Recap: Kael Ardyn's confrontation with the Ascendant Hunter ended with a surge of forbidden power—the Shadowblood awakening deeper than ever. Now bound by an ancient force, he begins to see fragments of a forgotten war. Meanwhile, Lyria, conflicted between her orders and her heart, is drawn into Kael's darkness. As secrets of the past unravel, Kael must face a choice that could doom or define his future.
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Rain soaked the deadwood valley, where Kael stood unmoving, drenched in both blood and memory. The crimson glow from the glyph etched on his chest pulsed steadily, matching the rhythm of something ancient… something alive.
He could feel it.
Not just the Shadowblood—this was something else.
Voices.
A whisper that slithered behind his consciousness.
> "Forge the Pact. Let the Eclipse rise again."
Kael clenched his fists. "What… are you?"
Then, the world bent. In a blink, he stood no longer in the valley—but inside a void where shadows danced like embers. A massive obsidian throne loomed ahead, and upon it sat a faceless being clad in cloaks of liquid night.
> "You carry my curse," it spoke. "But you are not yet worthy of my name."
Kael stepped forward, unafraid. "Then show me how to become worthy."
There was silence.
Then, the being raised a clawed hand and pointed toward Kael's chest.
> "Seal the Crimson Pact. Accept my mark, and inherit the War that Heaven buried."
Kael's breath caught.
> Heaven buried?
But before he could ask, the void shattered. He awoke, gasping, on a stone slab inside the ruins—his wounds mysteriously healed.
Lyria was there, sitting silently by the fire, her glaive within reach but her posture calm.
"You were asleep for two days," she said, her voice softer than before. "That power—it almost consumed you."
Kael sat up. "But it didn't."
Lyria looked at him with unreadable eyes. "That's what scares me."
He studied her expression. For the first time, she looked less like a guardian of the Sanctum… and more like a woman bound by doubt. The storm inside Kael was mirrored in her gaze.
"Why are you still here, Lyria?"
"I don't know," she said, then looked away. "I should've killed you when I had the chance."
He stepped closer. "Then why didn't you?"
Silence.
Then, a whisper.
"Because I saw something in you… something familiar. The same darkness I've been hiding from myself."
Kael reached out, gently brushing her hair back from her face. "You think I'm the enemy?"
"No," she whispered. "I think you're the storm. And I can't tell if I want to run… or drown in it."
Their lips met—not as a promise, but as a collision of everything they were trying to escape. Passion born of fear, longing, and fate.
But the moment shattered as a screech echoed from the cliffs.
Both snapped to alert.
A creature of warped flesh and glowing runes descended from the dark sky—one of the Heavenbound Abominations. It landed with a quake, jaws dripping celestial ichor.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
The mark on his chest ignited again.
He turned to Lyria. "Let's see if this storm can fight."
And with shadow surging from his palms, Kael charged.