The ruin shuddered with heat as the first chain of light snapped toward him.
Kael twisted, shadows flaring from his body to catch it—but the moment shadow touched flame, his forge screamed. Agony seared up his arm as the chain lashed through, burning black streaks across his skin.
He bit down on a roar, stumbling back.
The priests advanced slowly, weaving their bindings with calm precision. Threads of white fire spread across the rubble like spiderwebs, cutting off escape routes one by one.
"Do not fight, bearer," the lead priest intoned, voice steady as a hymn. "The Forge within you longs to be unshackled. Let us bind it. You will suffer less."
Kael spat blood. "I don't want chains."
"Then you will burn."
The second chain lashed. Kael rolled, pain tearing at his ribs. He slashed with his sword, shadows leaping—but the fire-thread caught the blade, dragging it to the ground with unnatural weight. His muscles strained, veins bulging, until at last the chain snapped with a sound like shattering glass.
But his arms trembled from the effort.
The priests did not stop.
One circled wide, drawing glowing sigils on the ground. The rune flared, a cage of light rising around Kael. He lunged for the gap, shadows stretching—and hit an invisible wall. The light burned his skin raw.
He staggered back, chest heaving. The forge snarled, urging him to unleash, to feed.
But he was bleeding, slowing. If he unleashed fully, he might not come back.
The priests closed in.
Chains tightened the circle, each step shrinking his world smaller. Their chants rose, low and resonant, rattling through his bones. Kael felt the forge inside him thrash, not with hunger this time, but with fear.
They were not simply trying to kill him. They were trying to break him.
The lead priest raised his hands. The chains converged.
Kael's vision blurred. Blood dripped from his fingers onto the ash. The forge screamed louder, until it was no longer a whisper in his chest but a roar in his skull.
Unleash me.
Kael's teeth clenched. His body sagged to one knee as the chains bound tighter, searing into his flesh.
The lead priest stepped forward, his shadow falling across Kael's bowed head. "You are finished."
Kael lifted his eyes. They blazed with shadowfire.
"Not yet."
The forge erupted.
Shadows tore upward like wings of night, slamming against the cage of light. The chains groaned, sparks flying as flame met abyss. Kael's roar split the ruin, a sound half-human, half-forge-born.
For the first time, the priests faltered.
The lead priest's steady mask cracked, eyes widening as he saw the boy rise through the storm, wounds bleeding black fire, shadow-claws curling like a beast unchained.
The bindings held—but only