The cold was a living thing.
It gnawed at Kael's bones, seeped into his lungs, and coiled around his throat like a serpent. The Frostborne Citadel's dungeons were carved from permafrost and ancient Eclipse Core ice—a prison designed to break even the hardiest Pyroflux fire-wielders. For Kael, with his Voidweaver blood simmering beneath his skin, it was agony.
Lyra Frostborne visited him daily.
She came armed with questions, scalpels, and a detached curiosity that unnerved him more than the torture. Today, she brought a new tool: a jagged crystal syringe filled with glowing blue liquid—Frostborne serum, harvested from their Eclipse Core.
"What do you want now?" Kael rasped, his breath fogging in the air. His wrists were raw from the ice-forged manacles, his entropy power muted by the runes etched into the walls.
Lyra didn't look at him. She placed the syringe on the table beside his shard, which now glowed faintly, its void-like core swirling faster. "You're an anomaly, Kael Veyra. Your blood… it 'reacts' to the Eclipse Cores. Even ours."
"Flattering," he said, forcing a smirk. "You gonna write a poem about it?"
She picked up the syringe. "This serum will suppress your power. Temporarily. I need to see what happens when your blood interacts with the shard."
"No."
"It wasn't a request."
She plunged the needle into his arm.
The serum burned, spreading through his veins like liquid nitrogen. Kael gritted his teeth, his entropy power flaring instinctively—but the Frostborne runes flared brighter, crushing it.
Lyra picked up the shard. "Now. Let's try again."
She pressed the shard into his palm.
The reaction was immediate.
The void inside the shard *exploded*, tendrils of black energy lashing out and wrapping around Kael's arm. The room trembled, ice cracking as the shard's whispers crescendoed into a deafening roar.
'KAEL VEIRA. FINALLY.'
Lyra stumbled back, her eyes wide. "What is this?!"
Kael couldn't answer. The shard's energy flooded him, visions slamming into his mind:
A city of obsidian spires, crumbling into dust.
A woman with his gray eyes, screaming as soldiers dragged her away.
A throne of shadows, calling his name.
Then, a voice, ancient and resonant: "You are the last. The key. Break the chains."
The shard's energy surged, shattering the serum's hold. Kael's entropy power erupted, decay spreading through the manacles, the walls, the very air.
Lyra shouted for guards, but the door was already disintegrating.
Kael didn't remember leaving the dungeon.
One moment he was in the cell, the next he was sprinting through the Citadel's labyrinthine halls, the shard clutched in his hand. Frostborne soldiers chased him, their shouts echoing off the glacial walls.
He turned a corner—and froze.
The Citadel's heart loomed ahead: a massive chamber housing the Frostborne Eclipse Core. It pulsed like a frozen star, its light refracting through icicles the size of skyships. Beneath it, suspended in a cage of ice, was a man.
No—not a man. A 'corpse', preserved perfectly, his skin etched with spiraling black tattoos. Voidweaver markings.
"Free him," the shard whispered.
Kael hesitated. Behind him, the soldiers closed in.
Lyra's voice cut through the chaos. "Stop him!"
Kael ran to the cage, pressing his hand against the ice. Entropy spread, the frost melting to water, then to steam. The corpse's eyes snapped open—golden, pupil-less, burning with hate.
"Who…?" Kael whispered.
The corpse grabbed his throat. "Thief,"* it hissed. "You are not worthy."
Lyra skidded into the chamber, her sword raised. "Step away from him!"
The corpse turned, its golden eyes narrowing. "Frostborne filth."
It waved a hand, and a wave of entropy tore through the room. Soldiers disintegrated mid-scream, the Eclipse Core flickering as decay climbed its icy pedestal.
Lyra lunged at the corpse, her sword blazing with Frostborne energy. The corpse caught the blade, shattering it with a touch.
"You," it said, staring at her. "You smell like 'him'."
Lyra froze. "What?"
The corpse smiled, rotten teeth glinting. "Garrett. The traitor god. He lives?"
Before she could answer, Kael slammed the shard into the corpse's chest.
The void consumed it, the body dissolving into ash. The shard glowed brighter, its power searing Kael's palm.
Lyra stared at him, her face pale. "What have you done?"
Kael didn't know. But the shard did.
"Run," it commanded.
They barely escaped the collapsing chamber.
Kael and Lyra tumbled into a service shaft as the Eclipse Core's pedestal crumbled, entropy and frost tearing the Citadel apart. Outside, the floating city lurched, its levitation runes failing.
Lyra grabbed Kael's arm, her nails digging into his flesh. "You've doomed us all!"
He shook her off. "You put a knife to my throat first!"
The shaft shuddered, ice cracking above them. Lyra's composure finally broke. "The Core is destabilizing! If it falls—"
"The city crashes into Ironhaven," Kael finished. "Killing everyone."
For a heartbeat, their eyes met enemies bound by catastrophe.
"Fix this," Lyra demanded.
"How?"
"Your power. Use it to 'reverse' the decay."
Kael laughed bitterly. "I destroy things. I don't fix them."
"Liar," the shard whispered. "You are creation and ruin. Both."
The vision from the dungeon flashed in his mind—the throne of shadows, the woman with his eyes. 'Break the chains.'
He grabbed Lyra's hand. "You've got Frostborne energy. Combine it with mine."
She recoiled. "Are you insane? Our powers are opposites!"
"Exactly. Now shut up and 'focus'."
He channeled the entropy, letting it flow into her. Lyra gasped, her Frostborne energy flaring in response—ice and decay spiraling together. The shaft trembled as their combined power surged into the Citadel's core.
For a moment, it worked. The decay slowed.
Then the world exploded.
Kael woke to smoke and screams.
The Citadel had crashed into Ironhaven's outskirts, half the city buried under ice and rubble. Survivors clawed through the debris, Frostborne and slum-dwellers alike.
Lyra lay beside him, unconscious but alive, her white hair streaked with ash. The shard was gone—but its voice lingered.
"You see now. What you are."
Kael stood, his body aching. In the distance, the Frostborne Eclipse Core lay shattered, its shards glowing faintly. Among them, a shadow stirred—a figure in black, watching.
The veiled client.
She raised a hand in mock salute before vanishing into the crowd.
Lyra stirred, her eyes fluttering open. "You…"
Kael didn't wait for her to finish. He slipped into the chaos, the shard's whisper guiding him.
"To the throne, Kael Veyra. To your destiny."