The cavern was heavy with silence after Kael vanished into the depths. The faint echoes of the dungeon's heartbeat pulsed through the stone, as though mocking those left behind.
Reina stood motionless, golden chains flickering faintly around her wrists. She didn't look at the others—her eyes were fixed on the black maw that had swallowed Kael.
"He was taken," she muttered, voice flat but sharp enough to cut. "The dungeon won't give him back easily."
Lyra, clutching her staff, shook her head in panic. "No. Kael wouldn't—he'll come back. He always comes back!"
Moro, in his wolf-slimed form, prowled restless circles at the edge of the pit. His growls reverberated off the stone. "We should follow. I can squeeze through—track him. I can—"
"No." Iria's voice stopped him. The witch's eyes gleamed in the gloom, sharper than usual. "That path was chosen for him alone. None of us would survive it. The dungeon… calls him differently."
Moro bared his fangs, liquid form quivering in protest. "So we just wait? Like prey?"
Before anyone could answer, the sound came—footsteps. Precise. Echoing.
Selene emerged from the corridor, silver hair framing her pale face, crimson eyes burning with accusation. The dungeon's dim glow reflected off the cracks in her armor.
The moment she stepped into sight, Iria's staff rose instinctively, shadows coiling at her fingertips. Moro's slime-body swelled, bristling like a wolf's hackles.
Reina's chains rattled to life, golden links flaring.
Selene's gaze skipped past them all, locking onto Reina.
"So," she said, her voice dripping venom. "You've bound yourself to him. You think you can guide him?"
Reina's reply was immediate, steel beneath her calm. "I kept him alive when you left him bleeding."
Selene's jaw clenched. "I never abandoned him." Her eyes swept briefly toward Lyra and Moro, dismissive. "You leeches cling to him, dragging him into weakness. He belongs with me. Always with me."
Lyra stepped forward despite the tremor in her knees. "You don't own him! He's not some weapon for you to—"
Selene's glare silenced her. "Stay out of this, child."
But before the clash could begin, Darius's voice cut through the tension. "Wait."
All heads turned. Or rather—to both Dariuses.
The group had lived with the oddity long enough, but Selene's arrival snapped the tension taut. One Darius stood at Reina's side, pale and stiff. The other leaned casually against the cavern wall, eyes glowing faintly.
Reina's chains coiled tighter. "One of you isn't real."
The second Darius smirked. His skin rippled, features shimmering like a mirage. His body melted, reshaping itself back into the same face—but with eyes burning an alien blue.
"I am no imposter," the shapeshifter said, voice layered with strange resonance. "I am the dungeon's reflection. A test. A mirror of the man you shelter."
Lyra's eyes widened. "You… you've been with us this whole time?"
"Yes," the echo answered simply. "To see how you would treat him. To measure Kael's hunger against your trust." He glanced at Reina and Selene. "And to watch who seeks to claim him."
The true Darius stepped forward, trembling. His hand clenched his staff so tightly his knuckles went white. "You—wore my face. My voice. My memories?"
The echo tilted his head, faint amusement flickering. "I did not lie. I showed you a path you could have taken, had Kael failed. If he succumbs, I replace him. That is the dungeon's decree."
Moro growled, slime-flesh bubbling. "I'll tear you apart before I let that happen."
The echo's smile was thin. "You cannot destroy me, beast of slime. I am part of the stone beneath your claws."
Reina lifted her hand sharply. "Enough. I'll decide what you are—later. Right now, Kael needs us united."
Selene scoffed. "United? With illusions? With chains?" Her blade rang as she drew it, pointing the tip at Reina. "You would bind him until he is nothing but a puppet."
Reina's eyes flared, her chains rising in a storm of light. "And you would shackle him with obsession. At least I offer him freedom to choose."
The clash erupted.
Selene lunged, her blade meeting golden links in a violent spark shower. Chains snapped taut, coiling around her sword, only for Selene to tear them free with a scream of fury.
Moro leapt between them, slime-wolf jaws clamping down on Selene's arm. She snarled, kicking him aside, her blade slicing through his liquefied flank. Moro reformed instantly, snarling louder. "Try that again!"
Iria raised her staff, shadows curling into spikes that pinned Selene's feet briefly to the ground. "If you want him, witch, you'll have to go through all of us."
Selene's glare burned. "Gladly." She shattered the shadow-pins with raw strength and surged forward again.
The cavern became chaos—chains whipping, slime crashing, shadow and light flaring against Selene's crimson rage.
Amidst it all, the real Darius stumbled backward, terrified yet defiant. "Stop this madness! None of you see—the dungeon feeds on this!" His voice cracked, but still he shouted. "You're giving it exactly what it wants!"
No one listened.
Until the sound came.
A howl—low, guttural, shaking the stone itself.
The pit glowed faintly, veins of red light spidering outward. The battle froze.
From the depths rose a figure. Taller than before, shoulders broader, form walking upright with steady steps. Kael.
But changed.
His frame was more human, yet his arms bore fur and claws, fangs still glinting in the half-light. His eyes burned not with hunger but with determination. And in his hand was the living blade, its chained veins pulsing as if drinking the air.
Moro barked once, slime-body trembling with joy. "Kael!"
Lyra nearly collapsed with relief, tears in her eyes. "You're back—thank the stars—"
Iria's eyes narrowed, measuring the changes in him, whispering low. "So the dungeon reshaped you again… child of chains."
Reina's chains slackened, golden light flickering in shock. She whispered his name like a prayer. "Kael…"
Even Darius stepped forward, awe-struck. "You survived what no one else could."
Selene's expression shifted from shock to fury. She stepped toward him, voice breaking with possessive certainty.
"I have returned…" she whispered, eyes only for him.
Then her voice rose, ringing like a blade drawn from its sheath:
"And Kael is mine."