The courtyard smelled of rot and ichor. Pools of black blood steamed faintly under the crimson moon, seeping into cracks in the stone. The twisted bodies of nightmare beasts lay in broken heaps where Brann's sword had cleaved them apart. The rest had already dissolved into smoke, devoured by Kael's chains.
Kael sat slumped against the broken wall, every breath burning his lungs. His hands trembled, veins dark against pale skin. He felt… full. Overfull. Like a wineskin stretched to bursting. The whispers in his head were louder than ever—hundreds of overlapping voices, shrieking, whispering, laughing, clawing.
More. Bind more. Never stop. We are you. You are us. Chains unbroken, hunger unending.
Kael squeezed his eyes shut and clutched his chest. He could still feel them writhing inside him, the bound shadows clawing for dominance. It took all his strength not to scream.
"Enough," Brann's voice cut through the haze, hard and steady.
Kael forced his eyes open. The big man stood over him, sword dripping ichor, face carved in iron. His jaw was clenched, his eyes grim.
"You nearly lost yourself."
Kael shook his head weakly. "I… I had to. They would've killed us."
Brann crouched, bringing his weathered face close. "You don't understand yet. The danger isn't the beasts. It's you. If you let that hunger run wild, you'll be more dangerous than anything crawling out of these ruins."
Kael's throat worked, but no words came. He wanted to argue, but the shadows inside him made Brann's warning ring true.
Selene drifted closer, crouching gracefully on her heels. Her silver eyes glowed brighter now, reflecting the chains that still coiled faintly around Kael's arms before dissolving back into his skin.
Her lips curved faintly. "I warned you. Bend… or break."
"Shut it, Selene," Brann snapped, though his voice lacked heat. "This isn't a game."
"It's not," she agreed calmly. Her gaze never left Kael. "But it is a truth. He can't ignore what he is."
Kael forced himself to meet her gaze, though it made his stomach knot. "And what am I?"
Selene tilted her head. "A binder. Rare. Dangerous. Cursed, some say. The Dusk marks people in many ways, but only a handful are chained to shadows themselves. Most burn out after the first or second binding. They lose their minds. Or worse."
Kael's blood ran cold. "Worse?"
Her smile thinned. "They become the very nightmares they bound. Shadows wearing human skin."
The whispers in Kael's head laughed cruelly at that. He pressed his palm hard against his sternum, as if he could hold them inside.
Brann straightened with a grunt, wiping his sword clean on a beast's carcass. "Enough talk. We've made noise. More will come. We move."
Kael struggled to his feet, his legs unsteady. His body felt stronger, faster than before, but also wrong—like something inside him was shifting, changing. He swallowed the rising panic and followed as Brann led them deeper into the ruins.
They moved in silence for a long while. The ruins around them were endless—shattered towers jutting from the ground like broken teeth, toppled statues, stairways that led nowhere. The crimson moon hung overhead, unblinking and eternal.
Kael's thoughts churned with Brann's warning and Selene's words. Binder. Cursed. Shadows wearing human skin. Was that his fate? To become like the monsters he chained?
He shivered, though the air was stifling.
"Where are we going?" he asked finally, his voice raw.
"Shelter," Brann said shortly. "The Dusk doesn't sleep, but people still need rest. There's a place not far. Old sanctum. If it still stands."
Selene added softly, "And maybe answers."
Kael frowned. "Answers to what?"
Her silver eyes flicked to him, gleaming. "To why you're here."
The words lodged in his chest. He had asked himself that a hundred times already. Why him? Why the orphan boy with nothing? Why this curse?
Brann's voice cut in before he could speak. "Don't get your hopes up, boy. The Dusk doesn't hand out reasons. Just survival. Anyone looking for meaning usually ends up dead."
Selene's smile was faint. "And yet, he survives. Perhaps that is meaning enough."
Kael didn't reply. The whispers inside him stirred again, laughing at the exchange.
They reached the sanctum after another hour of walking. It stood at the edge of the ruins, half-buried in rubble. A circular hall, roof collapsed in places, its walls etched with strange glyphs that glowed faintly. The glyphs pulsed like heartbeats, bathing the chamber in sickly green light.
