Kael
Fire and shadow. That was all he had ever known.
The throne room of the Abyss was silent, the air thick with the scent of burning incense and something darker—something ancient. Kael stood before the Devil King himself, a being of unfathomable power. His presence alone twisted the very fabric of reality, the flickering torches casting his horned silhouette across the obsidian walls.
"You have defied the gods," the Devil King murmured, his voice deep as the abyss itself. "And now, you belong to me."
Kael clenched his fists. The magic inside him—dark, forbidden—had been a gift once. Now, it was a curse. A chain.
"I never asked for this," Kael whispered.
The Devil King chuckled, rising from his throne. His crimson eyes gleamed like dying stars. "And yet, here you are. The gods abandoned you, Kael. But I?" He stepped closer, his voice lowering to a whisper. "I will make you eternal."
The weight of the pact burned in Kael's veins. Aeryn's face flashed in his mind—his warmth, his light. A love that had once been his salvation.
But love had no place in the abyss.
Not anymore.
The Light That Fades
Aeryn
The temple stood in ruins.
Aeryn knelt amid the shattered marble, his fingers tracing the golden sigils that once pulsed with divine power. Now, they were cracked, lifeless. The gods had not spoken in years. And in their silence, darkness had crept in.
He pressed a trembling hand against the cold stone altar. This place had once been sacred. It had once been theirs.
"Aeryn."
The voice sent a shiver through him. He didn't need to turn to know who it was.
Celian—the High Priest, the last one still foolish enough to believe in miracles. His robes, once pure white, were stained with the ash of a dying world. His eyes held a quiet grief.
"You still seek him, don't you?" Celian asked softly.
Aeryn closed his eyes. The answer was a wound that never healed. "He's not gone."
"He is," Celian murmured. "Or at least, the man you loved is."
Aeryn's breath hitched. Kael's face burned in his mind—the warmth of his touch, the fire in his gaze, the whispered promises made under the stars.
And then, the betrayal. The power that had swallowed him whole. The darkness that had stolen him away.
Aeryn rose, his grip tightening on his sword. "If the gods won't save him," he said, voice steady despite the storm inside him, "then I will."
The temple doors groaned as he stepped into the night, beneath a sky heavy with war.
He would bring Kael back.
Even if it meant defying the gods themselves.
Kael
Pain was the first thing he felt.
It gnawed at his bones, pulsed in his veins like fire and ice woven together. The magic inside him—once pure, once his own—now coiled like a beast, hungry and untamed.
He knelt in the Devil King's throne room, bound by chains not of iron, but of shadow. They slithered around his wrists, his throat, tightening when he so much as breathed wrong.
"Stand."
The command was soft, almost amused. But Kael knew better than to mistake it for kindness.
The Devil King sat upon his throne, his crimson eyes gleaming with the patience of a god who had all eternity to break him. His horns curved like blackened crowns, his presence thick with something older than time.
Kael gritted his teeth and forced himself to his feet. The shadows resisted, tightening, burning into his skin. He didn't flinch.
"You fight well," the Devil King mused, tilting his head. "But you are fighting yourself, not me."
Kael said nothing. His heartbeat was steady, but his mind was a storm.
"You still think of him," the Devil King continued, as if peeling open Kael's thoughts with his voice alone. "Of Aeryn."
Kael stiffened.
A slow smile curled on the Devil King's lips. "Would you like to see him?"
Kael's breath caught. "What—"
The air shifted. A swirl of shadows, and then—
A vision.
Aeryn.
Standing beneath the ruined temple, bathed in moonlight. His sword was drawn, his eyes sharp with defiance. He looked the same and yet different—his face more hardened, his stance heavier, as if carrying a burden too great for one soul alone.
Kael's fingers twitched.
"He searches for you," the Devil King whispered. "Foolish. Brave. Tragic." His voice turned sharp. "Do you still think you can return to him? That you are the same man he once loved?"
The shadows coiled tighter, seeping into his skin. The magic inside him—dark, endless—surged in response.
No.
He was not the same.
He never could be.
The vision faded, leaving only the throne room's crushing darkness.
Kael swallowed hard, pushing down the ache in his chest.
"I don't need to return to him," he murmured. "I need to keep him away."
The Devil King's smile widened. "Good," he purred. "Then your training begins."
And the shadows swallowed him whole.
----
Aeryn
The winds carried whispers.
