Chapter 39: A Rift in the Sky
Kael and Ciaran emerged from the crumbling remains of the tower, the shard's energy still resonating within Kael like a second heartbeat. The cool air of the outside world struck them, but it offered no relief. The fractured landscape that stretched before them was a stark reminder of the Void's lingering collapse.
Kael's scythe dissipated into shadows at his side, the shard embedded within it pulsing faintly. He glanced down at his hand, flexing his fingers as he tried to shake the sensation of power flowing through him. The Balance within him felt heavier now, its presence like an unseen weight pressing on his mind.
"You're quieter than usual," Ciaran remarked, his golden eyes flicking toward Kael. "That shard do something to you?"
Kael's storm-gray eyes remained fixed on the horizon. "It showed me more of what's coming," he said, his voice low. "And it's worse than anything we've seen so far."
Ciaran sheathed his blade, his expression hardening. "I figured as much. That thing didn't just feel powerful—it felt wrong. Like it was alive."
Kael nodded. "It is. And it's part of something much bigger." He gestured to the desolate land around them. "This isn't just the Void's collapse. It's the start of something new. And we're standing in the middle of it."
As they moved across the broken terrain, the ground beneath them shifted unpredictably. Jagged fissures crisscrossed the earth, and patches of glowing crystal jutted out at odd angles, pulsing with faint energy. The sky above was a swirling mix of crimson and silver, its colors bleeding into the air like spilled ink.
Kael stopped abruptly, his shadows recoiling around him. "Do you feel that?" he asked, his voice sharp.
Ciaran frowned, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade. "Yeah. It's like the air's… twisting."
Above them, the sky rippled unnaturally, and a jagged tear split through the fabric of reality. The rift glowed with an intense, otherworldly light, its edges crackling with energy. As the tear widened, a massive structure began to emerge—a floating citadel, its surface black and jagged like obsidian but threaded with molten red veins.
Kael's grip on his scythe tightened, the shard within it pulsing violently. He could feel the citadel's presence, vast and oppressive, pressing down on his mind like a storm cloud.
"That doesn't look like it belongs," Ciaran muttered, his blade already drawn.
"No," Kael agreed, his voice steady despite the tension in the air. "It's connected to the shard. To the Void. Whatever's in there—it's alive."
The rift pulsed again, and the ground trembled beneath them. From the fissures emerged massive constructs of stone and shadow, their forms crude but immense. Crimson veins glowed across their bodies, and their movements were slow but deliberate.
"They've got company written all over them," Ciaran said, his voice tight.
Kael raised his scythe, his shadows flickering like coiled serpents. "They're not just guarding it. They're feeding off it."
The nearest construct let out a guttural roar, its stone limbs smashing into the ground with devastating force. Kael dodged the impact, shadows lashing out from his weapon to strike the creature's chest. The attack left cracks in its surface, but the crimson veins flared, and the damage repaired itself almost instantly.
"They're regenerating," Kael said, his storm-gray eyes narrowing. "They're tied to the citadel's energy."
Ciaran ducked under another strike, his blade flashing as he severed one of the creature's arms. The limb fell to the ground but dissolved into shadow and reformed within moments.
"Then we cut off their supply," Ciaran said, circling the construct. "How?"
Kael didn't respond immediately. His scythe hummed in his hands, the shard's energy surging in response to the constructs' presence. He could feel the link between them and the citadel—a vast, pulsating thread of power that tied everything together.
"I can sever it," Kael said, his voice calm but resolute. "But it won't be clean."
Ciaran snorted. "Nothing we've done so far has been clean. Do it."
Kael planted his scythe into the ground, the shard's energy flaring as he focused. Shadows erupted from him, surging toward the constructs and weaving through the cracks in the earth. The shard's resonance intensified, and Kael gritted his teeth as the Balance within him clashed with the citadel's energy.
The constructs froze mid-attack, their glowing veins flickering as Kael's shadows began to envelop them. The energy link between them and the citadel became visible, a web of crimson light that pulsed with raw power. Kael extended his will, channeling the shard's energy into the web.
The constructs roared in unison, their forms trembling violently as the web began to unravel. The shard burned hot in Kael's grip, its energy surging dangerously close to overwhelming him. He pushed harder, directing the Balance to sever the threads one by one.
The ground beneath them fractured further, chunks of earth rising into the air as the energy released by the severed threads rippled outward. Kael's vision blurred, his body trembling under the strain, but he didn't stop.
With a final burst of power, the web collapsed, and the constructs shattered into fragments of stone and shadow. The citadel above pulsed violently, its molten veins flaring brighter before dimming. The rift in the sky quivered, but it remained intact.
Kael fell to one knee, his scythe dissipating into shadows. The shard's glow dimmed, its energy receding like a tide.
Ciaran approached, offering a hand to pull him up. "You're making a habit of nearly killing yourself."
Kael took the hand, his storm-gray eyes meeting Ciaran's. "It worked."
"For now," Ciaran said, his gaze shifting to the citadel. "But that thing's still up there. What do we do about it?"
Kael turned toward the floating structure, his shadows flickering weakly around him. "We figure out what it wants. And we stop it."
End of Chapter 39