The Sky Abyss opened.
Not suddenly, not violently—but with intent.
The floating islands ahead drifted apart, creating a vast circular expanse of open air. Wind rushed inward from every direction, spiraling downward into a slow, rotating column that reached from cloud to cloud, like the throat of the world itself.
Kael felt it immediately.
The dragon inside him went silent.
That scared him more than its rage ever had.
Maelor stopped at the edge of the island. His staff pressed deep into the stone, as if anchoring himself. "We don't cross," he said. "Not yet."
"Why?" Lira asked.
Maelor didn't answer.
Because Kael already knew.
The air thickened, pressing against his chest. His silver flame flickered without his command, tracing faint lines along his arms and collarbone. The wind no longer whispered—it waited.
Then the sky darkened.
Not with clouds.
With shadow.
The column of wind twisted inward, collapsing on itself, and from its center something vast began to form. No body at first. No wings. Just presence—heavy, suffocating, ancient.
Lira's breath caught. "Kael…"
The shadow condensed.
Eyes opened in the sky.
Not two.
Many.
They burned like dying stars, scattered across a shape that did not belong to any single form. The wind froze mid-spiral, locked in place as if afraid to move.
The dragon inside Kael recoiled.
That one remembers us.
A voice followed—low, layered, resonating through bone rather than air.
"Silver heir."
Kael staggered forward before he could stop himself.
Maelor shouted his name, but the sound never reached him.
The world narrowed until there was only Kael and the thing in the sky.
"You walk where my shadow has never fully faded," the voice said. "Did you believe the skies were empty?"
Kael clenched his fists. "Show yourself."
A ripple passed through the shadow.
"Brave," the voice mused. "Or foolish. I have seen both wear your face."
Lira tried to reach him—but the wind surged violently, forcing her back. She planted her feet, power flaring instinctively, fighting the pressure with everything she had.
"Don't listen to it!" she yelled.
But the voice was already inside Kael's head.
"I watched your kind burn the heavens silver," it said. "I watched dragons fall screaming into nothingness. I watched you—again and again."
Kael's vision fractured.
He saw it then—brief flashes, not memories, but echoes. A silver dragon tearing through skies filled with fire. Kingdoms crumbling beneath wings that blotted out the sun. Screams swallowed by flame.
He dropped to one knee.
"Enough," Kael growled. "I'm not that."
The shadow shifted, amused.
"No," it agreed. "You are worse."
The pressure increased.
Kael's bones screamed as silver light bled from his eyes. The dragon surged, furious now, desperate to answer the challenge.
"Kael!" Lira screamed.
She moved.
Not toward him—but toward the sky.
She raised both hands, Eclipse power flaring bright and defiant, cutting a burning arc through the wind. The pressure buckled for a moment, just enough for Kael to breathe.
"You don't get to decide who he becomes," she shouted. "Not you. Not anyone."
The eyes in the sky turned toward her.
Interest sparked.
"And who are you," the voice asked, "to speak against me?"
"She's not your concern," Kael snapped, forcing himself upright. "If you came for something, say it."
The shadow expanded, stretching across the Sky Abyss like a closing fist.
"I am Sereth," the voice said at last.
"Ruler of what waits beyond your world."
"And I have come to remind you—"
The sky thundered.
"—that you are unfinished."
The wind exploded outward.
Kael was thrown back, slamming hard into stone. Lira barely caught him before he fell into the abyss, her strength burning painfully bright as she dragged him away from the edge.
Maelor slammed his staff down, ancient runes flaring as the island shook violently.
"Begone," Maelor snarled. "You have no dominion here."
Sereth laughed.
The sound fractured the clouds.
"Not yet," he agreed. "But soon."
The shadow began to withdraw, the eyes fading one by one.
Before the last of it vanished, the voice spoke again—this time only to Kael.
"When you break," it said softly, "you will beg me to finish it."
Silence fell.
The wind resumed its howl, chaotic and wild, as if trying desperately to forget what had just spoken through it.
Kael lay still, chest heaving.
Lira knelt beside him, hands shaking as she held his face. "Hey. Stay with me. You're here."
He nodded weakly.
Maelor stared into the clearing sky, jaw tight. "That," he said grimly, "was a warning."
Kael looked up, eyes burning silver.
"Good," he said hoarsely. "Because I'm done being afraid of what I might become."
Above them, the Sky Abyss closed once more.
But the echo of Sereth's voice lingered—etched into the wind, waiting for the moment it could answer again.