Chapter 19 – Ash and Glass
The first monster surged from the sands, a behemoth of molten glass and jagged obsidian. Its body cracked and reformed with each step, glowing fissures spiderwebbing across its surface. The fragments fused inside it pulsed like a beating heart, radiating waves of unstable power.
Kael tightened his grip on his blade, his breath ragged. The shards in his chest pulsed violently, responding to the creature's resonance. It was like standing in front of a mirror—not a reflection of who he was, but of what he might become if he surrendered to the shards completely.
The thought chilled him.
Liora's voice cut through the storm. "Focus, Kael! Don't let it draw you in!"
The creature roared, a sound like glass grinding against stone. Shards exploded outward from its body, slicing through the air like shrapnel. Kael ducked low, feeling the heat scorch past his face. He rolled across the sand, coming up with his blade raised, and struck at its leg.
The impact sent sparks flying. His sword cut into the molten surface, but the wound healed instantly, shards re-fusing with a hiss.
Kael snarled. Damn it. It's like fighting a living storm.
The monster swung a massive arm down, a slab of obsidian fused with burning veins. Kael leapt aside just as it smashed the ground, sending tremors through the plateau. The shards in his body pulsed with a sudden urge, whispering in his mind:
Take. Consume. Use.
Kael's vision blurred. For a heartbeat, he saw himself tearing into the creature not with steel, but with raw shard resonance, absorbing its fragments into his own body. The temptation sent a shiver of exhilaration down his spine.
"No," he muttered through gritted teeth, shaking it off. "Not like that."
Liora darted in beside him, her weapon glowing faintly as she slashed across the creature's arm. Energy burned into the wound, slowing its regeneration. She shouted above the storm. "We can't kill it by force alone! The fragments inside—it's feeding them the same way it's feeding yours!"
Kael's eyes snapped to the pulsing core deep in the creature's chest. The rhythm of its resonance matched the shard in his chest almost perfectly. He understood then.
"We don't break the body," he said. "We break the heart."
The creature reared back, gathering energy. Its chest glowed brighter, unstable power building. Kael's shard pulsed harder, syncing with it, as if daring him to connect. He forced his breathing steady, raising his blade.
"Cover me," he said, his voice low but steady.
Liora gave him a sharp nod, no hesitation in her eyes. "Go."
Kael sprinted forward as the creature unleashed a blast of molten shards. Liora intercepted with a surge of energy, her body glowing faintly as she forced the attack to scatter. The effort nearly drove her to her knees, but she held long enough for Kael to dive through the gap.
He closed the distance, leaping onto the creature's chest. The heat seared his skin, the shards humming violently against his own. With a roar, he plunged his blade into the glowing fissure.
The world exploded in resonance.
Shards screamed in his ears. His mind flooded with alien whispers, fragments of memories not his own—visions of destruction, of cities burning, of people kneeling before beings made entirely of fragments. His chest convulsed, his shard resonating with theirs until he couldn't tell where he ended and the monster began.
You are us. We are you. Merge. Become whole.
Kael's scream tore from his throat. For a moment, he wanted it—wanted the strength, the certainty, the power to end everything that threatened him. His hand trembled on the hilt.
But then he heard another voice.
"Kael!" Liora's cry. Clear. Grounding. Human.
His eyes snapped open. He forced the resonance downward, channeling not into himself, but into his blade. The shard in his chest pulsed violently, resisting, then relented with a shattering crack. Energy surged down the weapon and into the fissure.
The monster convulsed. Its body fractured into hundreds of jagged shards, glowing brighter before bursting apart in a storm of light and ash.
Kael was thrown back, landing hard in the sand. His chest heaved as he gasped for air, vision spinning. The shard inside him pulsed erratically, wounded but stabilizing.
Liora was at his side in an instant, her hand gripping his arm. "Kael. Are you—"
He cut her off with a ragged laugh, shaking his head. "Alive. Barely." His voice cracked, quieter. "But… I almost lost myself. For a second, I wanted it."
Liora's gaze softened, though her jaw remained tight. "That's why it's dangerous. The shards don't just give power—they lure you. They change you."
Kael stared at the glassy remains of the monster, its fragments scattered like dying embers across the sand. He whispered, almost to himself:
"Then I'll have to change faster than they do. Or they'll win."
The storm quieted slightly, revealing the horizon—where more shapes moved beneath the dunes, dozens of them, drawn by the resonance.
Liora followed his gaze. Her voice was steady, but grim. "This wasteland isn't done with us yet."
Kael forced himself to his feet, gripping his blade tighter. His chest still burned, but his eyes were clear. "Then neither am I."