The corridor trembled as the Herald advanced.Each step—if it could even be called a step—made the walls shiver, the pale flesh-like surface rippling as though the Fortress itself recoiled from its presence. The faint hum in the air had grown louder, deeper, until it vibrated in my teeth.
Aria staggered against me, barely able to stand. Her fingers trembled on my arm, her breath shallow. The curse-mark along her neck still glowed faintly, its pulse matching the shard in my chest. Every beat of mine was stealing another fraction of her strength.
Lyra's blade rang against the Herald's limb as she blocked another strike. The shadow-arm was longer than any natural limb, moving like liquid, slicing the air faster than sight. She kept it at bay, her movements sharp, but even she was being driven back, step by step.
"Kael!" she barked, her eyes flashing back toward me. "Make a choice! Now!"
The shard answered before I could.Its pulse doubled, the heat surging up my spine and into my skull. The whispers were no longer whispers. The voice was everywhere, threading through every thought, low and commanding:
Stop pretending. Stop holding back. She will die, and so will you. Take the strength. Take it all.
My claws burned. Smoke curled from my fingertips. My vision flickered crimson, the edges of the world fading to black. For a moment, I saw my reflection in the slick walls—not as Kael, but as something else. Eyes burning red. Veins like dark roots crawling across my skin. Claws wreathed in black fire.
Aria's voice broke through, faint and desperate. "Kael… stay with me. Please."
But when I looked at her, I saw the truth. Her glow had almost vanished. Her lips trembled with each shallow breath. Without something drastic, she wouldn't make it another minute.
The Herald lashed out again, a sweeping strike of shadow aimed straight at us. I shoved Aria behind me and caught the limb with both claws. The impact cracked the floor beneath my feet, the force rattling my bones.
The shard surged. Heat exploded through my chest, black flames coiling around my arms as the voice roared in triumph.
Yes. Let us wear the skin. Let us end this.
My grip tightened on the Herald's limb. The flames burned brighter, eating through the shadow like acid. The Herald's faceless head tilted slightly, the faint red slits narrowing—not in pain, but in interest.
Lyra leapt aside, her blade flashing. "Kael, if you give in completely, you won't come back!" she shouted. "But if you don't—she dies. Decide!"
The choice wasn't a choice. Not really.
I roared, the sound ripping from my throat in a guttural, inhuman bellow. The shard's energy flooded through me, drowning out everything—pain, fear, even thought. My claws elongated, my spine arched, and black fire crawled across my skin. The hum of the Fortress warped, the corridor itself seeming to pull back as the shard's power burned outward.
The Herald lunged. I met it head-on.
We collided in a blur of shadow and flame. The impact shook the corridor, walls cracking and bleeding faint streams of glowing liquid. My claws ripped through the Herald's limb, the black fire clinging to its shadow-flesh, burning it away faster than it could reform.
But every strike fed the shard.Every roar, every pulse of its power, pulled me deeper. My thoughts thinned, my wolf's growl rising until it was all I could hear.
Through the haze, Aria's voice reached me again—weak, trembling, but cutting through the roar like a blade. "Kael… don't leave me. Not like this."
Her words snagged something deep inside, something the shard hadn't consumed yet. I staggered mid-swing, the Herald's next strike slamming into my ribs and throwing me against the wall. Pain flared white-hot, sharp enough to break through the haze for a breath.
The shard roared inside me, furious.Finish it! Tear it apart! She lives because of us—do not stop now!
But I did stop.I forced air into my lungs, digging my claws into the floor until they sank deep. "I'm not your puppet," I growled, my voice shaking from the strain. "I'll use you… but you don't get to own me."
The shard's pulse faltered. The flames dimmed, still burning but no longer wild. The whispers didn't vanish, but they quieted, simmering beneath the surface instead of controlling it.
I rose to my feet, meeting the Herald's faceless stare. Its head tilted again, as if acknowledging the shift.
The black fire coiled tighter around my arms, controlled now, flowing like living armor instead of wild flame. My wolf's growl steadied, no longer a mindless howl but a deep, steady rumble.
"This ends now," I said, my voice low, cold, my claws igniting with a focused blaze.
The Herald struck first, its shadow-limb lashing out like a spear. I sidestepped, grabbed it mid-strike, and yanked it forward. My claws tore through its torso in one clean, burning strike, black fire eating through the shadow until the figure split apart.
It didn't scream. It didn't bleed. It simply unraveled, its form dissolving into drifting motes of dark light that scattered into the air. The hum of the Fortress dimmed, the walls stilling.
Silence followed.
Aria collapsed to her knees, gasping for air as the curse-mark faded completely. Lyra lowered her blade, exhaling slowly. Her eyes lingered on me—not on the flames, but on the shard's faint glow beneath my skin.
"You controlled it," she said softly. "For now."
The flames receded, leaving only smoke curling from my claws. My chest ached, the shard's pulse still deep and heavy, but quieter.
I turned toward the far end of the corridor. Beyond the ruins of the Herald, a new set of doors waited—taller, older, their surface carved with runes I didn't recognize.
And behind those doors… I felt something. Bigger. Older. Watching.
This wasn't over. Not by a long shot.
But for now, Aria was alive. I still had my mind. And the shard, though silent, throbbed with a single, heavy pulse—like it was waiting for the next move.