The guardian's roar split the plain. Stone and flame twisted into its body, chains burning across its limbs. The ground shook as it stepped forward, molten eyes locking on Kael.
Rayne circled, her dagger alive with fire. "It's Oathbound too," she said, her teeth bared. "Everything in this cursed land is."
The giant lifted one arm, a chain snapping free of the earth with a shriek. It swung, striking the ground in front of them. Stone split like glass.
Kael steadied his blade. The mark on his chest flared once again, this time hotter, answering the creature's call. The voice came with it. A sound deep, echoing, the same as the revenants.
Blood of the Hollow. Kneel.
His knees almost buckled. He forced himself upright, jaw locked.
Rayne caught the stumble, fire flaring higher in her hand. "Don't you dare give in to it."
The guard lunged, Rayne dove aside, flames flaring across its chest. The chain lashed after her, but she rolled, dagger slicing a glowing mark across its leg. The giant roared, fire spilling from the wound.
Kael moved, Veindrinker thrumming like a second heartbeat. He slashed at the chain, sparks erupting. The sword drank the fire, its runes blazing crimson.
For a heartbeat, the creature faltered, staring down at the blade as through recognizing it. Then it roared louder, its fury doubled.
Rayne was already at Kael's side, her fire painting her hair copper red. "That sword of yours is the key. Whatever binds them knows you."
Kael's breath came hard. "Then I'll use it."
He drove forward. The guardian's chain came down. Kael met it with Veindrinker, the impact shaking through his bones, but the blade split the links. Fire erupted, searing across the plain.
The giant staggered, but it didnt fall. Instead, it leaned closer, molten eyes fixed on Kael.
Heir.
The word was not whispered this time. It was thunder.
Rayne's face went still. Her dagger lowered an inch, suspicion burning brighter than the flames in her hand. She looked at Kael....not at the monster.
Kael's grip faltered. He didn't know if it was the guardian's strength, or her gaze, that shook him the most.
The guardian's chain tore across the ground, ripping a furrow through black stone. Kael threw himself aside, ash and sparks raining down.
Rayne darted low, fire blazing from her hand into the monster's leg. Her dagger struck deep, searing through its rocky hide. The giant staggered, but instead of weakening, the flames along its body surged brighter, as though feeding off on her magic.
"Damn it," she hissed, pulling back. "It burns what we give it."
Kael gritted his teeth, Veindrinker pulsing hot in his palm. The sword didn't resist the flame, it drank it, its runes glowing brighter with every clash. He swung upward, carving through one of the guardian's chains. The links burst apart, collapsing into molten fragments.
The roar that followed rattled the ground. The giant bent lower, its molten eyes fixed on him.
Heir.
The voice hit harder this time, not just sound but weight, pressing on his chest until his breath stuttered. He dropped to one knee, his pulse hammering. Hunger clawed at his throat, demanding, urgent. His lip split beneath his teeth, blood on his tongue. The taste stroked the fire inside him instead of quenching it.
Rayne's flame cut across the giant's shoulder, dragging its gaze away. She threw him a sharp look, anger and alarm mixing in her eyes. "Kael, stand up!"
He forced himself upright, muscles trembling. Veindrinker pulsed like it wanted more, the sword alive in his grip. The guardian swung its other chain, aiming for her. Kael surged forward, intercepting, his speed once again more like a blur. His blade met the molten steel, shattering it in an eruption of sparks.
For a heartbeat, he stood in crimson light, his eyes catching the reflection of the fire. Rayne froze, dagger still in hand, raised. She saw it, the glow that didn't belong to the sword, the same one that she saw in his doppelganger.
Her expression turned cold, her suspicion hardened to certainty. "It called you heir. And you answered."
Kael's chest heaved. He wanted to deny it. To claim it was the sword, the Vale, anything else. But the truth pressed too close, his blood burning with every heartbeat.
The guardian roared again, reaching down with massive hands. Kael kept, blade striking across its chest. Veindrinker carved deep, the runes blazing brighter than ever, the sword savoring the taste of the fire. Fire burst from the wound, showering the plain in sparks.
The creature staggered, chains unraveling. But its voice still thundered.
"You are bound. As we are bound. Heir."
Rayne's dagger trembled in her grip. She looked at him as though the enemy before them wasn't the only one she faced.
Kael drove the blade deeper, fighting both the monster and the hunger clawing at his insides. "I am not him," he hissed, words spilling out raw. "I am not my father. I am not my blood."
The guardian roared one last time, its body fracturing, ash and fire collapsing into the earth. The ground shuddered, then fell silent.
Kael stood shaking, Veindrinker's light dimming in his hand. The mark on his chest still burned.
Rayne lowered her dagger but didn't sheath it. Her fire hovered at her palm, ready, aimed at him. Her voice was steady, cold. "Then prove it!"
The plain was quiet again, though the ground still smoked where the guardian had fallen. The silence pressed heavier than its roar.
Kael wiped the ash from Veindrinker's blade, his chest still burning, not only from the hunger but from the guilt that plagued him. He didn't look at her, but he felt Rayne's eyes on him, sharp and unyielding.
"You heard it," she said. Her voice cut through the quiet. "It called you heir. You didn't deny it."
"I did." His words came too fast, too defensive. "I told it I wasn't...."
She didn't let him finish. "You told it you weren't your father. That's not the same thing."
Kael turned to her, the firelight from her hand painting the lines of her face. "I don't know what it meant. I don't even know what I am."
Her expression was unread, her dagger still in her grip though the fight had ended. "That's the problem, Kael. I can't fight beside someone who doesn't know where he stands."
The words hit harder than the guardian's chains. He took a step closer, desperate, the hunger gnawing under his skin, the pull of the bond fierce. "Rayne, I would never harm you."
Her fire flared, casting her in gold and red. She didn't back away, but her voice was ice. "Then prove it. When the vale shows ne what you are, prove that you are not my enemy."
The distance between them throbbed with heat and mistrust. Kael wanted to close it, to break it, to tell her the truths he only half understood himself. But before he could speak, the ground shuddered.
A fissure split the plain where the guardian had fallen. The death of the guardian had broken the seal, and something ancient was going to rise again. Firelight burst from below and a sound rose, not a roar this time, but a thousand whispers at once, the same as the passage.
Kneel. Kneel. Kneel
Rayne's fire flared brighter. She whipped toward the crack, her dagger raised. "They're not gone."
Kael felt the mark sear across his chest, brighter than ever. The whispers swarmed inside his skull until he staggered. His hand shook around Veindrinker.
Rayne's gaze snapped back to him, firelight catching the glow in his eyes. Her voice was low, almost a vow. "If you fall to them, Kael. I will burn you myself."
The fissure widened, heat rushing upward, the whispers howling louder. Ash and fire erupted from the earth, forming shapes too many to count.
Kael and Rayne stood side by side again, blade and fire ready. But her words still echoed in his chest, heavier than the whispers themselves.