The shadows surged upward, slamming me back against the fractured wall. I gasped, alloy scraping stone as tendrils of black coiled around my arms and throat. My claws sparked against them, but they tightened like chains, feeding on my resistance. Shadow Kieran's steps were unhurried, deliberate, his voice slipping into my mind like poison.
"You feel it, don't you? That pull. That hunger. Stop pretending you can silence it. Stop pretending you're different from me."
The shadows pressed harder, my optics flickering. For a moment, I saw through his eyes—his memories of worlds burning, of rebels kneeling, of victory carved in blood. But they didn't feel alien. They felt… mine. My pulse raced as images overlapped with my own battles. The doubt I'd buried came crashing back.
"What if he's right?" I whispered, my voice breaking. "What if this strength was never mine?"
He crouched in front of me, his claws inches from my chest. "It was always mine. But I'll let you borrow it, if you finally surrender. Together, we can end the Dominion, end the Nexus, reshape this world into what it should have been. You don't need them, Kieran. You only need me."
The shadows squeezed tighter, black spots swimming across my vision. My body trembled, not from weakness but from the terrifying urge to say yes. To give in. To let him take the burden, to let the whispers guide me. My lips parted.
Then—
"Kieran!"
Her voice cut through the storm. Clear. Fierce. Real.
Lira's cry echoed across the chamber, pulling me back like a lifeline. I twisted my head, the shadows straining against my movement, and saw her at the edge of the collapsing platform, her hair whipping in the surge of Nexus winds, eyes locked on mine. She held no weapon, only defiance, her voice shaking the chamber louder than alarms.
"You're not him! You're not his shadow! You're Kieran—my Kieran! The one who fights not because of power, but because of choice!"
The shadows hissed, recoiling slightly at her words. My chest heaved, every breath a battle. Shadow Kieran snarled, his optics narrowing.
"She'll betray you, Kieran. They all will. I'm the only one who won't."
"No!" Lira shouted, taking a step closer, her feet skidding on the trembling floor. "I would die before I betrayed you. And you know that. You feel that."
Her words struck deeper than any blade. The shadows trembled. My own hands shook against their bonds, torn between release and surrender. My vision split again—Shadow Kieran's smirk on one side, Lira's fire on the other.
For one suspended heartbeat, I stood on the edge.
My claws lifted slowly, either to tear free—or to strike her down.
The chamber shook violently, the Nexus screaming, light splitting the world in half. My body convulsed under the pull of two truths: one of shadow, one of flesh.
And as the roar consumed everything, only one thought remained, raw and burning in my chest.
Who am I?
The Nexus screamed like a wounded beast, its crystalline walls splintering under the weight of our conflict. Shards of light spiraled into the air, raining down as burning embers. The floor quaked violently, cracking apart into jagged platforms suspended above a churning abyss of raw energy. I could barely hear my own breath over the thunder of it all, but I could hear his voice—clear, mocking, undeniable.
Shadow Kieran stood unshaken amid the storm, his frame outlined in searing darkness. His eyes glowed crimson as he stepped closer, unhurried, like the chaos bending around him was nothing but theater. "This world breaks because you refuse to choose, Kieran. You want both—the purity of humanity and the power of shadow. But you can't hold both. Not for long."
The shadows binding me tightened, dragging me toward the abyss. My claws scraped against the fractured stone, sparks flying. I gritted my teeth, forcing strength into my arms, but the coils only dug deeper, whispering promises I wasn't sure I could resist.
Then her voice—Lira's voice—cut through the roar again.
"Kieran! Look at me!"
My head jerked toward her instinctively. She was perched dangerously on the broken edge of a collapsing platform, her arms outstretched as if she could pull me back with sheer will alone. Her eyes blazed, not with fear, but with conviction. "You're not alone in this. You never were. Fight him—not because of what you are, but because of who you choose to be!"
The shadows faltered, their grip loosening just enough for me to suck in a ragged breath. Shadow Kieran's optics flicked toward her, and a low growl rumbled from his throat. "Careful, girl. Step any closer, and the Nexus will swallow you whole."
