Ash fell like black snow as Kael walked among the corpses — human, monster, and something in between.
The sword in his hand pulsed slowly, as if it were alive.
> "Do you feel it, Kael? The call," whispered Noctis, his shadowy voice.
Kael ignored him. He tried. He had learned as a child that listening to the shadow was an invitation to madness.
Through the fog, a figure appeared — a woman cloaked in tattered black, curved blade in hand.
It was Lira, her gaze sharp, the symbol of the Watchers glowing on her shoulder.
> "I should have guessed," she said coldly. "You survived."
Kael remained silent.
The shadow behind him twisted into an almost human shape.
> "She wants to kill you. I can deal with her," whispered Noctis.
Kael clenched his fists.
> "Stay out of this."
The ground trembled.
Rumbling, alive with rage. The shadows were coming.
Kael's shadow stretched like a whip, slicing through the approaching monster.
The creature disintegrated, consumed by the darkness.
Lira watched, horrified.
> "That wasn't human," she whispered. "What are you?"
Kael looked at his hands, marked by moving black lines under the skin.
> "I think… I just learned to fight like a shadow."