Kaelen's blade trembled in his hand. The fire that had roared so defiantly now guttered like a dying ember. The shard in his chest pulsed faster, each beat a hammer against his ribs, demanding that he listen.
The rift-born entity closed in, its countless limbs curling around him like the bars of a cage. Everywhere he turned, he saw his own face staring back—dozens of versions, some older, some younger, all whispering in unison.
"Why resist?" they breathed. "We are you. We are the strength you never seized, the victories you abandoned, the power you denied. Embrace us."
Kaelen staggered, his knees sinking into the fractured ground. Sweat burned down his temple. He tried to lift his blade again, but his arms felt like lead. The truth he'd clung to—that he could resist the Abyss and remain whole—was crumbling beneath the weight of their voices.
The shard flared brighter, filling his veins with molten fire. In that searing heat came visions: himself standing atop the Abyss, crowned in black flame; Keepers bowing before him; enemies scattered like ash. Not broken. Not consumed. Victorious.
His breath hitched. For a heartbeat, he wanted it.
The entity sensed it. Its shadow loomed taller, its many faces smiling with terrible serenity. A single voice rose from the chorus, clear and commanding: "Give in. You cannot win by halves. To conquer the Abyss, you must become it."
The words burrowed deep. Kaelen's grip loosened. The blade sagged, its fire dimming. The voices weren't wrong. Every battle, every scar, every loss had proved the same truth: resisting the Abyss was killing him piece by piece. Perhaps the only way forward was to stop fighting—stop denying—and take the power in full.
His vision blurred. Darkness crowded the edges. The shard burned hotter, a heartbeat away from bursting. His hand began to unclench, the sword slipping from his grasp.
For the first time, Kaelen felt his will bend.
And as the abyssal voices swelled into triumph, one last thought screamed inside him, faint but desperate:
If I surrender, will there be anything left of me at all?
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