Part I: Kael The Hollow Path
There was no pain.
Only cold.
Kael floated in a space that was not sky, nor ground, nor dream. Just a void silent, endless, thick like ash-choked mist.
The weight of his body had vanished, but his mind remained. His heart still ached.
Lyra…
He tried to speak, but his voice was nothing here. He reached for her, but his hands did not exist.
And then he wasn't alone.
The shadows thickened, coiled, and slowly… a figure emerged.
Azuren. The God in Chains.
But here, unshackled.
Not bound, not weakened radiant and terrible. Cloaked in divine fire, his eyes were endless storms of molten gold.
"You bleed well," Azuren said, voice smooth as silk soaked in venom. "But bleeding is not death. Not yet."
Kael tried to speak, to fight the presence clawing into his mind.
Azuren stepped closer.
"You are mine, Kael Draven. Bound by birth. Marked by fate. Every drop of your blood cries out to me."
A swirl of images flickered before Kael's eyes burning cities, armies of twisted angels and horned beasts, gods crucified upon thrones of bone. And in the center of it all: himself, eyes glowing, Vharion raised high, Lyra's body cradled in his arms broken, still, cold.
"No!" Kael shouted, his soul tearing at the seams. "I'll never become that!"
Azuren's laughter echoed through the void.
"Then die."
He raised a hand and Kael felt himself falling, deeper into the abyss, shadows devouring what was left of his soul.
Until
A voice.
Soft. Human. Fierce.
"Come back to me, Kael."
Lyra.
Her voice cut through the god's magic like moonlight through smoke. It reached deeper than any blade, anchored him where nothing else could.
Azuren's smile faltered.
"You are stronger than I thought," he murmured. "But strength fades. And love… is a weakness I will exploit."
Kael clenched his fists.
"I'm not yours," he said, "and I never will be."
Light flared around him.
Azuren roared.
And the void shattered.
Part II: Lyra Ashes and Steel
Blood soaked Kael's tunic. His chest barely moved.
Lyra pressed her hands to the wound, magic trembling through her veins as she tried to stop the bleeding.
"Don't you dare die," she whispered. "Not after everything. Not now."
Seren stood a few feet away, her blade red, her eyes unreadable.
"I warned you," the assassin said.
"You warned him," Lyra growled, rising slowly. Her hands burned with darklight magic. "You said nothing about me."
Seren tilted her head. "I expected you to break."
Lyra smiled grimly. "Then you don't know what love can make a person do."
She launched herself forward.
Their blades met with a clang that echoed through the ruins.
Lyra fought like a fury now not just trained precision, but raw passion, grief, rage. Her strikes were faster, sharper, unpredictable. Seren countered each one with fluid grace, but even she began to falter under the assault.
"You think killing me will bring him back?" Seren hissed, parrying a savage strike.
"No," Lyra snarled, forcing her back. "But it will keep him safe when he wakes up."
She drove one blade low, the other high. Seren dodged one, but the second grazed her shoulder her first wound in years.
For the first time, the assassin bled.
Seren narrowed her eyes, now fully focused. No more mercy. No more delay.
They circled each other like wolves, breathing hard.
And then Kael gasped.
Both women turned.
He lay on his side, coughing violently, blood on his lips but alive. Awake.
Lyra cried out in relief. Seren's eyes widened. Her mission had just become far more complicated.
Kael tried to rise.
"Lyra get away she'll"
"She'll try," Lyra finished, spinning back toward Seren.
But Seren was already gone.
A shimmer of white silk, a whisper of steps and she vanished into the shadows.
For now.
Lyra ran to Kael, pulling him into her arms.
"You came back."
He rested his forehead against hers, weak, trembling.
"For you. Always."