Carlos's blade trembled in his grip, locked against his dark twin's weapon. His arms shook, not from lack of strength but from the weight of the words gnawing at his mind. What if it's right? What if I do choose who falls?
The thought nearly broke him. And then, through the chaos, he heard Lys scream.
Her bow clattered to the ground. Her corrupted self had an arrow aimed at her chest, the fire-tipped shaft gleaming with cruel certainty. "You'll miss again," it whispered. "Just like before."
But instead of raising her bow, Lys's knees buckled, and she whispered aloud, "Yes. I did fail. I missed, and my family died. I carry that failure every day."
Her voice cracked, but her eyes lifted, steady and tear-filled. "But I am still here. And I will not miss this time."
She grabbed her bow again, nocked an arrow, and fired. The shaft split the corrupted specter's flaming arrow mid-flight, sending embers scattering like stars. The twisted archer shrieked and cracked, its form splintering.
The others froze, hope flickering.
Thalor's Stand
Thalor, pinned beneath the jagged blade of his armored doppelgänger, growled through gritted teeth. The whisper echoed: "You are broken. You let them die. You wanted to rest."
He could feel the weight of his order's deaths crushing him again. The fire. The screams. The silence after.
He closed his eyes. "Yes… I am broken. My brothers are gone. I couldn't save them."
His grip tightened on his shield, forcing the jagged blade upward. His eyes blazed with iron resolve. "But I still fight — because their memory deserves more than silence."
With a roar, Thalor shoved the corrupted knight back, his shield crashing into its chest. The twisted figure staggered, cracks spiderwebbing across its armor as light spilled from within.
Rina's Choice
Rina's shadow pressed close, blades flashing, each strike filled with venom. "You don't belong with them. You'll betray them before they betray you. Isn't that what you've always done?"
Rina's breath came hard, her dagger arm shaking. Every instinct told her to deny it, to fight the words. But instead, she whispered, "Yes. I've betrayed before. I've lived in shadows. I've abandoned when it suited me."
Her eyes locked on Carlos, then Lys, Thalor, Maren. "But not this time. Not them."
She slammed her dagger into the ground, twisting past her double and slashing upward in a brilliant, defiant strike. The corrupted thief staggered, its form unraveling like smoke torn by wind.
Maren's Control
Maren's corrupted self was a storm, a tempest of uncontrolled magic. It screamed: "You'll destroy them! You can't control it — you are chaos itself!"
Her staff trembled as flames licked her arms, frostbit her fingers. She was losing herself.
Tears streaked her cheeks as she cried out, "Yes! I am dangerous! My power is wild — and I have hurt the people I love!"
Her cracked staff blazed suddenly with white-blue light, glowing with her conviction. "But I am not only that. I am more than my fear. I am still me!"
The storm faltered. The corrupted sorceress screeched, its flames guttering out as Maren's light burned through its form.
Carlos's Decision
One by one, his friends had broken free. Carlos, panting, still locked blades with his darker self. The whisper hissed in his mind: "You will choose who dies. You cannot save them all. And when you choose, you'll never forgive yourself."
Carlos's hands shook. He remembered the Keeper's words. He remembered every choice he had made since donning the Helm. He remembered the weight of leadership, crushing, relentless.
And finally, he spoke. "You're right."
The shadow's eyes widened.
"I will make choices. And some of them will cost lives. That is the burden I carry." His voice hardened, his blade blazing with golden light. "But I will never stop fighting for them. I will never stop carrying that weight — because it means they don't have to."
With a roar, he shoved his dark twin back and drove the Blade of Ascension straight into its chest. The shadow screamed, splintering apart in a burst of golden radiance.
The Collapse of the Corruption
The corrupted doubles shattered one by one, their forms unraveling into smoke and resin that shrieked as it dissolved. The fissure sealed itself with a thunderous crack, the black resin retreating into the ground like venomous blood sucked back into a wound.
Silence fell.
The companions stood in the shattered grass, panting, bloodied, exhausted — but victorious.
For a moment, none of them spoke. Then Carlos lowered his blade, his voice ragged but steady.
"They weren't just monsters. They were us."
Lys nodded, wiping tears from her cheeks.Thalor grunted in grim agreement.Rina sheathed her dagger, her hand trembling.Maren leaned on her staff, her glow dim but steady.
Carlos looked at each of them, one by one. "And we beat them. Together."
For the first time since the whispers began, the Expanse felt a little lighter. But deep in the distance, the crystalline canopy still pulsed with unease, as if warning them: this was only the beginning.