The thunder outside shattered the sky as if the world itself was breaking.
Akira pushed herself up from the rubble, her body screaming in pain. Dust and rain mixed on her skin, the metallic tang of blood sharp on her tongue. Across the hall, Ryker—no, the thing inside him—stood motionless amid the wreckage.
Lightning flashed. The runes that once protected him were gone, scorched into black ash.
"Ryker…" she whispered.
He looked up. And for an instant—just one—she saw him. The real Ryker. His lips trembled. His hands shook as if he were fighting invisible chains. But the violet fire in his eyes burned brighter, swallowing him whole again.
"Akira." The voice was layered—his tone wrapped in the King's venom. "You shouldn't have come."
"Don't you dare say that." She took a step forward, blade trembling in her grip. "You think I care what he says? You think I'll leave you here—like this?"
The King's laughter tore through the air, a sound like shattering glass and roaring wind. "You think love will banish me? You think your heart is stronger than death?"
"I don't think," Akira snarled. "I know."
She charged.
Her blade met his—his weapon of shadow colliding with her light. Sparks of pure energy scattered across the hall. Each strike sent shockwaves through the ruins, the floor splitting beneath their feet.
"Ryker, fight me!" she cried between blows. "If you can hear me, fight me!"
He moved too fast—his body flowing like smoke, every motion precise and deadly. The Shadow King's voice echoed in his laughter, but now and then, between strikes, she heard Ryker's voice break through—a gasp, a cry, a whisper of pain.
"Akira, stop—"
"Please—run—"
"Don't make me hurt you—"
Tears blurred her vision. She swung harder, her every movement raw, desperate, fueled by fury and fear. "You won't hurt me," she hissed, parrying another strike. "Not you."
Their blades locked—light against shadow, magic sparking where they touched. She pushed closer, their faces inches apart. His eyes flickered between violet and amber, flickering like dying flames.
"Ryker," she whispered. "Look at me."
For a moment, everything stopped.
He froze. The shadow faltered. His breathing hitched, and for a single, trembling heartbeat, he looked afraid.
"Please," she said softly, voice cracking. "Come back to me."
Then the Shadow King roared, and the storm answered.
A surge of black energy erupted from Ryker's chest, flinging Akira across the hall. She crashed into a wall, the impact stealing her breath. The world spun. When she lifted her head, he was walking toward her—slowly, almost sadly.
"You can't save him," the King said through Ryker's lips. "Every moment you waste, he slips further away. You'd be merciful to end it."
Akira's fingers dug into the ground, pulling herself upright. Blood trickled from her temple, but she didn't care. "You think I'll kill him? You think I'd give you that satisfaction?"
She stood, trembling but unbroken. "I'll save him even if I have to tear your darkness out with my bare hands."
The King's smile twisted Ryker's face into something cruel. "Then come, little light."
He raised his hand. The air thickened, and shadows erupted from the ground, forming monstrous shapes—faces screaming, bodies clawing at the walls. They lunged at her, tendrils of darkness coiling around her arms, her throat, her legs.
Akira screamed—not in fear, but fury. Her magic surged, a torrent of golden light exploding from within her. The shadows hissed and burned away under its radiance, the hall trembling with the force of her power.
"Get out of him!" she shouted, her voice echoing like thunder. "He's mine to protect!"
The King flinched. For the first time, the violet glow in Ryker's eyes dimmed.
"Ryker," she whispered, voice breaking. "If you can hear me—remember me. Remember who you are. Remember us."
Her light grew brighter, wrapping around her like armor. Each heartbeat pulsed with his name, her voice cutting through the storm:
"Come back to me."
"Come back to me."
"Come back to me."
And deep inside the darkness, something answered.
A faint light flickered in Ryker's chest—weak, trembling, but real. His hand spasmed. His body froze.
The King's voice snarled, furious, echoing through both their minds:
"No! He is mine!"
"Not anymore," Akira said, tears burning trails down her cheeks.
She reached forward, her glowing hand pressing against his chest. The light seeped through his skin, meeting the darkness head-on. The collision ripped through the air like a scream—magic tearing at the walls, shaking the ground, splitting the night sky above.
Ryker screamed as light and shadow warred within him, the storm outside spiraling into chaos.
Akira held on tighter, sobbing, her voice breaking into a whisper only he could hear:
"Don't let him win, Ryker. Please. I need you."
And somewhere inside the darkness—beneath the King's fury, beneath the storm—Ryker's voice whispered back, trembling but alive:
"Akira… I'm still here."
---
The world around Akira pulsed with unstable energy.
Her light still clung to Ryker, burning against the darkness like a single flame in a storm—but it was fading fast. Every time she tried to pour more of her magic into him, the Shadow King twisted it, warped it, fed on it.
The harder she fought, the stronger he became.