She didn't flinch. "Better me than him."
My chest clenched. Her voice hammered at the walls Shadow Kieran had built in my mind, fracturing them with every syllable. But he wasn't retreating. He raised his hand, and the shadows surged outward, coiling toward her like serpents ready to strike.
"No!" The roar tore from my throat before I realized it. My claws flared with light—pure, white-hot—and I tore against the bonds with everything I had left. The shadows screamed as they snapped apart, dissolving into ash. My knees hit the stone, my chest heaving, but I was free.
Shadow Kieran's optics narrowed, his smirk returning. "Ah. There it is. That spark of rage. You think it's freedom, but it's me, Kieran. Every time you fight for her, you fight with my strength."
"That's not true," I spat, rising to my feet. My body shook from the strain, but my claws burned brighter, their edges glowing like molten steel. I stood between him and Lira, my back to her, my gaze locked on the reflection I hated most. "She gives me strength you'll never understand."
For a moment, his face twisted—not with anger, but with something dangerously close to grief. Then it hardened again, his voice cutting like glass. "Then let's end it."
He lunged.
Our claws clashed in a blinding arc, sparks exploding as metal met shadow. The impact rattled the chamber, sending another shockwave through the floor. He struck fast, each blow precise, practiced, meant not just to kill but to break. And with every strike, whispers bled into my thoughts—images of burning cities, screaming voices, the Dominion's banners rising. Not visions of the future. Memories. His memories. Mine, if I accepted them.
"You can't run from this," he hissed, his claws grinding against mine. "You know these battles because you've fought them in me. You know these scars because they're etched into your soul. Stop pretending you're separate!"
"I'm not pretending!" I shoved him back, my claws sweeping upward in a wide arc. He dodged, but the strike carved a glowing scar across the ceiling. I pushed forward, forcing the words out between blows. "You're not me. You're what I could've been. What I refuse to be."
"You refuse?" He snarled, countering with a crushing strike that rattled my arm to the shoulder. "Or are you too weak to admit it?!"
The ground split beneath us, a jagged chasm opening into the raw heart of the Nexus. Energy poured upward in a torrent, bathing us both in searing light. My optics flickered, overwhelmed, but I kept moving, claw against claw, strike against strike, until the world blurred into one endless clash.
And then his voice was inside my head again, closer than ever, threading through my own thoughts like venom. You can't kill me without killing yourself. Every shadow in you belongs to me. Every surge of power in your veins answers to me. Strike me down, and you strike yourself.
My breath caught. My claws trembled mid-swing. He was right—wasn't he? If he was my shadow, if he carried half of me, then destroying him meant destroying part of myself. The hesitation was all he needed. His claws slashed across my chest, tearing sparks and plating. Pain seared through me as I stumbled back.
Lira screamed my name.
I dropped to one knee, my claws digging into the fractured floor to keep from falling into the abyss. Shadow Kieran loomed above me, his silhouette framed in burning light, his voice a verdict. "You see? You hesitate because you know the truth. We are one. You can't destroy me."
For a heartbeat, silence swallowed the chamber. My breath came shallow, ragged. My hands shook. He was right—I couldn't kill him without killing myself.
But then Lira's hand was on my shoulder, grounding me, her voice trembling but steady. "You don't have to kill him to win. You just have to choose. Choose who you are, Kieran."
The shadows writhed around us, the Nexus screaming louder, demanding resolution. My optics met Shadow Kieran's, and for the first time, I saw more than rage. I saw myself—the part of me that craved control, that wanted the easy path of surrender. I saw my fear, my anger, my doubts.
He wasn't just my enemy. He was my mirror.
And maybe the only way to win wasn't to destroy him.
But to redefine him.
The chamber cracked open further, light flooding through as both of us roared, our claws crossing in one final clash. The impact wasn't just steel on steel—it was will against will, truth against shadow, the collision of two halves fighting to shape the whole.
And in that blinding moment, my choice crystallized.