The void stretched endlessly around him, a skyless sea of fractured stone. Kaelen walked without aim, the shard tucked against his chest, its pulse faint but constant. Each beat felt like a second heart, one not his own.
Silence pressed in thicker than any battlefield roar. But in that silence, he could not escape the whispers.
"We chose you."
"Not them… only you."
"More… awaken…"
He shook his head violently, fingers digging into his scalp as if he could tear the voices out. But when the echoes faded, the loneliness remained.
Kaelen had always fought for others—for his village, for his companions, for anyone who needed him. Yet now, as he carried the fragment, he felt more isolated than ever. The Keepers' memories hadn't strengthened him; they had carved a gulf between him and everything human.
He replayed the vision in his mind: the Keepers falling, the shadow rising. The moment when all their courage and sacrifice had meant nothing. A shiver crept down his spine.
What if I end the same way? What if I'm just walking the same doomed path?
For a heartbeat, he considered throwing the fragment into the void, letting it vanish forever. But the Abyss inside him flared, sharp and urgent, filling his chest with fire. His hand froze mid-motion.
The whisper came again, softer this time. Almost gentle. "If you abandon them… they will be lost. Only through you can they endure."
It was a cruel lie. He knew it. And yet the words sank deep, curling around his doubts until they resembled hope.
Kaelen lowered the shard slowly. His jaw tightened. He hated himself for needing its strength, but the alternative—the helpless boy he once was—terrified him more.
He sat on a cracked ledge, staring into the endless dark, and let the silence press against him. He wondered if, one day, there would be nothing left of Kaelen—only the Abyss wearing his skin.
And still… he did not let go.
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