The cave trembled violently, the ground beneath Kael's feet shifting as cracks split the walls and ceiling. Dust and debris rained down from above, filling the air with a choking cloud. The relic's power was surging through the chamber, its pulse growing faster, more erratic. The sound of rocks splitting and collapsing filled the cavern, and Kael struggled to stay upright.
His body screamed in pain. His leg was barely holding him up, and the wounds across his chest throbbed with every movement. His vision blurred as he tried to focus on the scene unfolding in front of him.
Silas stood near the relic, his hand still clasped around it. The calm, controlled demeanor he had worn moments earlier was gone, replaced by a growing look of alarm. The relic pulsed with a blinding light, and the power emanating from it was more than Silas had anticipated.
"Kerric!" Kael shouted, his voice barely cutting through the chaos. "We have to move!"
But Kerric stood frozen, watching as the walls of the cave began to crumble around them. His eyes were locked on Silas, on the relic that was tearing the cavern apart. "Silas... you have to stop!"
Silas's face was pale, his grip on the relic tightening as the power surged through him. "I can control it!" he shouted back, though his voice cracked with uncertainty. "I just need more time!"
Time was something they didn't have. The ground beneath Kael shook violently again, and a massive section of the ceiling gave way, crashing down with a deafening roar. Kael dove to the side, his body screaming in protest, narrowly avoiding the falling rocks. He landed hard on his injured leg, a sharp pain shooting through his body.
Kerric finally moved, rushing toward Kael and helping him to his feet. "We can't stay here!" Kerric's voice was filled with panic, the weight of his decision finally hitting him. "This whole place is coming down!"
Kael's breathing was ragged, his chest burning as he struggled to stay upright. The cave was falling apart around them, rocks crashing to the ground, walls collapsing, and the relic's power still pulsing with dangerous energy.
Silas, standing near the center of the chaos, looked up at the destruction around him. His eyes were wide, his expression one of disbelief as the power of the relic slipped out of his control. He stumbled backward, the ground shaking violently beneath him. "No... it's mine. I can control it!"
But the relic had other plans. Another pulse of energy surged from the object, sending a shockwave through the cave that knocked Silas to his knees. His grip on the relic faltered for the first time.
Kerric looked at Kael, his face grim. "We have to get out of here, Kael. We can't stop him, he's too far gone. This whole place is going to bury us alive!"
Kael looked toward Silas, his mind racing. The relic's power was spiraling out of control, but if they left now, there would be no stopping him from escaping with it. The relic would fall into Silas's hands, and everything they had fought for would be lost.
But the cave was collapsing faster than they could move. Rocks fell around them, the ground beneath them cracking and shifting, making it impossible to stay upright for long. If they didn't leave now, they'd never make it out alive.
Kael staggered, leaning on Kerric for support. "We can't let him take it," Kael rasped. "If he escapes with that thing... it's over."
A massive boulder crashed down near the entrance, blocking part of their path. The air was thick with dust and debris, and the heat from the relic's energy was becoming unbearable.
Silas, still clutching the relic, struggled to rise, his face twisted with both fear and determination. He wouldn't let go, not now, not after everything he had sacrificed.
The cave let out one final, deafening roar as the walls began to collapse completely, leaving their next move, and their fate, uncertain.
Kael struggled to stay on his feet, his body battered and barely holding together. Each breath felt like fire in his lungs, and the sound of the collapse drowned out everything else.
Silas, clutching the relic, stepped backward toward the exit. His face was still pale, his smile long gone, but his eyes gleamed with the satisfaction of victory. The relic pulsed in his hand, its power surging through the cave, making the ground beneath them tremble. He had what he came for.
Kael tried to stand, but his leg gave out, and he collapsed to the floor. He looked up, vision swimming, as Silas turned his back on them.
"We should have seen this coming," Kael muttered, his voice barely audible through the roar of the crumbling cave.
Kerric knelt beside him, his own face pale from exhaustion and injury. His hand rested on Kael's shoulder as they both looked toward the ceiling, cracks splitting through the rock above them. For a moment, there was silence between them, broken only by the steady rumble of the impending collapse.
Kerric gave a half-smile, though it was tinged with sadness. "How could it have come to this?"
Kael coughed, tasting blood in his mouth. His vision darkened, but his lips curled into a faint smile. "Maybe it was always going to end this way."
The ground beneath Kael shifted violently, and the force of it sent him sprawling. His body slammed against the cold stone, his limbs too weak to fight back. His breath came in shallow gasps as the weight of the cave pressed down on him.
Rubble and debris rained down, filling the air with choking dust. Kerric laid beside him, motionless, his face turned toward the ceiling. They were both trapped beneath the falling stones, the sound of destruction echoing in their ears.
But in that moment, there was nothing to do. No more battles to fight. No more enemies to face. Just the slow, inevitable collapse of the world around them.
And then, as the world crumbled around them, Kael's mind drifted back, back to a time long before the cave, before the relic, before Silas. The weight of his past came rushing in, pulling him away from the present.
He was a child again, standing in the ruins of a battlefield, smoke rising into the sky. The cries of the wounded and the dying echoed in his ears, but he felt nothing. The world had already fallen apart once before.
A hand gripped his shoulder. He turned to see Kerric, younger, stronger, with the weight of command on his face. The mercenary leader had found him in the wreckage of his life, a child orphaned by war, and taken him under his wing.
"You'll learn to survive," Kerric had said back then. "In this world, survival is the only thing that matters."