The first blow came from behind.
Kael barely had time to register the shift in air before something slammed into his back and sent him crashing face-first into the stone. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs. Pain exploded across his ribs as he rolled instinctively, hands scraping against rough ground slick with mist.
Weapons hissed as they powered up.
Shadefall moved as one organism.
Figures poured out of the twilight mist, cloaks snapping, boots striking stone in perfect rhythm. Their weapons weren't Sunbound's clean, sterile designs—these were brutal, angular constructs grown from Vein-metal, humming with unstable energy.
Kael pushed himself upright, heart pounding.
Lysandra was already fighting.
She moved like she had been born into violence—blade flashing, parrying a strike meant for Kael, spinning low to sweep another attacker's legs out from under them. Her movements were efficient, almost cold, but Kael saw the strain in her shoulders, the hesitation she hadn't shown before.
They weren't random soldiers.
They were her people.
"STAND DOWN!" Lysandra shouted. "I CLAIM HIM!"
A Vein-bolt tore past Kael's head and exploded against the cavern wall.
The Shadefall commander stepped forward, voice amplified by the cavern's acoustics.
"Claim denied."
The world erupted.
Kael barely had time to duck as a shockwave ripped through the ground where he'd been standing. Stone shattered upward, forcing him back. He rolled, came up coughing, ears ringing.
Instinct screamed at him to run.
But there was nowhere to go.
A Shadefall enforcer lunged, blade aimed straight for Kael's throat.
Something inside Kael snapped.
The air vibrated.
Vein-light flared along the cavern floor—thin lines at first, then blazing patterns. The ground beneath the attacker buckled violently, throwing them backward as jagged Vein-spikes erupted upward.
Everyone froze.
Kael stared at his hands.
"I—I didn't—" His voice shook. "I didn't mean to—"
The Shadefall soldiers recoiled.
Some in fear.
Others in reverence.
The commander's eyes widened. "He commands the Veins."
Lysandra turned sharply. "Kael—stop. Don't—"
Too late.
The Veins pulsed again, responding to Kael's panic like a living thing desperate to obey. Metallic tendrils slithered from the walls, coiling around weapons, ripping them from Shadefall hands. A shockwave blasted outward, knocking multiple soldiers off their feet.
Kael staggered back, clutching his head as a migraine split his skull.
You're waking it, Aurelia whispered inside his mind.
Stop, Kael thought desperately. Please.
The Veins hesitated.
Then withdrew.
Silence fell, broken only by labored breathing and the low hum of Vein-energy.
Dozens of Shadefall soldiers lay sprawled across the stone.
No one had died.
But everyone had seen enough.
The commander raised a hand slowly.
"Bind him."
Heavy Vein-chains snapped into existence, wrapping around Kael's arms and legs before he could react. They burned cold against his skin, suppressing the energy inside him. He cried out as the pressure intensified, dragging him to his knees.
Lysandra surged forward. "DON'T TOUCH HIM!"
A dozen weapons swung toward her.
The commander's voice hardened. "Stand down, Duskline. You've already crossed one line too many."
Kael looked up at her, panic in his eyes. "Lys—don't—"
She froze.
The realization hit her like a blade to the chest.
If she fought now, they would kill him.
Slowly, agonizingly, Lysandra lowered her weapon.
The chains tightened.
Kael was hauled upright and forced forward as the Shadefall patrol began to move.
They marched him through the twilight valley, past structures carved directly into the Vein-rock—watchtowers, sanctuaries, execution platforms. Citizens emerged from shadowed doorways to watch.
Whispers spread like wildfire.
"That's him."
"The Vein-Commander."
"The Destroyer's echo."
Kael's stomach twisted.
Some faces held fear.
Others held hatred.
A few… awe.
They entered the Citadel of Dusk—a towering structure grown from layered Vein-crystal, its spires reaching toward the twilight sky like claws. Massive doors parted, revealing a cavernous hall lit by floating Vein-orbs.
This was not a court.
It was a judgment pit.
Kael was dragged to the center of the chamber and thrown to his knees. The chains locked him in place, forcing his head downward.
Above him, the Council of Shadefall watched from elevated platforms—seven figures cloaked in shifting Vein-metal, faces hidden behind ceremonial masks.
Power radiated from them.
Fear sharpened it.
The central councilor spoke, voice echoing unnaturally.
"Kael Wynn. Sunbound asset. Vein-marked anomaly. Possible world-ending threat."
Kael swallowed. "I didn't choose this."
A councilor laughed softly. "None of them ever do."
Lysandra was forced to her knees beside him.
Her wrists were bound too.
She looked furious.
The commander stepped forward. "He demonstrated Vein command without training. This confirms the prophecies."
The council murmured.
"Bring forth the Charges," the central councilor said.
Vein-light flared as holographic projections formed around Kael—cities burning, continents fracturing, oceans boiling. His own face stared back at him from every angle, cold and commanding.
Kael shook his head violently. "That's not me!"
"Isn't it?" another councilor asked. "Every cycle says the same thing."
Cycle.
That word again.
A robed mystic approached—older, eyes clouded with Vein-glow. She extended a hand toward Kael's head.
"We will see the truth," she said.
"No," Lysandra snapped. "You'll kill him."
The mystic smiled faintly. "Or prove him innocent."
Her fingers touched Kael's temple.
The world shattered.
Kael screamed as memories flooded outward—not just his own, but others layered atop them. He saw Aurelia standing atop a ruined continent, Veins wrapped around her like a crown. He saw Sunbound scientists erasing memories, cloning bodies, restarting timelines.
He saw himself die.
Again.
And again.
The council recoiled as Vein-energy surged violently through the chamber. Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor. Orbs flickered wildly.
The mystic staggered back, clutching her head.
"There is… a girl," she whispered. "A girl of light inside him."
Gasps rippled through the chamber.
The central councilor stood. "Impossible."
"She is real," the mystic insisted. "She is the source. And the end."
Kael collapsed forward, chains straining as he struggled to breathe.
Lysandra stared at him in horror.
"She's inside you?" she whispered.
Kael didn't answer.
Because Aurelia was screaming now.
They will kill you, she said urgently. They always do.
The councilors began arguing violently.
"Execute him now."
"Use him."
"Seal him in the Veins."
"He could end the cycle."
The commander stepped back as the chamber grew unstable.
Finally, the central councilor raised both hands.
"Enough."
Silence slammed down.
"Kael Wynn," the councilor declared, "you are hereby taken into Shadefall custody. You will stand Trial by Memory at dawn."
Kael looked up slowly.
"What if I refuse?"
The councilor's voice was cold.
"Then we end you here."
Lysandra clenched her fists.
Kael met her eyes.
He saw fear there.
And something worse.
Hope.
The Veins pulsed softly beneath the floor, like a heart preparing to beat faster.
Far above, unseen, Sunbound satellites realigned their weapons.
And deep underground, something ancient stirred.