Infinity –
Chapter: Shadow of the Past, Wings of Verdalis
The realm was silent—eerily so.
Kael stood with one knee pressed against the fractured obsidian floor, gasping, blood trickling from his lip. His sword, dulled by endless exchanges, lay buried in the rubble beside him. Before him, Baelgor—the devil of ruthless cunning—descended slowly, his voice sharp like jagged stone.
"It's over, boy."
The words echoed across the fading subspace like a death sentence. Baelgor's clawed hand pulsed with infernal fire, the pressure alone enough to crush bone. But Kael's head slowly rose—his eyes no longer calm.
Something stirred.
From the depths of his soul, a familiar darkness awakened. His shadow twisted unnaturally, growing, expanding. Rage swelled in his chest, not blind fury—but a cold, controlled wrath. The aura around him darkened like a black sun collapsing inward, forming a core of pure will.
Tenebris...
Dark energy flooded through his veins as his affinity merged with the sleeping power within—Tenebris, the silent shadow beyond the stars. The ground beneath him cracked in a ring. A sharp pulse exploded outward.
Baelgor's smirk vanished.
"Impossible!"
With a single step, Kael vanished from sight, reappearing behind the devil in a flash of voidlight. Blades of shadows tore from his arms like serpents, coiling and striking. Baelgor barely blocked, only to receive a crushing kick to the ribs. He was flung backward, colliding against the spiked cliffs of the shattered space.
Kael didn't stop.
With each strike, his wrath intensified. Shadow surged around his limbs, coating him in armor-like threads. His attacks were not wild—they were precise, relentless, fueled by every moment of helplessness he had once known. Baelgor shrieked, summoning a final infernal barrage, but Kael countered with a spiral of dark affinity fused with Tenebris's mark.
"I am no longer afraid of the dark," Kael growled, slashing straight through the devil's core.
A scream, a rupture in space, and then—silence.
The subspace trembled. Cracks webbed through the air like broken glass. Baelgor's body dissipated into black mist, vanishing into nothingness.
Kael stood at the center, panting. And then the space shattered—
And he fell.
Cavern of Awakening – Minutes Later
Kael landed hard on his feet, stone cracking beneath him. He was back—in the ancient cave. The flickering light from above painted soft gold across the broken floor.
He looked up—
Anay was approaching from the opposite corridor, his cloak dusted with frost and burns. He was smiling, slightly tired, but alive.
Kael exhaled. "Looks like we both made it."
But then his gaze shifted.
The smile faded.
Behind Anay, standing tall yet solemn, was Verdalis—the majestic spirit beast of vines and wings. In her arms lay Liora—unmoving, unconscious.
Kael rushed forward. "Liora?!"
Verdalis bowed her head slightly. "She is safe. Only unconscious. She will wake... by tomorrow."
Kael's jaw clenched. "What happened?"
Anay, arms folded, eyes downcast, answered slowly. "She... hesitated. During the battle with the shadow wolf. She froze. It was like her spirit was caught in old wounds."
Kael's eyes darkened. "So that was it..."
Anay nodded. "Even earlier, in the forest, she paused the moment we encountered the same creature. This time... she couldn't fight."
Kael knelt beside her, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "I should've known. Shadow wolf—its
Before kael could answer, a deep, grating rumble echoed across the cave.
Crk—Crk—KRACK.
Stones fell from above. The walls trembled violently. The air grew tight.
Kael's eyes snapped to the ceiling. "No—! The cave is collapsing!"
"Verdalis!" Anay shouted. "Get us out of here!"
The spirit beast spread her great verdant wings, her vines extending to wrap around both boys. She lifted Liora onto her back with care and surged upward, just as the cavern began to implode behind them.
They burst from the collapsing mouth of the cave, debris crashing in a plume of dust and shattered stone. Verdalis soared high, wings slicing through the mist of dusk as she carried them to a safe ridge overlooking the valley.
The group settled quietly on a ledge beneath the stars. Liora still lay motionless, though her breathing was calm.
Kael sat beside her, eyes distant.
Anay leaned against a stone, arms crossed. "She'll wake up."
Kael nodded but said nothing.
The wind whispered through the trees, and above them, the stars blinked silently. The battle was over—for now.
But none of them could ignore the shadow that lingered within her heart.