Lira shoved him aside, the Glassborn's claw grazing her arm. She cried out, blood splattering the glass.
"Lira!"
Her face twisted with pain, but she didn't falter. She slashed upward, driving her dagger into the creature's seam. It screeched, shattering into shards.
Kael's chest burned—not from the mark, but from rage. His vision blurred. The light inside him swelled, hotter, brighter.
The remaining three shrieked, circling.
Kael stood tall, fists clenched. "No more."
The dunes lit up as if a second sun had risen. Trails of light flared around him, twisting into arcs, forming a storm of glowing whips. The Glassborn shrieked, backing away—but too late.
Kael swept his arms outward.
The whips lashed through the night, striking all three at once. Shards flew like shattered stars, scattering across the dunes.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Kael collapsed to his knees, chest heaving, light fading from his skin.
Lira knelt beside him, clutching her wounded arm, her face pale but her eyes fierce.
"You did it," she whispered.
Kael's voice shook. "I don't even know how."
"Then learn," she said. "Because next time, they won't be so few."
---
The wind shifted.
The shards scattered across the dunes trembled, as if pulled by unseen strings. Slowly, inexorably, they slid back together.
Kael froze. "They're… reforming."
Lira's face went white. "We need to move. Now."
Kael staggered to his feet, every muscle trembling. His back still burned, the Path's trail glowing faintly across the desert floor, pointing toward something distant.
He looked at Lira. She nodded, her jaw set.
They ran.
Behind them, the dunes hissed with new voices as the Glassborn rose again, their fractured bodies gleaming under the stars.
And far in the distance, across the endless sea of glass, the trail of light pointed straight toward the melted spire.
The dunes stretched endlessly.
Kael's boots sank into the shifting glass, every step heavy, every breath a stab. His throat burned, lips cracked. Lira stumbled beside him, clutching her bleeding arm.
They had run through the night, chased by the hiss of the Glassborn reforming. Only when dawn bled across the horizon did the whispers fade.
Kael slowed, chest heaving. The Path's trail still glowed faintly, etched across the glass desert like molten lines. He hated it. It never wavered, never rested. It just pointed forward, uncaring of the way his legs trembled.
"Stop," Lira rasped. "We need water."
Kael looked around. Nothing but endless dunes, glittering cruelly in the sun. "Where? Do you see any wells here?"
She shot him a glare, but the strength behind it wavered. Her dagger hand shook.
The desert shimmered.
Kael blinked. For a heartbeat, he thought his vision was failing—but no, the horizon itself shifted. A pool of water appeared, rippling blue and impossibly clear.
An oasis.
Lira gasped. "There—look!"
Kael squinted, suspicion prickling. "It's too close. Too sudden."
Her cracked lips trembled. "Do you want to die of thirst, or test a miracle?"
She staggered toward it.
Kael's heart pounded. The Path's trail veered toward the oasis, glowing brighter as if urging him forward. Was it guidance—or another trick?
He clenched his fists. "Wait. Let me check first."
But Lira didn't. She fell to her knees at the edge of the pool, cupping shimmering water in her hands. She drank greedily.
Kael rushed forward. "Lira, stop!"
The water spilled through her fingers—shards of glass, cutting into her palms. She cried out, blood dripping onto the dunes. The oasis flickered, vanishing like smoke.
Kael grabbed her wrists, forcing her to drop the shards. "Damn it! It's an illusion!"
The desert hissed in laughter.
Blood dripped from Lira's hands, red against glittering glass. She cursed under her breath, clutching her dagger tighter. "It tricked me."
Kael scanned the dunes. The Path's trail glowed faint, mocking him. "It's testing us."
"Testing?" Her voice cracked. "It's killing us."
Before Kael could answer, the dunes shifted again. The glass flowed like water, shaping into forms—people. Figures rising from the sand, faces familiar.
Kael's breath caught. His mother stood before him.
Her face soft, kind. The one he remembered before the fever took her. She smiled. "Kael. Come home."
His throat closed. He hadn't heard that voice in years. "Mother…?"
Behind him, Lira froze. Her dagger dropped with a clatter. "Kael…" Her voice broke. "My brother. He's here—"
Kael forced his eyes shut. "It's not real. Don't look."
But the voice of his mother grew sharper, closer. "Kael, you're lost. The Path leads to ruin. Come back with me."
His chest ached. Every instinct screamed to run into her arms, to collapse, to stop fighting.
Then he felt the mark burn.
The Path's trail pulsed violently, a warning.
Kael gritted his teeth. He opened his eyes—and saw it. The figures weren't human. Their bodies shimmered with cracks of light, the same seams as the Glassborn.
"Lira!" he shouted. "Don't listen—it's them!"
But she was already walking forward, tears streaming. "He's alive. He's—"
The figure of her brother raised its hand, jagged claws forming.
Kael's heart lurched. He sprinted, slamming into Lira and dragging her down. The claw swiped where her head had been.
She gasped, blinking wildly. The illusion cracked, showing jagged glass. Her face twisted in horror. "No…"
The Glassborn shrieked, their false faces shattering. The dunes filled with their hiss.
They had been waiting.
Shards scraped against each other as the illusions collapsed. Ten Glassborn stood in a half-circle, their limbs gleaming in the morning light.
Kael pulled Lira up, standing between her and the creatures. His hands trembled. His body ached from last night's fight. He wasn't sure he could summon the Path's light again.
The creatures advanced.
The mark burned hotter, demanding. The Path's trail glowed like fire. Kael raised his hands, forcing the light to obey.
But this time, something was different.
The light didn't whip outward or shield him. Instead, the trail beneath his feet shimmered—splitting into two. One line curved left, the other right, both glowing fiercely.
Kael froze. "What—?"
The Glassborn shrieked, rushing forward.
Lira grabbed his arm. "Choose!"
His mind raced. The Path had never split before. Both trails burned with equal intensity, both pulling at his chest. One felt like fire in his veins, wild and violent. The other was heavy, steady, like stone.
If he chose wrong—
The first Glassborn lunged. Kael acted without thinking. He stepped onto the left trail.
Light surged upward, wrapping around him. His body moved faster than thought, his arm lashing out in a blazing arc. The creature shattered instantly.
Power roared through him—raw, terrifying. His eyes widened. He could feel everything, every grain of glass beneath his boots, every shimmer of heat.
But the power burned. His chest felt like it was tearing apart.
"Kael!" Lira's voice echoed distantly. "Stop—it's killing you!"
The light blazed brighter, threatening to consume him. The Glassborn shrieked, hesitating.
Kael's vision blurred. He couldn't tell if he was winning—or being devoured by the very Path guiding him.
And then the dunes themselves split open.
Glass collapsed into a yawning pit, dragging everything toward it.
Kael and Lira tumbled, screaming, as the world swallowed them whole.