KAEL*
The Wasting Realm of Sanctuary of Ash devoured sound.
Every step I took sent shivers through the fractured land, cracks veining outward like the realm itself resented my presence. Above me, the sky churned in oily swirls, amber clouds shredded by bursts of violet lightning. Beneath my boots, the ground pulsed faintly, as if a sleeping heart beat just below the surface.
And then I heard them.
The growl of the first shadow beast came from the east. Low, guttural. Like a language made of hunger.
I drew my blade, Nyros-forged, etched with markings only Void-bearers could read... and took a stance. They came fast. Crawling, slithering, shifting shadows with bone-white claws and smoke for skin.
The first leaped. I ducked, drove my blade upward, cutting through its center. It shrieked, a scream that peeled through layers of magic, before collapsing into black ash.
Three more surged forward.
They didn't bleed. They didn't breathe. But they bit deep, trying to tear away flesh, sanity, whatever was easiest to consume.
I danced between them, letting instinct and rage guide my strikes. One clamped onto my arm. I snarled, let my demonic strength surge through me, then slammed it against a jagged rock until it shattered.
Another leapt onto my back.
"Enough," I hissed.
I unleashed a burst of energy, my aura pulsing crimson and black. The shadows shrieked, shriveled, and turned to smoke.
I reached the center of the Wasting Realm, a floating stone island suspended above a chasm that bled light like fireflies. In its center rested the Shard of Nyros, hovering inside a crystal cocoon cracked with age.
It was guarded.
The Guardian was enormous, its shape twisting constantly, formed from nightmares and void-light. The fight that followed tested every inch of my power, my pain, my memories of Tanya, and the image of Talia glowing like a storm.
And then, with my blade coated in the violet flame of the Void, I pierced its heart.
It screamed and vanished.
The cocoon cracked. The Shard fell into my hands.
It beat like a heart. It knew me.
---
The shift back nearly tore me apart.
For two days, I lay hidden, recovering near the ruins on the edge of the Shadow Wastes. I didn't eat. I barely breathed. I just waited, until my body began to obey again.
Vaelith came once, bringing only silence. I nodded at him, and he nodded back. Then he vanished.
By the third day, I stood before the Incubi Court, the Shard of Nyros secured in the containment cube.
The chamber was circular, cut from midnight stone and inscribed with the language of elder demons. Eleven thrones stood in an arc... the Council of Eleven. The seat of power.
I knelt.
"The first task is fulfilled," I said. "I delivered Vaelith, alive. The second task is now complete."
I opened the cube.
A pulse of power shivered through the chamber. Some of the council members gasped.
"It's true."
"He retrieved it…"
Even my uncle, Veyros, leaned forward slightly.
"Councilors," boomed High Arbiter Maegron, oldest of them all, "we gather today for judgment. Kael of House Tharos, once heir, has returned. Having fulfilled the demands of this Court, we now vote on his reinstatement."
Voices rang through the air, one by one:
"Approve." "Approve." "Dissent." "Approve." "Approve."
Eight approvals. Three dissents. The chamber fell quiet.
"Kael," Maegron said, "by this vote, you are once more"
"NO."
The voice cut through the room like fire.
My cousin, Saelis, stepped forward. Taller than me, just as powerful, but drunk on ambition. His face twisted in disdain.
"I challenge Kael," he declared. "Rite of the Spire. Trial by combat... death or submission. The victor becomes heir."
A hushed gasp circled the chamber.
Veyros, ever the tactician, smiled.
"I approve the challenge."
I didn't flinch. "I accept."
---
We met atop the Spire of Ashes.
The ancient dueling ground was carved into cliffs, with molten rivers below and enchanted wards in the air. No escape. No tricks. Only truth in blood.
Saelis and I clashed like storms.
Blades ringing. Magic shattering the stones. He struck hard, burning fury and calculated cruelty. But I had purpose. I had the Shard. I had her.
He cut deep. I bled.
But I stood.
He grinned with arrogance... until I disarmed him.
He roared, lunged, desperate ,I side-stepped and drove my blade into his chest.
Silence.
The crowd stared as Saelis fell, his body dissolving to ash.
I turned, chest heaving, to the Council.
"It is done."
Maegron nodded. "The Court recognizes Kael of House Tharos as rightful heir."
---
TALIA*
"I don't know what's happening to me," I told Cara and Caleb.
We sat huddled in the living room. I spoke of the dream again... Kael's face, my hands glowing, the strange static when I touched the demon at the bar.
"I felt like I was pulling something from him," I whispered.
Cara bit her lip. "You're not cursed."
"I'm not convinced."
Caleb looked down. "Talia… the sigil I found. The Sabel Seal. It's ancient. It was made to contain something. A power called... "
"The Void," said a voice behind us.
We turned.
Ruth.
She stepped into the room, holding a tattered book. Her eyes were tired. Her voice, grim.
"I was hoping it wouldn't be you," she whispered.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Your father believed the prophecy was real. He thought someone in our line might inherit it. That's may be why the demons took him... he got too close."
Cara gasped. "The Void isn't just myth?"
"It's a force. Ancient. Born from balance and destruction. Your father and I were part of a faction sworn to monitor its signs."
"And now you think I'm the next bearer?" I asked.
"I know you are," Ruth said softly. "Your powers are awakening."
She handed me the book. Inside was a sketch of Nyros... wreathed in dark light, hands dripping with starlight.
"He was the first. He was destroyed before he could fulfill his purpose. We have to prevent that from happening to you."
I stared at my hands.
What was I becoming? The Void!!!
---
Just then, the front door slammed open.
"Yo! Anyone home? I brought snacks, gossip, and zero respect for boundaries!" She said grinning.
Zia.
Cara's best friend breezed in, strawberry-blonde curls bouncing, her green eyes scanning the room.
"Yikes. Who died?" she said.
"Zia," Cara groaned.
"What?" Zia grinned. "Oh no... secret family meeting? Are we summoning demons or burying bodies?"
"We're dealing with a Void prophecy," Caleb deadpanned.
Zia blinked. "Cool. So no coffee then?"
She plopped onto the couch next to me.
"I'm in," she said. "Whatever you're facing, I'm not letting you do it alone."
I stared at her.
And smiled.