Episode 55: "The Shard's Price"
The air around the shard pulsed, like it was alive and aware.
Kael took a slow step forward, golden sparks crackling faintly around his shoulder. His voice was calm, but there was weight in it.
"If this shard is part of the magic protecting the school… why does it feel like it's feeding on us?"
The shard pulsed again.
"Because protection always comes at a cost."
A silence fell.
Rhea stepped closer, eyes glowing faintly. "It's trying to bargain. It's self-aware… Kael, it's no fragment. It's a seed—of the Primorati's will."
Felix clutched the relic in his hand, which was now pulsing erratically. "If we destroy it, the protective enchantments collapse. But if we leave it…"
He didn't need to finish the sentence.
---
The Vote
They retreated upstairs, sitting quietly in the war room—once used by headmasters, now a meeting place for teenage heroes.
Kael stood by the window, watching magic fade from the garden fountains below.
Lana, arms crossed: "So what? We vote on whether to leave a piece of darkness buried in the school?"
Tunde: "Guys, I don't like any of the options. I'm all for chaos, but not the 'eating-our-souls' kind."
Rhea sighed. "It's not black or white. Maybe... we can seal it instead of destroying it. Trap it in something stronger."
Felix nodded slowly. "We'd need an object born of pure light, mixed with dark. Balance."
All eyes turned to Kael.
---
The Fusion Plan
"Velmorth'Rael," Kael said. "My sword was forged in the heart of two realms. We could embed the shard inside it, fuse it with my essence. I can hold it back."
Lana's voice cracked. "You'd carry that inside you?"
Kael met her eyes. "I already carry worse."
She stood up suddenly, storming out.
Rhea gave a small, sad smile. "Guess love's more complicated when the guy is glowing and cursed."
---
Tunde's Chaos Comedy Hour
Later that night, Tunde tried to cheer the group with one of his signature distractions:
An impromptu healing concert.
He stood on a table with two spoons and a cooking pot.
"Ladies, gentlemen, and demonic residue—we're gathered here today not to mourn our magical doom, but to bop our heads while we still have them!"
Even Kael cracked a smile as Tunde rapped about Felix's "grandma-blessed magical frying pan" and Rhea's "emotional light explosion."
Everyone laughed—even Lana, who wiped a tear and rolled her eyes.
It wasn't much, but it helped. Just enough.
---
The Sealing Ritual
They returned to the shard the next night.
Kael raised Velmorth'Rael, the blade humming with ancient language.
Felix placed the relic beside the shard, while Rhea summoned runes of balance, binding light and shadow into a single symbol.
"Ready?" Lana whispered.
Kael didn't answer. He simply stepped into the swirling black mist.
The golden aura around him exploded into brilliance. The shard screamed—an inhuman sound echoing through every wall.
Kael roared, his body rising above the floor as the shard dissolved into his blade.
Then silence.
He fell to one knee, steam rising from his back.
Lana rushed forward. "Kael?!"
He smiled, breathless. "Still me… just heavier inside."
---
A New Warning
As they helped Kael to his feet, a vision flared through his eyes.
A burning city.
A shadowed mountain with eyes.
A voice whispering,
"The vault is breaking… and the Fallen One is stirring."
Kael gasped, gripping Lana's hand. "We sealed the shard… but woke something worse.