> [System Alert: Tier IV Entity Detected Nearby]
[Status: Sentient, Hostile, Unbound]
Kael and Taren both turned toward the source.
From the twisted trees emerged a beast of shifting forms. Flesh morphed into bone, bone into shadow. It had no face, only a gaping hole that screamed in silence. Chains dragged behind it—broken, as if it had escaped something meant to hold it forever.
> "Is that—"
"—a Bound One," Taren interrupted grimly. "We're dead if we face it alone."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "So what? You want to fight together?"
Taren smirked. "No. I want to survive. That's all."
Kael looked at the monster. Then at the traitor. Then at the abyssal blade pulsing in his hand.
> "Fine. We fight together—for now."
---
The two charged as one.
Kael darted left, shadows trailing behind him. Taren conjured dark flame, circling the beast. The Bound One struck with its chain-limb, slamming the ground. Kael flipped, his sword cutting through the mist. It barely scratched the creature's hide.
> [Skill Unlocked: Shadow Step]
"You may teleport a short distance through shadows."
Kael vanished—then reappeared behind the creature, stabbing deep into what passed for its spine. The monster roared without a mouth.
Taren blasted it with cursed fire. It burned, screamed, regrew instantly.
> "We can't kill it!" Taren shouted.
> "Not yet," Kael growled. "But we can bind it."
---
They fought like wolves—synchronizing attacks, covering each other. Slowly, they carved glowing runes into the ground, luring the beast into the center.
Kael activated the rune.
The world pulsed.
Chains of light and shadow burst from the earth, wrapping the Bound One, yanking it down into a void beneath the stone.
Silence returned.
> [Entity Contained: Bound One - Class IV]
[Shared Trait Unlocked: Pact of Ruin]
"A bond formed through battle within the Abyss. Temporary trust. Permanent consequence."
Kael panted, turning to Taren. "This changes nothing between us."
Taren laughed bitterly. "No. It changes everything."
---