Aedan's body ached.
Every step was a struggle, his muscles screaming in protest. But stopping wasn't an option.
Kael was draped over his back, his breathing shallow. He was still alive, but the corruption had taken a toll. His veins, though no longer pulsing with shadow, were still darkened, an ugly reminder of how close he had come to losing himself.
Aedan gritted his teeth. He had saved him, but barely.
And they weren't out of danger yet.
The forest was still wrong.
The air was heavy, thick with something unseen but felt. A pressure that settled deep in his chest. The whispering hadn't returned, but that didn't mean they were safe.
And Aedan knew, with gut-wrenching certainty, that something was watching them.
His grip on his dagger tightened.
"I can't fight like this. If something else attacks—"
A rustling sound cut through the silence.
Aedan froze.
Then—
A low growl.
His breath hitched. His eyes snapped to the treeline ahead—
And his stomach dropped.
A figure emerged from the shadows.
It was wrong.
Tall, skeletal, and inhumanly stretched, its arms too long, its fingers ending in dagger-like claws. Its face was hidden beneath a cracked porcelain mask, hollow eyes peering through. Blackened veins pulsed beneath its sickly pale skin.
It wasn't alone.
More figures slithered forward, stepping from the abyss like nightmares given form.
Aedan's heart pounded. He shifted Kael's weight, adjusting his grip on the dagger. His body screamed at him to run. But he knew—
He wouldn't get far.
The lead creature tilted its head, the mask creaking as it grinned.
Then it lunged.
Aedan reacted on instinct.
He twisted, barely dodging as the creature's claws carved through the air where his head had been. He staggered back, breath ragged, his mind racing.
"I can't win like this—"
His grip on the shard in his pocket tightened.
It had worked before.
Would it work again?
Another attack came—too fast. Aedan barely raised his dagger before—
Pain.
The force sent him sprawling, Kael tumbling from his back. The taste of blood filled his mouth as he hit the ground hard. His vision swam.
Above him, the creature loomed, raising its claws for the killing blow.
Aedan's fingers tightened around the shard.
And this time—
It answered.
Heat surged through his body.
Aedan's mind exploded with sensation. A flood of something foreign, something ancient, something alive poured into his veins. His thoughts blurred, his body burned, his very existence shifted.
And then—
Everything changed.
The world slowed.
The creature's claw descended, but this time, Aedan saw it. Every movement, every shift in its stance, every breath—clear as day.
He moved—faster than he should have been able to.
His dagger lashed out, not wildly, but with precision.
The blade carved cleanly through the creature's arm.
A shriek tore through the air.
It stumbled back, clutching the severed limb, black ichor spilling onto the earth. The others hesitated, their hollow eyes locked onto Aedan.
Something was different.
He could feel it.
The shard's warmth had spread, sinking into his bones, his muscles, his very soul. And something inside him had awakened.
His mind reeled as realization settled in.
He had changed.
He had crossed the threshold.
Aedan's mind roared with sensation.
His body—his very soul—felt like it had been thrown into a forge, reforged by something beyond mortal comprehension. The shard's power coursed through his veins, its warmth now an inferno, reshaping him at the most fundamental level.
And the world had changed.
The air felt thicker, colors sharper, every detail heightened to an almost painful degree. He could hear the erratic breaths of the creatures, smell the sickly stench of their rot, sense their malice like a physical force pressing against his skin.
Aedan took a slow breath, and for the first time—
He felt alive.
The creatures hesitated, their hollow, mask-like faces twisting in confusion. They could sense it too.
Something about him was different.
The leader, the one missing an arm, let out a distorted snarl. Then, it charged.
Aedan's body moved before his mind even registered the attack.
He stepped forward—faster than he ever had before—twisting his body just as the claw came down. The air rippled around him, a strange force guiding his movements, making them fluid, efficient, unnatural.
His dagger lashed out in a perfect arc.
Slice.
The creature's second arm severed cleanly, black ichor spraying into the air. Aedan barely noticed. His body was in motion, his thoughts perfectly synchronized with his movements in a way they had never been before.
The creature reeled back, letting out a monstrous screech, its stump-like arms twitching violently.
The other creatures moved at once, no longer hesitant.
Three of them lunged at him, claws extended, mouths parting in silent howls.
But Aedan saw it all.
It was like the world had slowed around him, each attack telegraphed in advance. A flood of instinct guided him—step left, pivot, feint, counter.
His dagger flashed.
One creature's throat was carved open before it even landed. Another's knee buckled, severed tendons collapsing it into the dirt.
The third nearly got him.
It was fast—faster than the others. Its claws raked toward his side, too close to fully evade.
Aedan twisted—
Pain.
The claw tore through his side, leaving three deep gashes along his ribs. The burning agony threatened to snap his focus, but he pushed past it, gritting his teeth.
The creature overextended with its attack. A mistake.
Aedan capitalized on it instantly.
His free hand shot forward, catching the creature's head and slamming it into the ground with a force that surprised even him. The earth cracked beneath the impact.
He drove his dagger down.
Straight through its skull.
The creature convulsed once—then went still.
Aedan staggered back, chest rising and falling rapidly. His side burned, but his grip on the dagger was firm. Blood dripped from its blade.
And yet—he was winning.
The creatures seemed to realize it too.
The leader, still clutching its stumps, took a step back. The others wavered, their hollow eyes flickering with something eerily close to fear.
Aedan took a slow step forward.
The leader snarled—not in anger, but frustration. Then, without another sound, it turned and fled. The remaining creatures followed instantly, disappearing into the abyss of the forest.
Aedan didn't move.
His breath was ragged, his body trembling from the mix of adrenaline, pain, and something else—something new coursing through his veins.
He looked down at his hands.
They were shaking.
Not from fear.
From power.
The shard was gone.
No—not gone. It was inside him now.
And he had changed.
Aedan took an unsteady breath, glancing toward Kael's unconscious form. His friend was still breathing, but barely.
This wasn't over.
Not by a long shot.
And for the first time in his life—
Aedan realized that he had stepped onto a path he could never turn back from.