The god-fragment screamed.
Not with a voice.
With the sound of the world tearing.
When Kael's arrow struck its chest and black ichor poured out like a river of living shadow, the air around Lyradon collapsed inward. Buildings buckled. Skybridges shattered and fell like rain. Every rune carved into the capital's marble screamed in protest as ancient protections failed all at once.
Elyra dropped to her knees, blood streaming freely now.
"It's not just wounded," she gasped. "It's destabilizing the fabric around it!"
Nyx grabbed her shoulder. "What does that mean?"
Elyra's eyes were wide with horror. "It means the Seal just touched something it was never meant to."
The god-fragment reared back, one of its many limbs flailing through the city, obliterating a line of buildings as if they were sandcastles. Thousands fled. Hundreds died in seconds.
Kael staggered as the Mark burned white-hot beneath his skin.
Borin grabbed him. "Kael!"
"I'm—still—here," Kael growled, forcing himself upright. "But it's fighting back."
Nyx stared at him. "You look like you're burning from the inside."
Kael met her gaze. "That's because I am."
I — The World Sees a Hero
All across Lyradon, people watched Kael Thorn stand before a god.
Not kneeling.
Not hiding.
Standing.
The sight cut through fear like a blade.
"He's holding it back!"
"That's the Seal!"
"He's not running!"
Even Registry soldiers who had hunted him days before found themselves rallying behind him now, forming lines, evacuating civilians under cover of Kael's presence.
A young captain stared at Kael in awe. "That man is bigger than any guild."
No one called him a god.
They called him something else.
Hope.
II — The Price of Power
Kael loosed again.
The arrow struck the god-fragment's eye.
It shrieked.
The sky fractured.
A shockwave tore outward, knocking Kael off his feet and slamming Nyx into a wall. Borin shielded Elyra with his body, absorbing the blast.
When the dust settled, Kael was on his knees, blood pouring from his nose and ears.
Elyra crawled to him, shaking. "Every time you wound it, you're tearing the Seal wider. You're paying with yourself."
Kael's voice was raw. "Then I'll pay."
Nyx grabbed his face. "No, you'll live."
Kael smiled faintly. "We'll see."
III — Renn's Next Move
Far above, Renn Varn watched through a shimmering breach.
"So strong," he murmured. "And so fragile."
He raised his corrupted sword.
On the far side of the world, three mid-rank beast hordes turned at once.
Toward the same city.
Renn smiled.
"Run, Seal."
IV — The Choice
Elyra screamed suddenly.
"The Seal is overloading! If you keep this up—"
Kael forced himself to stand. "Then tell me how to stop it."
She swallowed. "You don't kill it. You bind it. You become the lock."
Nyx stared at her. "That'll kill him."
"Not now," Elyra whispered. "Eventually."
Kael didn't hesitate.
"Do it."
Nyx grabbed his arm. "Kael, don't—"
He looked at her.
Soft.
Human.
"I would risk it all again for you," he said.
Nyx's breath caught.
Elyra began chanting, tears streaming down her face as memories burned away.
The god-fragment roared.
The city held its breath.
V — Heaven Bleeds
Light erupted.
Kael stepped forward, arms outstretched as the Mark flared brighter than the sun.
The god-fragment was dragged toward him, screaming, collapsing inward as if the world itself were folding around Kael's will.
Stone cracked.
Sky tore.
And slowly… it stopped.
The god-fragment froze.
Bound.
Not dead.
But locked.
Kael collapsed.
Nyx caught him.
The city of Lyradon stood in stunned silence.
They did not cheer.
They stared at the man who had stood between them and oblivion.
Not a god.
A hero.
One who was paying the price for touching heaven.
Kael did not wake to silence.
He woke to breathing.
Shallow. Panicked. Close.
For a moment he didn't know whose it was. His own lungs felt wrong — heavy, as if each breath dragged a mountain behind it. Pain spread through him in waves, dull at first, then sharp, then something deeper that felt less like injury and more like erosion.
"Don't move," Nyx whispered.
Her voice was right beside his ear.
Kael forced his eyes open.
He was lying on a stone floor beneath the shattered roof of what had once been Lyradon's Grand Hall. Light filtered down through cracks in the ceiling. Dust drifted like falling ash. Everywhere around them, people lay — soldiers, civilians, hunters — some unconscious, some dead, some staring into nothing.
Nyx was half-kneeling beside him, one hand pressed to his chest, the other still clutching a blade. Blood streaked her cheek. Her eyes were red.
"You passed out," she said quietly. "For a long time."
Kael swallowed. "How long?"
"Long enough for the world to nearly end again."
That didn't surprise him.
Elyra was nearby, sitting against a broken pillar, shaking. Her face was pale, eyes hollowed in a way Kael had come to dread. Borin stood over her, one arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders, hammer resting against his leg.
"Is it sealed?" Kael asked.
Elyra nodded weakly. "For now."
Kael exhaled slowly.
Nyx's voice trembled. "You scared me."
Kael looked at her. "I'm sorry."
"Stop saying that," she snapped, then softened. "Just… stop."
I — The City in Ruins
Lyradon looked like a corpse.
White marble was stained black with god-blood. Towers lay shattered, skybridges collapsed into twisted wreckage. The air was thick with smoke, magic, and something metallic that made every breath taste like regret.
People moved through the streets in stunned silence, stepping over rubble and bodies, staring at the enormous bound shape of the god-fragment now frozen at the city's center like a nightmare statue.
A young woman whispered as she passed Kael on a stretcher, "That's him. That's the one who held it."
Her voice held awe.
And fear.
Kael turned his face away.
II — The Price Comes Due
Elyra's hands trembled as she traced faint glowing sigils around Kael's body.
"Your Mark isn't just burning," she whispered. "It's thinning."
Nyx frowned. "Thinning?"
Elyra swallowed. "Like parchment. You can still hold it… but each time you do, it costs more."
Borin clenched his jaw. "How much more?"
Elyra didn't answer.
Kael met her gaze. "Tell me."
Her voice broke. "Eventually it will cost you… everything."
Kael nodded.
Nyx looked away, blinking hard.
III — Renn's Beasts Arrive
A horn blared.
Then another.
A runner burst into the hall, bloodied and screaming.
"They're here!"
Nyx was on her feet instantly. "Who?"
"Beasts! Thousands! Three directions!"
Kael forced himself upright, pain screaming through him. "Renn."
Borin looked at him sharply. "You can't fight again."
Kael met his gaze. "I don't get a choice."
Elyra whispered, "Neither does the world."
IV — Politics in Ash
As beasts tore into the outer districts, messengers arrived from every major power.
Some demanded Kael's protection.
Some demanded his surrender.
Some demanded his death.
Magistrate Seln's voice came through a crackling crystal.
"The Seal is too dangerous to roam free," she said. "We need control."
Nyx snarled. "You lost that privilege."
Seln didn't argue.
Which was worse.
V — Kael's Resolve
As Lyradon burned again, Kael stood.
The Grey Hunt gathered around him.
"I'm not a king," he said. "I'm not a god. I'm not your symbol."
Nyx met his eyes. "You're our line."
Kael nodded. "Then we hold."
Outside, Renn Varn smiled into the fire.
The war had entered its second phase.