The silence that followed was unnatural.
Ash drifted through the air like falling snow, settling over shattered bone and scorched earth.
The corrupted lands groaned beneath their feet, as if the forest itself were recoiling from what had just occurred.
Maria knelt where she had fallen, arms locked tightly around Kael's limp form, her chest heaving with every breath.
He was alive.
Barely.
The chains were gone, reduced to nothing more than black dust,but their mark remained.
Dark veins pulsed faintly beneath Kael's skin, spreading slowly from his chest like a living stain. His breaths were shallow, uneven, each one a battle.
"Maria!" His voice was hoarse, fractured. "You shouldn't have come."
She let out a shaky laugh that broke into a tear before she could stop it. "You don't get to decide that," she whispered, pressing her forehead to his. "Not anymore."
Silver light seeped from her palms as she tried to heal him, but the Moon's power faltered the moment it touched the corruption.
The darkness resisted, snarling beneath her magic, clinging stubbornly to his soul.
Fear twisted sharply in her chest.
"This isn't just poison," murmured one of the warriors behind her. "It's a bind".
Maria stiffened. "To the Ashen King."
"Yes."
Kael's fingers curled weakly into her fur.
"He's inside me," he admitted quietly. "Not fully,but enough. I can feel him Watching.
The words hit harder than any blow.
Maria rose slowly, lifting Kael into her arms as though he weighed nothing.
Around them, the pack gathered, wounded but standing, eyes filled with both awe and unease. They had won a battle but the land around them was still dying, the shadows still whispering.
"We leave," Maria said firmly. "Now."
As they turned back, the ground trembled beneath their feet.
Far behind them, from the depths of the corrupted lands, laughter echoed low, amused, and ancient.
"You carry my mark, boy," the Ashen King's voice drifted after them like a curse. "Run if you wish. Every step brings you closer to me."
Kael's jaw tightened.
Maria's grip on him hardened.
"Let him chase us," she said coldly, lifting her gaze toward the dead sky. "Because next time, I won't be rescuing anyone."
The moon broke through the clouds for a single moment,silver and unforgiving.
And somewhere deep within Kael's chest, the darkness stirred and answered.