Chapter 43: Whispers of Fear
The golden fire clung to Le Wai's battered form, flickering like a torch in a storm. It wasn't overwhelming, not yet—but it was alive, pulsing with a rhythm that defied collapse.
Kael felt it first. His arm, pressed against Le Wai's blade, trembled despite the weight of his strength. The black fire along his sword hissed as though repelled, its edge no longer biting as deeply.
He snarled, forcing himself to push harder, but his fury was tainted now—with hesitation.
"This… this isn't possible. You were breaking. You should already be in the dirt!"
Le Wai's knees still shook, his breath ragged, blood painting his body. He looked like a man moments from death—but his eyes burned. The flame behind them unsettled Kael more than any wound could.
From the shadows, the mastermind's voice slithered into the night, laced with a sharpness that hadn't been there before.
"So it awakens… after all this time. I had thought the ember perished with the last of its bearers."
Kael's head snapped toward the unseen presence.
"You knew of this?"
A low chuckle answered him.
"I knew of it, yes. But I never thought this frail wretch could endure enough to awaken it. Do you feel it, Kael? That fire gnawing at your darkness? It is not strength in the way you wield it—it is defiance given form."
Kael's grip tightened, his pride stinging at the notion of unease.
"Defiance? He's just prolonging his suffering. Flame or not, I'll grind him into ash!"
Yet as he spoke, the beasts circling them grew restless. Their snarls faltered, ears pinned back, as instinct screamed of danger. The glow from Le Wai wasn't blinding, but it carried a weight—an echo of something greater, something primal—that beasts and men alike couldn't ignore.
Le Wai raised his sword slowly. His arms shook, but the fire steadied the blade. His voice was hoarse, broken, but carried further than it should have.
"You think… this ember is just a spark. But even a spark… can burn the dark."
For the first time, silence rippled across the battlefield. The shadows, the beasts, even the mastermind's mirth stilled, listening.
And Kael, for all his fury, felt it—a whisper of fear, crawling at the edge of his heart