Chapter 51 – The Shattered Summit
The air above the Ravenspire was no longer air.
It was pressure, weight, intent.
Kratos stood at the edge of the fractured cavern floor, axes in hand, eyes scanning the chaos that had become their battlefield. The mountain groaned under the awakening of the Ninth Breath. Cracks ripped the stone in every direction, glowing veins of green energy pulsating like the arteries of a wounded giant. Every heartbeat seemed to draw Atreus' power outward, reshaping the mountain itself.
Atreus stood beside him, chest heaving, green aura flickering like a storm threatening to break containment. His eyes were wide, glowing faintly under the intensity of his awakening.
"I… I can feel it everywhere," Atreus said, voice trembling. "The mountain, the Keepers, the Ninth… even the world beyond. Everything is calling me."
Kratos' jaw tightened. "You are not everything, boy. You are only yourself. Control the call, or it will consume you."
Atreus nodded, but his aura flared uncontrollably again, knocking back fragments of shattered stone. Dust and shards tumbled into the abyss below. The Fog Sea writhed violently, black waves lapping at invisible shores, drawn to the pulse of his power.
From the widening fissure behind the Ninth Breath, the void beneath the mountain breathed. Shadows stretched upward, reaching like grasping hands. The Ninth Breath hovered over it, chains rattling, crown of fractured horns quivering.
"Yes… awaken fully, child," it whispered, voice like grinding earth and frost. "Let your pulse rend the veil. Let your blood sing in stone."
The Mountain Reacts
A tremor ripped through the summit. The ground beneath their feet split, sending debris tumbling into the depths. Kratos' axes swung with deadly precision, clearing a path as the Keepers of the Breach reformed. Their forms twisted unnaturally, longer limbs bending in impossible angles. They moved faster than the eye could track, attacks synchronized, relentless.
Atreus' aura flared outward, striking the Keepers with waves of green energy. Each pulse tore through their stone bodies, but for every one destroyed, two more emerged from cracks in the cavern walls and floor.
Kratos gritted his teeth. "They will not stop coming. Focus on the boy!"
Atreus inhaled deeply, centering himself. The energy around his hands condensed into sharp streaks of green light, forming blades of pure pulse. He swung them at the Keepers, cutting them down with precision. But the effort drained him quickly.
The Ninth Breath observed silently. "You bend the storm well, child… but the storm is only beginning."
The Breach Widens
From the fissure below, the void surged. A black wind, thick and suffocating, rose like smoke, curling around the summit. The mountains groaned, stones falling from the heights into the abyss. The boy's pulse acted as a tether, holding the fissure partially closed, but the effort was unsustainable.
Kratos grabbed Atreus' shoulder. "Listen to me. Your power is a tool, not a tether. Control it, or it will break you."
Atreus swallowed, teeth gritting. "I… I can't stop it… it's… inside me."
"Yes," the Ninth Breath hissed. "It is inside. It always was. It remembers you. It waits through time and stone. And now… it breathes."
A Keeper lunged from the shadows. Kratos swung, shattering it midair. Another Keeper followed immediately, longer and faster. Atreus lashed out with a pulse of energy, scattering a dozen more. The summit was chaos incarnate, every step threatening to send them tumbling into the abyss.
The First Fracture
The mountain shuddered violently. Green veins glowed brighter, racing along cracks that split further open. The air became thick, almost liquid. Each breath of Kratos and Atreus was heavy, tasting of ash and stone.
Suddenly, a jagged fissure opened beneath Atreus' feet. He stumbled but Kratos caught him instantly. The fissure widened, revealing glimpses of the void below — a yawning darkness that seemed to stretch endlessly, alive with intent. Shadows crawled along its edges, and from within, a low rumble echoed, vibrating through stone and bone alike.
The Ninth Breath floated closer to Atreus. "It senses the pulse… the song of your blood. It hungers, child. Will you give it to me?"
Atreus' aura flared uncontrollably. His eyes glowed brighter than ever. "No! I… I won't let it!"
Kratos stepped in front of him. "Then focus! Bend it, boy! Make it yours!"
The boy inhaled deeply, and for a brief, terrifying moment, the aura stabilized, forming a sphere of pulsating green light around him. Keepers that approached were thrown backward, shattering into shards of stone. The fissure beneath the Ninth Breath quivered, pushed back slightly by Atreus' power.
"Interesting," the Ninth Breath whispered. "The child resists… but the mountain remembers. It will not wait forever."
The Echoes Begin
Suddenly, the summit shook harder. Stones fell, cracking the floor. Atreus' aura pulsed in response, and the fissure widened more aggressively. Shadows surged from it, Keepers reforming faster than they could destroy them.
Kratos bellowed. "We cannot hold them all! You must strike at the source!"
Atreus' eyes widened. "The Ninth… I have to—"
"Yes," the Ninth Breath hissed. "Strike. Awaken fully. Let the worlds echo through you. Let the blood remember."
Atreus' aura flared violently, forming spikes of green energy that shot toward the fissure. The void shrieked, twisting violently as the pulse struck. The mountain groaned, dust raining down in torrents. The Keepers shrieked, some destroyed outright, others scattering.
Kratos swung his axe with fury, cutting through shadows and stone alike, holding the line as Atreus' pulse expanded. The mountain responded — cracks formed new pathways, stalactites shattered, and the green veins flared as if acknowledging the boy's growing command over the realm.
"Yes… yes!" the Ninth Breath hissed, voice almost reverent. "The child awakens… the gate opens."
Atreus' aura became a blinding storm of light and pulse. The Keepers recoiled, unable to resist the force. The fissure widened, black wind twisting around the summit, but Atreus' energy held it back, balancing the void like a fulcrum.
The Choice
Kratos' eyes were steel. "Do not falter, boy. Do not let it consume you. Use it… control it."
Atreus' hands shook. The pulse of power was deafening in his mind. Visions flashed: the Nine Realms, mountains crumbling, oceans boiling, shadows consuming worlds. The Ninth Breath hovered, chains rattling, watching, waiting.
"It is your choice," the entity whispered. "Yield… and I will teach you fully. Resist… and the mountain will break, and the worlds with it."
Atreus clenched his fists. "I… I will not yield. I… I will master it!"
The aura around him flared, brighter and sharper. The fissure quaked violently. The Keepers were forced backward, shattering as Atreus' pulse collided with them. The mountain shuddered, but the boy's power held, bending the summit to his will.
The Ninth Breath tilted its head, almost in admiration. "So it begins… the true awakening. The child chooses his path."
The Shattered Summit
The summit was now a battlefield of stone and shadow, light and pulse. Every Keepers' strike met green energy, every crack in the mountain responded to Atreus' pulse. The void below churned, aware, but unable to breach the boy's will — for now.
Kratos stood beside him, axes ready, scanning the battlefield. "We have only bought time. The mountain itself is angry, and the Ninth Breath is patient. One mistake… and it will consume us all."
Atreus nodded, aura still flaring, pulse racing, eyes bright with a new understanding of his power. He was no longer just a boy. He was a conduit — a bridge between the Ninth Breath and the realms.
And yet, as the Keepers reformed in endless waves, Kratos knew the fight had only just begun.
The mountain trembled. Shadows writhed. The summit cracked further. And the Ninth Breath hovered silently, watching, waiting… knowing the boy's power had grown, but also that the true test was only just beginning.