Dawn broke red over the treetops, painting the wilds in blood and gold.
Kael sat by the dying fire, his arm still bandaged from the wolf's bite, his gaze distant. Every time he blinked, he saw it again—the wolf's glow sinking into his veins, the surge of unnatural strength, the hunger that followed.
He hated it.
And yet… he remembered how alive it had felt.
Across the fire, Varic tore raw meat from a haunch with his teeth, chewing noisily. The man's grin never faded, his eyes burning with a feral light.
"You hesitate too much," Varic said suddenly, tossing a bone into the flames. "That's why you bleed."
Kael's head snapped up. "I survived."
"Barely." Varic leaned forward, axe balanced across his knees. "You think fighting the shard makes you strong? You're wrong. Power's a beast—you either ride it, or it eats you alive. No middle ground."
Kael's fists clenched. "If I let it take me, then I'm not me anymore."
Varic laughed, low and sharp. "You? Boy, you've never been you. You were Hollow. Empty. Nothing. The shard didn't corrupt you—it completed you."
The words struck like a blade. Kael's breath caught, but he forced the anger down. "…That's not true."
Varic rose, towering over him. His shadow stretched long, fangs glinting as he bared his teeth.
"Look around, boy. No temples here. No Oaths. No gods. Out here, the wild crowns only predators. And I see one staring back at me."
Kael stood too, heart hammering, but his legs shook beneath him.
"I'm not like you."
Varic's grin widened. "Then prove it."
Before Kael could react, Varic hurled his axe—not at him, but at the treeline.
The blade split the air with a howl, cleaving straight into a figure hiding in the brush. A scream tore out as a robed cultist fell, mask shattering, black ichor spilling from his veins.
Kael froze. "…The cult…"
Varic yanked his axe free, smirking. "They've been trailing you since the city. Seems the Abyss wants its thief back."
More shadows stirred among the trees. Dozens of masked faces emerged, bone-white grins fixed on Kael. Their voices hissed in unison, echoing like a hive of serpents:
"The Shard… the Thief… the Key…"
Kael's blood ran cold. His chest burned. The shard pulsed wildly, like a beast straining at its leash.
Varic planted his axe in the ground, eyes gleaming with savage delight. "Well then, boy. Prey or predator—time to decide."
Kael's pulse thundered. The cult's chants grew louder, the forest trembling with their chorus.
He had only two choices:
Unleash the shard and risk losing himself.
Or die as the Hollow they all believed him to be.
⸻
➡️ Cliffhanger: The Abyssal Cult makes its first open move against Kael, forcing him into a brutal decision that could seal his fate.