The light did not explode outward. It collapsed inward.
Mae braced herself as the golden rift collapsed in on itself, ash and air drawn toward a single point with terrifying precision. The ground groaned beneath her boots, cracks racing outward like veins beneath the skin. Her chains burned hot, not in defense but in recognition. This was not an attack. It was a formation.
Sethis swore under his breath, shadows flaring wide as he shifted closer to Mae. "That is not how a champion arrives."
Kaine did not answer. His eyes were fixed on the narrowing core of light, his jaw set, the gold fire along his arms dimming as though something were being siphoned away.
The vortex tightened further. The sound deepened into a low resonance that rattled teeth and bone, not violent but deliberate. Mae felt it in her chest, a pressure that matched her pulse exactly. Whatever was forming was listening.
Then the light split, and a figure stepped free.
It was neither vast nor monstrous, nearly human in form, tall and slender, bound in dull gold chains instead of violet or white. Its presence subtly distorted the air, resembling heat emanating from stone, while its face was smooth and featureless apart from a single vertical seam extending from brow to chin.
No eyes opened. No mouth spoke, yet Mae felt its attention lock onto her with absolute clarity. The fracture screamed.
Mae staggered, dropping to one knee as pain lanced through her skull. Her chains flared wildly, violet light spilling across the ground in sharp arcs. Sethis caught her before she fell, shadows wrapping around her waist and shoulders, anchoring her.
"Mae," he snapped. "Look at me."
She forced her gaze away from the figure, her breath coming sharp and fast. "It knows me," she gasped. "It isn't searching, it already knows."
Kaine stepped forward, cautious now. "It was shaped by rejection," he said quietly. "By the refusal of balance. It defines itself in opposition."
The figure tilted its head, and the seam along its face split open. Eyes ignited within the void, not gold or violet, but a pale, burning white that reflected nothing. When it spoke, the sound bypassed the air entirely.
'You are the fracture?'
Mae's heart slammed against her ribs. The voice was not thunderous, as the first champions had been. It was intimate. Close. As though it had been waiting for this conversation.
She forced herself upright, pushing against Sethis's grip. "Yes."
The figure's head tilted further. 'Incorrect.'
The word struck her like a physical blow. Pain rippled through her veins, and the chains beneath her skin rattled violently.
'You are the deviation.'
Sethis's shadows surged, snapping outward in defense. "Enough," he snarled. "You will not speak to her like that."
The figure did not acknowledge his presence.
'The fracture made you an error.'
Mae clenched her fists, grounding herself in the burn of her chains. "I chose," she said. "I chose balance. I chose an end to annihilation."
The figure stepped closer. The ground did not crack beneath it. Instead, the air warped, space compressing slightly with each step.
'Balance is surrender.'
Mae felt something cold coil in her stomach. "No."
The figure stopped directly in front of her, close enough that she could feel its pull, a gravity that tugged at her chains, her breath, and her thoughts.
'Balance is the removal of will.'
Kaine moved abruptly, stepping between them. "You are wrong," he said, his voice tight. "She retained agency. That was the point."
The figure turned its head toward him.
'Returned anomaly.'
The words hit Kaine like a hammer. His gold light flared once, then flickered erratically. Mae felt it immediately, a thread between them straining.
'You should not exist.'
Kaine's jaw tightened. "Neither should you."
The figure raised a hand, not to attack but to assess. The air grew heavy, and Mae's chains squealed warnings.
Sethis reacted immediately, shadows rising rapidly in a fierce wave that crashed into the figure's outstretched hand. The force spread outward, sweeping ash and debris in a broad arc. Sethis staggered, teeth clenched, with shadows tearing apart and reforming around him.
The figure remained still. Shadows flowed down its arm like water.
Mae shouted Sethis's name, instinctively surging with power. Her chains lashed outward, and violet light collided with the figure's chest in a blinding flash.
This time, it reacted.
The figure slid backward several feet, boots carving furrows into the fractured ground. The seam along its face widened, and white light flared brighter.
'Deviation confirmed.'
Mae stood shaking, chest heaving. "You feel it," she said. "You feel me."
The figure straightened slowly.
'You are unstable.'
Mae laughed, breathless and sharp. "So are you." The battlefield trembled again, but this time the vibration came from multiple directions. Mae felt it immediately. Familiar presences. Approaching fast.
Lucien's chains emerged from the smoke, glowing white as he crash-landed beside Sethis. His eyes darted from Mae to the figure, and his face instantly grew stern.
"What did you do?" he demanded.
Mae met his eyes. "I chose."
Ashar emerged next, flames rolling low and controlled along his arms, eyes blazing with fury and something close to fear. Riven landed moments later, wings still damaged but spread wide in defiance.
The Fallen had returned.
The figure turned slowly, surveying them with cold precision.
'Multiple variables detected.'
Lucien stepped forward, chains coiling tightly around his arms. "Get away from her."
The figure regarded him for a long moment.
'Secondary authority. Rejected.'
Lucien snarled and lunged, and the impact was catastrophic.
Chains clashed, white light and pale fire colliding with a sound like worlds grinding together. The force of it threw Lucien backward, slamming him into the ground hard enough to crater the stone. He did not rise immediately.
Mae screamed his name, rage igniting white-hot in her chest.
The fracture answered.
Her chains erupted outward in a violent storm, wrapping the figure from every angle, violet light blazing brighter than ever. The ground cracked beneath her feet as she poured everything she had into the bindings.
The figure strained. For the first time, it struggled.
'Error detected.'
Mae bared her teeth. "Good."
But even as the chains tightened, she felt resistance building. Not brute strength. Adaptation. It was learning.
Kaine's voice cut through the chaos. "Mae," he shouted, "do not hold it too long."
Too late.
The figure's chains flared pale gold, pulsing in counter-rhythm. Mae felt a sudden wrench in her chest as the pressure reversed, and her chains trembled violently.
The fracture screamed again.
Mae dropped to one knee, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Sethis reached for her, shadows wrapping tight, anchoring her once more.
The figure tore free. Its gaze locked on Mae.
'Conclusion reached.'
The ground beneath it cracked open, light spilling upward in sharp lines that mirrored the fracture in the sky.
'Deviation must be corrected.'
Mae forced herself upright, wiping blood from her lip. "You do NOT get to decide that."
The figure raised its hand. Lucien struggled to his feet, chains flaring. Ashar's flames roared higher. Riven took to the air despite the pain, wings screaming in protest.
The figure didn't raise its hand again. Instead, it reached past her.
Mae felt it before she understood it, a sudden wrench in her chest as something loosened, then slid free. Her breath left her in a sharp gasp. The chains beneath her skin screamed once, then fell silent.
Behind her, Sethis staggered.
Not from an impact. From absence.
His shadows violently detached and surged away, as if seized by a stronger force. They did not come back. Sethis fell to one knee, baring his teeth, one hand desperately gripping the ground where his power had always responded.
Mae spun, panic slicing through her calm. "Sethis."
The figure turned its head slightly, white eyes burning brighter.
'This variable is already divided.'
The words echoed as the shadows lifted from the earth and folded inward, spiraling toward the figure's open palm. Mae realized, too late, what refusal meant.
Not destruction. Reassignment.