Aeryn stood at the edge of the Forgotten Vale, where the land itself had been cursed by ancient wars. The grass had long withered into ash, and the sky above twisted unnaturally, torn between day and night. Few dared to cross this place.
But Aeryn had never feared what stood in his way.
The vision he had seen—Kael's face, his presence tangled in darkness—burned in his mind. It had not been a dream. No, something had let him see him. Someone.
"The Devil King plays with your heart," Celian had warned before Aeryn left the temple. "This is a war beyond you, Aeryn. If you chase him now, you may never return."
Aeryn's grip tightened around his sword. "Then I won't return."
And so he walked into the Vale, knowing that once he crossed this threshold, he would no longer be just a warrior.
He would be a man walking toward his own damnation.
---
Kael
Pain was no longer his enemy. It was his teacher.
Days blurred into nights within the Abyss, though there was no true sky here—only endless darkness stretching beyond reason. Kael fought against creatures that defied nature, beings forged from nightmares, and each time, the Devil King watched.
"Faster," the Devil King murmured.
Kael's blade clashed against a beast of shadows, its snarling fangs inches from his throat. He twisted, using the power inside him, the cursed magic that now defined his existence.
The beast disintegrated.
"Better," the Devil King said, voice smooth like silk. "But you still hesitate."
Kael exhaled sharply. "Hesitation keeps me human."
The Devil King chuckled, stepping closer. "And why do you fight so hard to remain human, Kael? What is left for you there?"
Aeryn's face flickered in his mind. The warmth of his touch. The way he had whispered Kael's name as if it meant everything.
Kael shut his eyes. "Nothing."
The Devil King's hand touched his chest, over the place where his heart still beat. "Lies," he murmured. "But you will learn."
The darkness surged.
And Kael stopped fighting it.
Aeryn
The deeper he walked, the heavier the air became.
Aeryn had fought in wars, had seen kingdoms fall, had faced men who called themselves gods. But nothing compared to the presence pressing down on him now.
The Forgotten Vale was no ordinary place. It was a scar upon the world, a cursed land where the boundary between life and death, light and shadow, had been severed long ago.
And at the heart of it was the Abyss.
His hands trembled slightly as he touched the ancient stone archway before him. It was cracked, covered in symbols of an age long lost. He had read about this place in forbidden texts—The Gate of Eternal Night.
The last step. The point of no return.
If he passed through, he would no longer belong to the world of men.
He thought of Kael. The warmth in his voice, the way his laughter had once felt like home. Then the way that same voice had turned cold, distant, swallowed by something Aeryn could not reach.
He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and stepped forward.
The world shifted.
Pain seared through him like fire as the magic of the Abyss gripped his soul, testing him, weighing his existence. It was not meant for the living. It was meant for the forsaken.
And it was trying to claim him.
Aeryn staggered, but he did not stop. He would not stop.
The gods had abandoned him. The world had turned its back.
But he had made a promise.
And he would not break it.
---
Kael
The chains no longer bound him.
He stood at the heart of the Abyss, his body stronger, his power darker. The Devil King watched him from his throne, eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
"You are ready," the Devil King murmured.
Kael said nothing.
He should have felt triumph. He had survived, endured, become something greater than he had ever been before.
Then why did he feel empty?
"Your final test awaits," the Devil King said. "A soul has entered the Abyss." His lips curled into a knowing smile. "A foolish soul. A warrior who does not know his own limits."
Kael's heart clenched. He already knew.
Aeryn.
"You will face him," the Devil King continued. "You will prove where your loyalties lie. And if he does not yield?"
The shadows curled around Kael's fingers, answering before he could.
Then Aeryn would not leave the Abyss at all.
Aeryn
The darkness was alive.
It whispered, it moved, it breathed. Aeryn could feel it pressing against his skin, curling around his soul, testing him.
He was not welcome here.
Good.
He pressed forward, his steps slow but steady. His sword pulsed with a faint golden glow—the last remnant of the gods' power within him. But even that light was dimming.
Then he felt it.
A shift in the air. A presence.
His grip tightened.
"Who's there?" he demanded, voice sharp.
The shadows parted. And from them, a figure emerged.
Aeryn's breath caught.
Kael.
The same face. The same piercing silver eyes. The same man he had once loved.
But not the same.
His presence was heavier, colder. The darkness did not just surround him—it bent to him, obeyed him. He was no longer just Kael.
He was something more.
Something terrifying.
"Aeryn," Kael said, his voice unreadable.
