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📖 Chapter Twelve – Part Two
The Wraiths circled, wary now. Nyx lunged forward, her blades flashing. Sera murmured a healing ward under her breath, her runes glowing green. Kael dove into the fight with a roar, his sword cutting arcs of shadow-fire.
Alexander extended his hand, trying to will the Heart to calm them — or control them. For a heartbeat, it worked. The Wraiths froze, flickering, their eyes dimming.
Then something in the Heart snapped.
A surge of power erupted from him, silver-black fire spiraling outward. The Wraiths screamed and dissolved into ash, but the blast carved a crater into the ground and sent Kael sprawling.
When the light faded, everyone was staring at Alexander.
Nyx broke the silence. "You said you had control."
Alexander's hands shook. "I did. I thought I did."
Liora tilted her head, eyes glittering. "The Heart isn't tamed," she said. "It's leashed — and leashes break."
Sera moved closer to Alexander, checking his pulse. "We're done for the day. He's exhausted."
Kael pushed himself up, glaring. "He almost killed us. Again."
Alexander turned away, shame and anger burning through him. The chained god's voice whispered in his skull: You cannot master what you are.
They made camp near a cluster of jagged spires that glowed faintly blue in the dusk. The Wastes' sky churned with unseen storms. Liora sat apart, scribbling notes in a book that smelled of ash and oil.
Nyx poked at the fire. "So this is our life now? Running around a dead world hoping you don't blow up?"
"Enough," Sera said sharply.
Alexander rose and walked to the edge of the camp. Beyond the spires lay darkness. In it, he saw flickers — ruins, old symbols, a door buried in the earth. The Heart pulsed in his chest, tugging him forward.
He realized then the Wastes weren't just dangerous — they were familiar. Some part of him recognized the land, as though he'd walked it in another life.
Later, under the twin moons, Liora approached quietly. "You feel it, don't you?"
Alexander didn't look at her. "Feel what?"
"The call," she said. "The ruins are older than the Citadel, older than the Syndicate. You're tied to them. We all are, but you most of all."
He frowned. "You're not just an observer."
Liora smiled faintly. "Smart boy."
Back at the camp, Kael watched them with narrowed eyes. "This mission is going to kill us," he muttered.
The ground trembled faintly, almost like a heartbeat. Somewhere far below, chains clinked. The vision of the chained god returned — stronger now, its lips curling into a smile.
Come closer, it whispered. The truth waits.
Alexander exhaled. He knew sleep wouldn't come tonight. The Border Wastes were just beginning to reveal their secrets — and his own past was buried somewhere beneath the ash.
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