The creatures emerged from the shadows like nightmares given flesh.
Their bodies were wrong—spines jutting at impossible angles, claws formed of jagged bone, mouths splitting too wide, filled with teeth that dripped black ichor. Their glowing red eyes locked onto Kael, reflecting hunger and malice.
There were five of them.
Kael's breath quickened. His body screamed at him to run, but his legs refused to move. He tightened his grip on the shard.
The voices in his head surged louder, clashing with his panic.
Strike low.Don't hesitate.Rip its throat.
The instincts weren't his, but they flooded him all the same. Soldiers. Hunters. Survivors. Their experiences etched into his mind.
The first beast lunged.
Kael's body moved on reflex, ducking beneath its swipe. His shard flared, and light coated his fist. He drove it upward into the monster's jaw. Bone cracked, black ichor spraying across the ground as the creature collapsed in a twitching heap.
Kael staggered back, staring at his trembling hand. He hadn't thought about the strike—it had just happened.
Another beast roared, charging him.
This time, Kael didn't wait. He dashed forward, voices guiding his steps. He slid low beneath its claws and jammed the shard into its side. Light exploded, ripping through its body and leaving nothing but charred remains.
But the effort tore at him. His chest heaved, his vision swimming. Every use of the shard burned through his strength, leaving his body screaming in protest.
The remaining three circled him, their growls reverberating through the ruins. Kael tightened his stance. His fear hadn't vanished, but it had shifted—becoming something sharper.
He wasn't fighting alone.Every echo fought with him.
The third beast lunged, claws flashing. Kael twisted aside, slamming his shard into its skull. It fell, thrashing, before dissolving into smoke.
The fourth came from behind. Kael spun, instincts screaming. His shard flared just in time, forming a barrier of light that deflected the strike. He countered with a kick, sending it sprawling. Before it could recover, he leapt onto its chest and drove the shard into its heart.
The last beast hesitated. Its glowing eyes flickered between Kael and the corpses of its kin. For a moment, Kael almost thought it would flee.
Then it roared and lunged.
Kael met it head-on. Their clash shook the ground, Kael's shard blazing as he slammed it into the monster's throat. The creature's momentum carried it forward, but Kael held his ground. With a final burst of light, the beast collapsed, dissolving into smoke like the others.
Silence.
Kael stood in the ruins, chest heaving, blood dripping from his knuckles. His body was bruised, battered, aching. But he was still standing.
The voices in his head quieted—not gone, but calmer. Almost… approving.
Liora's figure flickered into view beside him, her gaze unwavering. "You are beginning to understand."
Kael wiped blood from his mouth, glaring at her. "Understand what? That I'm a puppet for dead voices?"
"No," Liora said softly. "That you are their vessel. Their strength flows through you because you refuse to yield. That is why you survived."
Kael's grip on the shard tightened. He wanted to argue, to deny it. But deep down, he knew she was right. The echoes had guided him, saved him. Without them, he would already be dead.
He exhaled, shoulders slumping. "If this is my curse… then I'll use it."
Liora's faint smile was almost sad. "Good. Because this was only the first hunt."
Her words barely faded when a distant sound echoed through the ruins—voices. Human voices.
Kael froze. Survivors.
But as he turned toward the sound, his stomach twisted. Because among those voices was something else.
Chains rattling. Orders barked. And the faint, unmistakable laughter of Elias.