Aeryn took a step forward, then stopped. He could see it now—the way Kael's hands curled, the way the shadows trembled around him like leashed beasts.
This was not a reunion.
This was a test.
"You shouldn't have come," Kael murmured.
Aeryn exhaled, steadying himself. "I didn't come to leave without you."
Kael's expression didn't change. "Then you will regret it."
The shadows lunged.
---
Kael
It should have been easy.
The darkness in his veins, the power he had gained—he had mastered it, controlled it, become one with it.
So why did his hands shake as he attacked?
Aeryn dodged the first strike, his golden sword slicing through the shadows like light breaking through a storm. He was fast. He was strong. He was still the Aeryn Kael remembered.
The Aeryn Kael once swore to protect.
Their blades clashed. Sparks flew in the abyssal darkness. Magic collided, light against shadow, neither willing to yield.
"Aeryn," Kael said through gritted teeth. "Leave."
Aeryn didn't hesitate. "No."
Kael clenched his jaw. "You don't understand."
"I understand enough," Aeryn shot back. "I understand that you let them take you. That you let them turn you into this."
The words struck deeper than any blade.
Kael stepped back. Just for a moment. Just enough for Aeryn to see it—the hesitation. The conflict.
And Aeryn, damn him, seized it.
"Kael," he said, softer now. "You are still you."
Kael's breath caught.
For one agonizing second, he wanted to believe it.
Then the Devil King's voice echoed in his mind.
"Prove your loyalty."
The hesitation shattered.
Kael's magic surged, darker than before, and he struck with all the force of the abyss itself.
Aeryn barely had time to raise his blade before the world around them exploded into chaos.
Aeryn
Pain tore through him.
The force of Kael's magic sent him crashing against the jagged obsidian ground. The impact stole his breath, but not his will. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself back to his feet, sword still in hand.
Kael stood before him, wreathed in shadow, his silver eyes unreadable. No warmth. No hesitation.
But Aeryn knew him.
Even now, beneath all that darkness, he knew.
"This isn't you," Aeryn rasped, wiping the blood from his lip.
Kael didn't answer. He simply raised his hand, and the shadows obeyed.
Aeryn barely had time to react before dark tendrils lashed toward him. He dodged, rolling to the side, slicing through the void-forged chains trying to ensnare him. The air was thick, suffocating, but he refused to falter.
He lunged, blade gleaming with the last remnants of divine power. His strike was precise, aimed not to kill but to break through whatever held Kael captive.
Steel met steel. Sparks flew.
Their faces were inches apart, breath heavy, muscles tensed.
"Why are you doing this?" Aeryn demanded.
Kael's expression didn't waver. "Because I must."
Aeryn pushed harder, his voice breaking. "Then why do your hands shake?"
Kael flinched.
For the briefest moment, the shadows around him wavered. The abyss itself seemed to recoil, sensing the crack in its chosen warrior.
Aeryn saw it. Felt it.
The part of Kael that was still his Kael. The part that wanted to stop.
"Aeryn," Kael whispered, almost as if in warning.
But Aeryn wasn't afraid.
"Come back," he murmured, his voice low, aching. "Come back to me."
For a heartbeat, Kael's grip on his sword loosened. His eyes flickered—haunted, torn, as if fighting something unseen.
Then, the Devil King's power surged.
Kael's entire body tensed, his magic roaring back to life like a chain snapping tight around his soul. His face hardened.
And in that moment, Aeryn knew—Kael wasn't being given a choice.
The darkness wasn't just inside him.
It owned him.
The realization struck like a dagger to the heart.
"Aeryn," Kael whispered, his voice hollow now. "Run."
The ground beneath them cracked. The abyss howled.
And then Kael attacked with everything he had.
---
Kael
He couldn't stop.
Even when he wanted to, even when Aeryn's voice tore through his defenses like a blade to the heart—he couldn't stop.
The Devil King's hold was absolute. The magic that bound him was no longer just a power; it was a command.
And that command was simple.
Kill him.
Kael fought against it. Fought with everything in him. But every time he hesitated, every time his body refused to strike true, the shadows punished him.
Pain lanced through his chest, unseen chains tightening around his soul. His vision blurred. His breath hitched.
Don't fight me, Kael. The Devil King's voice slithered through his mind, smooth and cruel. You are mine now.
His grip on his sword tightened. His heart pounded.
Aeryn didn't move.
