The woods had never seemed more alive.
Fire licked the tree trunks, sending wicked shadows twisting and crawling across the clearing. Air clung heavy with heat and ash, each breath a draw on smoke. Birds shrieked as they fled into the darkness, their wings dark silhouettes against the burning sky.
And there, amidst it all, the monster moved forward.
It walked like a living mountain, each step a thundering shake. Its shape was a deformed blend of molten lava and searing fire, as if the earth itself had been torn asunder and forged. Its eyes—twin furnaces smoldering white-hot—fixed on Kael and Liora with unrelenting appetite.
Liora stepped back, the wooden staff trembling in her hand. "That's… that's no soldier."
Kael did not respond. He could not. His mouth was dry, his heart pounding too hard in his head. The broken sword weighed heavy in his hand, its ripped edges charring with a small light in reaction to the beast's heat. Whispers of darkness whispered at the edges of his mind, tempting, coaxing, promising power if only he would let them free.
But Kael knew the cost of following those whispers.
The beast bellowed, a bellow that rent the darkness asunder like thunder and shook Kael's bones. The beast's jaws yawned open wide, a cauldron of fire bulging in its gullet.
"Run!" Kael screamed.
But Liora stood paralyzed in terror. The fire burst out, a torrent of burning heat that lit night with ferocious day. Kael sprang forward, reaching for her around the waist behind the great oak roots. Waves of flame ran through the clearing, devouring bark, shattering stone, leaving charred ruin behind.
The oak remained. Just. Smoke danced around them, air so hot it blistered skin. Liora heaved violently, reaching for her chest.
We can't fight that!" she breathed. "We'll be burned up!"
Kael tried to sit up, gasping at the ache in his ribs. "Then we don't fight it. We endure it."
The beast fixed its burning gaze on the oak, its heavy steps shaking the earth. Every step creaked roots, shattered stones, shuddered through the ground.
Kael stood with the broken sword raised. Shadow climbed the blade, alive, pulsing to the rhythm of his own heartbeat. He could sense the power gathering, pent, eager to be unleashed.
"No," he snarled softly. "Not like before."
But when the beast charged, Kael had no choice.
Its huge claw descended, emitting heat, determined to grind the boy and girl into the ground. Kael acted. The broken sword hit stone and fire— and the forest exploded with night.
The impact sent Kael stumbling back, the wind ripped from his chest. He fell to the ground, vision reeling. But the beast… the beast heaved. Where his blade had bitten into its molten flesh, veins of dark proved on its body, darkness consuming the flames.
Liora stared, mouth agape. "You hurt it!"
Kael pulled himself to his feet, gasping. "Not nearly."
The monster roared once more, rage this time. Flames coursed along its body, devouring the crawling shadows, and it attacked.
Kael leapt to the side, the earth shattering where the monster's claws dug in. He swung again, a slash of darkness across its leg. The shadows clung, slowing its speed, suffocating its flames.
With every blow, he grew weaker. With every strike, the whispers swelled louder.
Give in.
Open yourself.
Let us eat, and you'll live.
Kael's head was wracked hard back and forth, ash and sweat scalding his eyes. "Shut up!"
"Kael!" Liora cried. She was on hands and knees on the ground, desperate for something—anything—to throw. She scooped up a half-buried chunk of metal, the remnants of some ancient armor or weapon, long buried in the earth. She hurled it with all her strength.
The shard cut into the beast's eye. It did not enter, but it deflected. The monster recoiled, roaring in fury.
"Go!" Liora shouted.
Kael did not need to be urged twice. He surged forward, taking advantage of the split second of distraction. His sword swept across the beast's chest, shadows running like a plague, smothering its flames. The monster roared, thrashing about, trees splintering like reeds in its fury.
The ground split beneath Kael's feet, fire bubbling up through cracks in the earth. He stumbled, his footing uncertain, the heat searing his flesh. The voices in his head grew louder, on the verge of bursting forth into the world.
Let us in.
One word. One thought.
Kael dropped to one knee, his teeth bared, the broken sword shaking in his hand. He sensed Liora's hands on his shoulders, shaking him.
"Kael! Don't you dare quit now!"
Her voice cut through the storm, clear, muddied.
Kael pulled himself up to sitting, every muscle screaming. He glared the beast in the face, held his sword overhead, and with a roar that tore his throat raw, thrust the blade home into its chest.
The shadows erupted.
For a moment, the world was shadow and fire, colliding, tearing, consuming. The creature let out a scream of agony and rage that shook the woods to its core. Flickering fire, chewing darkness, bursting rock.
Then silence.
The creature collapsed, its massive body breaking apart into clumps of melted rock. Fire flickered, smoldering to cloud-like tendrils of smoke and smoldering coals spread out over the clearing.
Kael staggered, almost falling. His vision dulled, his body trembling from strain. He could still listen to the whispers, quieter now, but there.
Liora caught him before he fell. "You did it… gods, you actually did it."
Kael's head swayed. "Not me. The sword… the shadows…" His eyes drifted to the devastation of the beast. Among the broken stone, something glinted.
He pulled free of Liora's hold and stumbled forward. In the wreckage, a piece of crystal rested, gently burning with inner fire. He scooped it up, the warmth gentle but not scalding against his palm.
"What is that?" Liora inquired, wary.
Kael looked at it, the radiance meeting his own gaze. He didn't know. But inside, the darkness stirred—hungry, ravenous, speaking with greater fervor.
He clenched his fist around the crystal, his jaw hard.
"We have to leave," he growled. "This creature wasn't hunting by chance. It was sent."
Liora's eyes widened. "Sent? Who would send it?"
Kael didn't answer. He didn't need to.
The shadows already understood.