They landed on the second island Tenzen's Heart under cover of darkness.
The island was a fortress, its cliffs lined with watchtowers, its beaches studded with barricades. But the defenders were gone killed or captured or turned into puppets and the only things moving were the soul drained.
Dozens of them. Hundreds. Their red eyes glowing in the dark like a field of dying stars.
"We can't fight all of them," Taro whispered, pressed against a rock. "There are too many."
"We don't have to fight them," Ren said. "We just have to get through them."
He pointed to a path that wound up the cliff narrow, treacherous, barely visible in the moonlight. It was unguarded. The soul drained were clustered around the main gate, not the secret passages.
"How do you know about that path?" Kira asked.
Ren smiled. "I used to live here. A long time ago. Before the Shattering. Before everything."
Kira stared at him. "You're older than you look."
"Much older."
Lee put a hand on Ren's shoulder. "We'll talk about that later. Right now, we need to move."
They moved.
The path was exactly as treacherous as it looked loose rocks, sheer drops, shadows that seemed to reach for them with greedy fingers. Lee went first, his golden light pushing back the darkness, revealing the way forward.
Halfway up the cliff, they heard it.
A laugh.
Low. Familiar. Broken.
"Hello, brother," Inyocha's voice echoed from the shadows. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
Lee stopped. His hand went to Onyx Tempest's hilt.
"Inyocha," he said. "Show yourself."
The shadows at the edge of the path rippled and twisted. A figure emerged taller now, leaner, his white hair longer, his red eyes burning like coals. He wore armor made of living shadow, and on his chest, the reversed spiral pulsed with dark energy.
"You look good, Lee," Inyocha said. "The light suits you. It always did."
"You don't have to do this," Lee said. "You don't have to build this engine. You don't have to hurt these people. There's still time "
"Time for what?" Inyocha interrupted. "Time for me to repent? Time for me to see the error of my ways?" He laughed again. "I'm not the villain in your story, brother. I'm the solution. The world is broken. The Great Nations are corrupt. The Sleeper is still dreaming, still hungry, still waiting to wake up and consume everything. The only way to save humanity is to remake it. To build something new from the ashes of the old."
"By killing innocent people?"
"By sacrificing them. There's a difference." Inyocha spread his arms. "The Eclipse Engine doesn't just destroy souls it recycles them. It takes the weak and the broken and the useless and turns them into something stronger. Something that can survive the coming darkness."
"You're insane," Kira spat.
Inyocha looked at her. His red eyes softened just a fraction. "Kira Ven. The fire girl. Lee's fiercest protector." He shook his head. "You don't understand what's coming. None of you do. The Sleeper isn't the only thing waking up. There are others. Things older than the Shattering. Things that have been waiting for this world to weaken so they can feast."
"What others?" Lee demanded.
Inyocha's smile faded. "You'll find out soon enough. But not from me." He stepped back into the shadows. "I didn't come here to fight you, Lee. Not yet. I came here to warn you."
"Warn me about what?"
"About the choice you're going to have to make." Inyocha's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere. "When the time comes when the world is burning and everyone you love is dying you're going to have to choose. Save them. Or save me. You can't do both."
"Inyocha "
"Think about it, brother. Think about what really matters. And when you've made your decision..." The shadows swallowed him completely. "...come find me."
He was gone.
The path was silent.
Lee stood there for a long moment, his hand still on his sword, his heart pounding in his chest.
Then Taro spoke. "Lee? Are you okay?"
Lee took a deep breath. "No," he said. "But I will be."
He started climbing again.