Even now, as Kael raised his blade, as power crackled through his veins, Aeryn stood his ground.
Foolish. Brave.
Just like always.
Kael's blade came down.
Aeryn didn't block it.
Instead, he stepped closer.
Kael's breath caught as his sword stopped mere inches from Aeryn's throat. The shadows around him trembled, uncertain.
"Kill me, then," Aeryn whispered, voice raw.
Kael's hands shook.
Aeryn took another step. Close enough that Kael could feel his warmth. Close enough that, for just a moment, the darkness didn't feel so suffocating.
"You won't," Aeryn said softly. "Because you are still you."
Kael's entire body went rigid.
His soul screamed.
The shadows howled.
And then, with a final surge of defiance, Kael did something unthinkable.
He turned his blade.
And struck himself instead.
The world shattered.
The abyss roared.
And everything went dark.
Aeryn
His world broke apart.
One moment, Kael stood before him, shadows coiling, magic thrumming, his blade inches from Aeryn's throat. The next—Kael had turned the weapon on himself.
Aeryn barely had time to react before Kael's body collapsed.
"No—Kael!"
He caught him before he hit the ground.
Kael's weight was heavy in his arms, his breath shallow. The wound was deep, but worse than that was the darkness writhing beneath his skin—fighting, resisting, refusing to let go.
Aeryn's chest ached, a wild, desperate fear clawing at him.
"You idiot," he whispered, his voice breaking. "Why—why would you—"
Kael's lips parted, but no words came. His fingers curled weakly against Aeryn's chest, as if trying to hold on.
Aeryn tightened his grip, his heart hammering. "You don't get to leave me like this. You hear me?" His voice was fierce, trembling. "I didn't fight this hard just to watch you—"
Kael's eyes flickered open—silver, dim but still his.
Aeryn exhaled sharply, pressing his forehead against Kael's.
"You stubborn, reckless fool," he murmured, voice raw with emotion. His fingers tangled in Kael's hair, desperate, possessive, as if grounding him to this world. "If you ever do something this stupid again, I'll kill you myself."
A ghost of a smile touched Kael's lips. "Romantic," he rasped.
Aeryn let out a shaky laugh, but his grip on Kael didn't loosen. "You think this is funny?" His voice was thick, his throat tight. "I thought I lost you."
Kael's fingers brushed against Aeryn's cheek, weak but lingering. "You came for me."
Aeryn swallowed hard. "Of course I did."
Kael's eyes darkened, something unreadable passing through them. "You shouldn't have."
Aeryn's hold on him tightened. "Don't you dare say that." His voice dropped, low and intense. "You are mine, Kael. Do you understand?"
Kael's breath hitched.
"You have always been mine," Aeryn whispered. "And I will tear this entire abyss apart before I let it take you from me again."
The darkness around them stirred, as if listening.
Kael's body trembled against him. "It's still inside me," he murmured, his voice barely a breath. "I don't know if I can—"
Aeryn didn't let him finish.
He pressed his lips against Kael's, fierce and demanding, pouring everything into that kiss—anger, desperation, love. He could feel Kael's breath hitch, his fingers digging into Aeryn's arms as if trying to hold onto something real.
Aeryn pulled back just enough to whisper against his lips. "Then I'll fight it with you."
Kael's eyes burned with something deep, something raw.
Possession.
"Aeryn," Kael murmured, his voice low, dangerous. "You don't know what you're tying yourself to."
Aeryn smirked, eyes fierce. "I don't care. You are mine, Kael. And I don't share."
Kael let out a soft, breathless laugh—then his body tensed as the shadows surged, fighting against his defiance. Aeryn felt it—the abyss trying to reclaim him.
But Aeryn had made a promise.
And nothing, not even the Devil King himself, would take Kael away from him.
Kael
The kiss lingered.
Aeryn's warmth, his touch, his presence—it was an anchor in the endless storm raging inside Kael. The abyss screamed for control, the Devil King's chains tightening around his soul, but none of it mattered in that moment.
Because Aeryn was here.
And he wasn't letting go.
Kael's fingers curled into Aeryn's clothes, his body shaking with the force of what he was holding back. The darkness clawed at him, furious, desperate to pull him under again.
"You don't know what you're doing," Kael rasped, his forehead pressed against Aeryn's. "This thing inside me—it isn't just magic. It's alive. It wants me. It will never let me go."
Aeryn's grip on him tightened. "Then I'll fight it."
Kael's breath hitched. "You can't."
