The Duskwalk grew colder as Kael and Vaelor moved deeper into the shadowed wasteland. The fog thickened around their feet, curling like fingers trying to pull them down. The ground beneath them was cracked stone, each step echoing like whispers in a tomb.
Kael's breath came out in small clouds. "Does it ever get warmer here?"
"No," Vaelor replied calmly. "The Duskwalk was never made for warmth. It was made to separate the living from what hunts them."
Kael shuddered. "You mean monsters?"
Vaelor's silver eyes flicked toward him. "Everything is a monster to someone."
They walked for several minutes in silence before Kael finally asked, "Where are we going?"
"To a place where your training can begin."
Kael blinked. "Training? Already?"
"You awakened the Shadowbrand," Vaelor said. "That alone sends your scent across the world like blood in the water. If you don't learn control, you will not survive a day."
Kael frowned. "Control what?"
Vaelor stopped abruptly.
He turned, lifted his hand, and snapped his fingers.
The world darkened—instantly.
Kael stumbled as a ring of shadows rose around him like a dome. The sky vanished. The wasteland disappeared. And suddenly Kael stood inside a swirling sphere of living night.
He gasped. "Vaelor?!"
A voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere.
"Control this."
The shadows lunged.
Kael ducked instinctively as a tendril of darkness whipped past his face, slicing a deep line into the stone wall behind him. His heart thundered. He spun, dodging another strike. The shadows moved like serpents, hissing, curling, attacking with hunger.
"Stop! I can't—" Kael cried.
"You can," Vaelor's voice echoed calmly. "Or you die."
Kael's mark throbbed painfully. His chest felt like it was burning. The shadows tightened around him, pushing from every direction, trying to crush him.
He dropped to his knees.
"I don't know how!" Kael shouted.
"Then learn."
Kael squeezed his eyes shut. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. The darkness swirled closer, tightening like a cage.
And then—
A memory… a whisper… something deep inside him stirred.
The same feeling he had when the Cursebeast attacked.
Not fear.
Instinct.
Kael exhaled shakily.
He placed his hand over the Shadowbrand.
"Move…" he whispered.
The darkness froze.
Kael opened his eyes.
A tiny ripple of shadow pulsed from his palm. Weak, small, almost nothing—but the sphere of darkness reacted. The tendrils paused, curling back like waiting snakes.
Kael swallowed. "I… I felt that."
"Good," Vaelor said. His voice shifted, closer. "Again."
Kael inhaled deeply and touched the mark again.
This time he didn't ask the shadows.
He commanded them.
"Move."
A wave of darkness exploded from him, ripping outward like a shockwave. The dome shattered. Shadows disintegrated into mist. Light—what little there was—returned.
Kael collapsed, panting. "I… I did it."
Vaelor stood a few steps away, arms folded, expression unreadable. "Barely. But yes."
Kael glared at him. "You nearly killed me."
"If I wanted to kill you," Vaelor said, "you would not be speaking to me."
"That doesn't make me feel better."
"It wasn't meant to."
Kael pushed himself up on trembling legs. "Why so harsh?"
Vaelor's eyes softened—just a little. "Because the world will be harsher."
Kael looked down at his hands, still shaking. "How long until I can control it properly?"
Vaelor tilted his head. "That depends."
"On what?"
Vaelor raised a single finger and tapped Kael's forehead.
"On how badly you want to live."
Kael's chest tightened. "I want to survive."
"No," Vaelor said. "Not survive. Live."
Kael stared at him, confused.
Vaelor turned away. "Survival is fear. Living is purpose. You must decide which path you walk."
Kael followed, stumbling slightly. "What if I choose both?"
"Then you become something the kingdoms fear."
A distant sound cut through the wasteland.
Kael froze.
A deep, echoing roar.
Not like the Cursebeast he'd faced.
This one was heavier. Larger. Hungrier.
Vaelor lifted his staff. "They are here sooner than expected."
Kael's skin went cold. "Beasts? Again?"
"Yes. Drawn by your awakening."
He pointed at the fog ahead. "Prepare yourself."
Kael's heart raced. "I can't fight that!"
"Then die," Vaelor said simply.
Kael stared at him, horrified.
Vaelor smirked faintly. "Or learn."
The fog parted.
A colossal shape lumbered forward—its body stitched with jagged bone, its mouth drooling black venom, its legs like twisted tree trunks. Glowing runes pulsed beneath its skin.
Kael stumbled backward. "That's not a Cursebeast…"
"No," Vaelor said. "It is far worse."
The monster roared, shaking the stone pillars around them.
Kael's knees weakened. His pulse hammered. "Vaelor… help me!"
"I will," Vaelor said, raising his staff. "But only after you try."
Kael's breath trembled.
He felt the mark burning again.
Felt the shadows responding to the danger.
He clenched his fists.
He couldn't run.
He couldn't hide.
So he stood his ground.
The beast charged.
Kael exhaled sharply. "MOVE!"
Black energy erupted from his feet, exploding outward in a burst of shadow. A wave slammed into the beast, slowing it—but not stopping it. The creature snarled and pushed through the darkness, its claws raised.
Kael's legs almost gave out.
But before the beast reached him—
Vaelor appeared in front of him, staff blazing with black fire.
"Better," he said. "But not enough."
He swung the staff.
A blade of shadow sliced the beast clean in half.
The creature's scream shook the Duskwalk—and then it collapsed into dust.
Kael collapsed beside it, trembling. "I… I almost died."
"You will almost die a thousand times," Vaelor said. "That is how Shadowborn grow."
Kael looked up at him. "Is this what my life will be?"
Vaelor offered a hand to pull him up.
"Yes," he said. "But it will also be the life of someone powerful enough to decide the fate of kingdoms."
Kael took the hand, breathing hard. "Then teach me."
Vaelor smiled.
"Good. Tomorrow, we begin real training."
"Then what was this?" Kael asked weakly.
Vaelor glanced at the dust of the fallen beast.
"A warm-up."
Kael swallowed.
Tomorrow was going to kill him.