Kael's hand tightened around the shard until it cut into his skin. Blood trickled down his palm, mixing with the glow. The pain barely registered over the storm raging inside his mind.
Elias stepped closer, boots crunching over broken glass. His smile never wavered. "You hear them, don't you? The voices. The screams. That shard is eating you alive. If you give it to me, I can carry it. I can control it."
Kael's throat was dry. He wanted to believe him. He wanted to think Elias, his brother in all but blood, was still the same man who had once stood beside him in battle. But the hunger in Elias's eyes told a different story.
"I can't," Kael whispered.
Elias tilted his head, the smile slipping into something colder. "Then you'll die with it."
The air thickened. The ground beneath them cracked as the monster—still smoldering from Kael's strike—let out a guttural roar. Its body twisted unnaturally as if responding to the shards' resonance.
Elias didn't even flinch. He raised his hand, and a blade of black light formed from his fragment. With a single swing, he cleaved the creature in half.
The sound of flesh tearing echoed across the ruins.
Kael staggered backward. That power—smooth, controlled, lethal. Elias hadn't just survived the Collapse; he had thrived.
And Kael? He was barely standing.
The voices in his head surged louder, drowning him.
He's right.You're weak.Unworthy.Give it up… give it up…
Kael screamed, clutching his head. Blood ran from his nose, his eyes burning with visions of deaths that weren't his. Soldiers torn apart. Families crushed. Millions of echoes, all at once.
He fell to his knees.
Elias crouched before him, eyes gleaming. "See? This curse will break you. But me… I was chosen for this. I was always stronger, Kael. Always the one meant to lead."
His hand extended, gentle and cruel all at once. "Give it to me, brother."
Kael's vision blurred. His hand trembled. Part of him wanted to surrender, to let go of the shard and the torment that came with it.
But then—among the screaming voices—one whisper cut through, clear and sharp.
Do not yield.
Liora.
The figure of light flickered into view behind Elias, unseen by him. Her gaze met Kael's, her words flowing into his mind like water over fire.
If you give up now, the world will end again. You are not weak, Kael. You are chosen—not by chance, but by necessity.
Kael's heart pounded. His breath came ragged. Slowly, he forced himself to his feet. The shard pulsed brighter, responding to his will.
"No," Kael said, his voice low but firm. "I won't give it to you."
Elias's expression darkened. His extended hand curled into a fist. "Then you've chosen death."
He lunged, his blade of black light slicing through the air.
Kael barely raised the shard in time. The clash sent shockwaves through the ruins, energy sparking between them. Kael's body shook from the force, his arm screaming in pain. Elias was faster, stronger, relentless.
But Kael had something Elias didn't.
The voices.
The echoes of countless lives surged through him. Soldiers' instincts guided his movements. Survivors' desperation fueled his steps. A thousand experiences, a thousand wills—bleeding into his own.
Kael's eyes burned as he parried Elias's strike, then countered with a desperate punch infused with light.
The impact forced Elias back a step. His eyes widened, then narrowed with amusement. "So the shard fights for you too. Interesting… maybe you won't break so easily after all."
He laughed, a sound filled with madness. "Good. I'd rather crush you at your strongest."
And then, as suddenly as he had come, Elias turned. His form blurred into shadow, vanishing into the smoke.
Kael staggered, collapsing onto his knees once more. His chest heaved, his body trembling. The shard dimmed, its glow softening.
But the voices didn't fade.
They screamed, cried, begged—an endless tide. Kael pressed his forehead to the ground, teeth gritted until blood filled his mouth.
He wasn't sure what terrified him more.
Elias's power.Or his own curse.