Aeryn exhaled sharply. "You still think I'd let anything take you from me?" His voice was low, possessive, a promise edged with fury.
Kael swallowed hard. "Aeryn—"
Aeryn's hands came up to cup his face, forcing Kael to look at him.
"Listen to me," Aeryn whispered, his voice trembling with something deep, something unstoppable. "I don't care if the abyss itself wants you. You belong to me. And if I have to rip you from its grasp with my bare hands, I will."
Kael's breath caught.
Something shifted inside him.
For so long, he had fought alone, drowning in darkness, believing there was no way out. But now, Aeryn's words carved through the abyss like light breaking through a storm.
Kael had never felt so claimed.
So wanted.
A shudder ran through him as the shadows inside him surged, the Devil King's presence pressing harder, furious at this defiance.
"You think love can save you?" The voice coiled in his mind, thick with malice. "You are mine, Kael. You will always be mine."
Kael's body convulsed, a sharp cry escaping his lips as the darkness fought back.
Aeryn didn't let go.
"Aeryn," Kael gasped, fingers digging into his arms. "It's—"
Aeryn crushed their lips together, fierce, possessive, his magic flaring to life between them. The abyss screamed.
"Fight it," Aeryn demanded against his lips. "Fight for me."
Kael's heart pounded. The chains in his soul cracked.
The Devil King's rage roared through the abyss.
"You cannot take what is mine!"
But Aeryn's grip on him only tightened, his magic pouring into Kael, surrounding him, shielding him. His voice was raw, unbreakable.
"He was never yours."
The world shattered.
Kael gasped as light exploded through the abyss, tearing through the shadows, ripping apart the chains that had bound him for so long.
Aeryn held him through it all, whispering his name over and over again.
And for the first time in what felt like an eternity—
Kael was free.
Kael
He could still feel it.
The Devil King's presence had been torn from his soul, but the shadows lingered—whispering, waiting, reminding him that true freedom was never without consequence.
But none of it mattered.
Because Aeryn was here.
Aeryn, who had held him when the abyss tried to take him. Aeryn, who had kissed him like he was the only thing that mattered. Aeryn, who had chosen him, again and again.
Kael's fingers curled around Aeryn's wrist, as if afraid to let go. His heart was still pounding, raw and unsteady.
"You saved me," he whispered.
Aeryn's grip on him didn't waver. "Of course I did."
The weight of it—the love in those words—made Kael's breath hitch. He wanted to believe it. Wanted to sink into it.
But then—
A presence.
The air shifted.
Kael felt it before he saw him. A chill, a flicker of something sharp, something angry.
Then a voice. Low. Dangerous.
"So this is what I find when I finally reach you?"
Aeryn tensed instantly. His hold on Kael became possessive, his body shifting between them like a shield.
Kael's stomach twisted.
Because he knew that voice.
He turned—slowly, almost afraid of what he would see.
And there he was.
Riven.
Golden eyes burning with fury. Cloak swirling around him like a storm barely held in check. Power crackling at his fingertips.
Riven, who had searched for him.
Riven, who had once sworn to bring him back, no matter what.
And now—Riven, standing before them, watching Aeryn hold him.
Kael's breath caught.
Aeryn's fingers tightened on him, as if sensing the shift in the air. "Riven," he said evenly, but there was tension in his voice.
Riven's gaze didn't move from Kael.
"You swore you'd wait for me," Riven said, voice deceptively soft.
Kael's throat tightened. "Riven—"
"You swore," Riven repeated, stepping closer.
Aeryn didn't move, his stance unwavering. "Kael isn't yours to claim," he said coldly.
Riven's gaze finally snapped to him.
"And you think he's yours?"
Aeryn didn't hesitate. "Yes."
The word was a challenge, a declaration.
Kael inhaled sharply as something electric passed between them. The tension was thick, heavy, like a storm waiting to break.
Riven let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "Unbelievable." His golden eyes flicked back to Kael, searching, demanding. "Tell me, Kael," he said, voice dangerously low. "Did you ever mean what you said to me?"
Kael felt his chest tighten, torn between the past and the present, between the weight of old promises and the fierce, undeniable pull of Aeryn's hold on him.
Aeryn's fingers dug into his skin, grounding him, as if daring him to say anything but the truth.
And Riven—Riven was staring at him like his entire world was hanging on Kael's next words.
Kael swallowed hard. His heart ached.
Because no matter what he said, someone would break.