Brann entered first, scanning with practiced eyes. "Clear."
Selene slipped inside next, brushing her fingers over the glyphs. "Still active. Surprising."
Kael followed, glancing around warily. The chamber felt different from the rest of the ruins. Less hostile, almost… watchful.
"What is this place?" he asked.
"Old temple," Brann said. He set his sword down against the wall with a heavy clank. "Sanctum to one of the old Lords. Or so the stories go. Doesn't matter now. What matters is it keeps the beasts out. They don't like the glyphs."
Kael blinked. "Lords?"
Selene smiled faintly. "The ones who shaped the Dusk. Or who were shaped by it. Depends on which tale you believe. Gods, monsters, tyrants… take your pick. Their marks linger. Some call them protection. Some call them cages."
Kael shivered, glancing at the glowing walls. If this was protection, it felt fragile.
They settled in. Brann began cleaning his blade with slow, methodical strokes. Selene sat cross-legged again, hands resting lightly on her knees, eyes half-closed.
Kael paced the chamber, restless. The whispers hadn't stopped. If anything, they grew louder in the sanctum, bouncing against the glyphs. So many shadows… so close… bind, bind, bind…
He pressed his forehead against the cool stone wall, trying to steady his breathing.
"You're shaking," Selene observed softly.
Kael turned sharply. "I'm fine."
Her silver eyes gleamed. "Lying doesn't quiet them."
His chest tightened. "What do you want from me?"
"Nothing," she said calmly. "But you should want something from yourself. Do you know how many in this cursed place would kill for what you have? Power that grows with every shadow bound. Strength no beast can match."
Kael shook his head violently. "It's not power. It's a curse."
Selene tilted her head. "Perhaps. But curses and blessings are the same thing in the Dusk. Both demand a price."
Brann's voice rumbled from across the chamber. "Don't fill his head with poison. He needs control, not riddles."
Selene smiled faintly but said no more.
Sleep was impossible again. Kael sat with his back to the wall, staring at the glyphs pulsing on the stone. The whispers had grown quieter, but not gone. They never went.
Brann snored softly nearby, sword within reach even in slumber. Selene sat still as a statue, though Kael wasn't sure if she slept at all. Her silver eyes remained half-lidded, watching the glyphs as though reading something in them.
Kael pressed his hand against his chest, feeling the faint thrum of chains under his skin. He could sense them now—threads of shadow running through his veins, binding him tighter with every beast he consumed. Stronger, yes. Faster. But less human.
He whispered to himself, barely audible. "How long before I'm gone?"
The shadows inside him laughed in reply.
A sound woke him from the edge of sleep—distant at first, then closer.
Drums.
Kael sat up sharply. Brann stirred awake instantly, hand on his sword. Selene's eyes opened fully, silver gleam reflecting the glyph-light.
The drums echoed through the ruins outside, slow and heavy. Boom. Boom. Boom. A rhythm that made the walls vibrate faintly.
Brann's face darkened. "Raiders."
Kael blinked. "Raiders?"
"Not beasts," Brann growled. "People. Worse than beasts, sometimes."
Selene stood gracefully. "The Ash-Bound."
Kael's stomach dropped. "Who are they?"
Brann strapped his sword to his back. His voice was grim. "The ones who bind shadows… but not to themselves. They burn them into others. Slaves. Soldiers. Monsters."
Selene's lips curved faintly. "And they'll smell you from leagues away, Kael. A fresh binder. You're worth more to them than a dozen corpses."
The whispers inside him stirred eagerly.
Ash-Bound… bind them… bind them all…
Kael's chest tightened with dread.
Brann's eyes met his, hard as steel. "If they find us, you'll have two choices: fight or be chained. And trust me, boy—being their tool is worse than death."
Kael swallowed hard, fear twisting in his gut. He thought of the beasts he had bound, the whispers gnawing at him, the hunger that never ceased. And now there were others—humans—who would turn him into a weapon against his will.
For the first time since arriving, Kael realized he wasn't just running from beasts or hunger.
He was running from people.
And the drums outside were getting closer