Chapter 12 – The Fractured Dawn (Part 2)
The forest beyond the valley was still untouched by the blast, but the Rift energy had poisoned its heart. Trees grew twisted, roots bleeding light. The air buzzed with whispers – fragments of the minds that had once lived and died at the Academy
They camped beneath the remains of an old shrine, its marble statues worn smooth by centuries. Reika cleaned her blades in silence while Taro tried to fix a broken communicator with parts scavenged from the wreck.
Kairo sat apart, watching the Rift shimmer faintly in the distance.
Reika eventually spoke. "You saw him, didn't you? The King."
Kairo didn't deny it. "He's close. Closer than he's ever been. I think…I think the Academy's destruction broke the last seal. The Tyrant King isn't just a memory anymore."
Taro's hands froze over the communicator. "You're saying he's alive?"
"Not alive," Kairo said quietly. "Awake."
Reika frowned. "Then what happens next?"
Kairo's eyes glowed faintly. "We end it. Once and for all."
But far away, in the fractured remains of the Rift itself, something else stirred. Two presences – one burning, one hollow – met in the darkness between worlds.
"He walks the mortal path," one voice hissed, old and venomous.
"Then let him," replied another, smoother, sharper. "Let him think he can escaoe what he was."
"You fear him."
"No," came the whisper. "I am him."
The Rift screamed. And deep beneath the earth, something began to climb out of the void.