Ryker's body trembled violently, his breath coming in shallow gasps. His veins glowed with sickly purple light now, his pulse a stuttering rhythm beneath skin that had grown too pale.
Akira could see it—the thin veil separating his soul from the King's was thinning. Cracking.
"No…" she whispered, her voice raw. "No, this isn't how it ends."
But inside, doubt gnawed at her. She had power—great power—but it was rooted in light, in balance. Her family had sworn never to draw from the shadows, no matter the cost. She had seen what it did—how it devoured, corrupted, hollowed.
And yet…
Ryker convulsed again, a strangled sound tearing from his throat. His hand clawed at the ground, his eyes rolling back as the King's voice bled through his lips.
"You cannot save what is already mine, girl."
Akira fell to her knees beside him, trembling. The storm outside was screaming now, winds tearing through the open arches. Her magic faltered, flickering like a dying star.
She could feel it—the darkness pressing in, offering.
It whispered through the air, soft, seductive, ancient.
Use me.
If you want to save him… use me.
Akira's breath caught. The air itself seemed to still, holding its breath.
"No," she hissed under her breath, clutching her blade tighter. "I won't."
But her light was breaking. She could see it—her magic unraveling, unable to fight the King's corruption. Every flicker of hesitation gave the darkness ground. Every heartbeat she spent resisting cost Ryker more of himself.
"Please…" His voice came weakly through the noise, his own voice, trembling. "Don't… stop."
Her heart shattered. "I'm not stopping, Ryker! I'm trying—I'm trying to hold on!"
But even as she said it, his body convulsed again, a violent shudder that sent dark energy cracking through the floor. His scream tore through her soul.
The King's voice echoed louder, booming now, shaking the very foundations of the hall.
"Light cannot exist without shadow. Accept it—or watch him die!"
Akira squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head hard, tears flying from her lashes. "No! I'm not like you! I won't use that power!"
The storm flared—lightning blinding, thunder deafening. Her blade dimmed, the last glow fading as if suffocated. She could feel Ryker slipping, his soul dimming beneath the Shadow King's weight.
And still she hesitated.
Her magic surged again, weak but defiant, struggling against the inevitable tide. She felt it tearing at her from inside, screaming in pain as if her very soul was being pulled in two.
"Akira…" Ryker
The explosion tore through the ruins, sending fragments of ancient stone hurtling through the air. When the light dimmed, the world was unrecognizable—cracks snaked across the floor, the walls were scorched black, and the storm outside had gone eerily silent, as if the world itself held its breath.
Akira floated in the heart of the devastation, suspended in a void of shadow and flame.
Her body was trembling, her magic burning at both ends. Around her, whispers spiraled like smoke—voices layered atop each other, murmuring her name in tones both loving and cruel.
Akira… child of light… child of ruin…
She gasped, clutching her head. "Get out of my mind!"
But when she opened her eyes, she wasn't in the ruins anymore. The world around her had shifted—bleak, endless, and empty. A black mirror of reality, cracked and glimmering with violet veins of power.
The Shadow King's realm.
From the darkness, he emerged.
Tall, draped in smoke and embers, his face hidden behind a mask of shadow. His eyes burned with the same violet fire that had haunted her nightmares.
"So," his voice rumbled, echoing through the void, "you finally called to me."
"I didn't call you," she spat, summoning her blade—but even as she did, its light flickered, unstable, like a dying star. "You invaded my world. You took my family. You won't take him too."
The King tilted his head, almost amused. "You speak of the boy. The one who clings to life even now."
He waved a hand, and the shadows around them shifted—forming an image of Ryker, his body writhing on the ground, the corruption spreading fast.
Akira's heart clenched. "Stop it!" she shouted. "You'll kill him!"
"Kill?" The King laughed softly. "No, my dear. I am transforming him. Making him mine. As I will make you."
She lunged, fury propelling her forward. Her blade ignited with gold fire, slicing through the dark—but the King caught it between two fingers. The light hissed and dimmed, sparks raining down like dying stars.
"You cannot fight me," he murmured. "Not as you are."
"I'll die before I become like you!"
His laughter rolled through her like thunder. "So did your mother."
Akira froze, her breath catching.
"What… did you say?"
The King stepped closer, his presence suffocating. "She, too, thought she could resist the dark. She too believed her light could protect what she loved." His hand rose, ghosting over her face. "And when she failed, her soul came to me."
"No!" She swung her blade again, screaming—but he dissolved into smoke, reappearing behind her. A blast of dark energy struck her back, sending her sprawling.
Pain lanced through her body, her magic sputtering. The world seemed to tilt—her light, once radiant, now flickering like a candle about to die.
"You cannot defeat darkness by denying it," he whispered in her ear. "You must become it."
"I will never—!"
But the word broke off into a gasp as black chains erupted from the ground, coiling around her wrists and ankles. They burned cold, sinking into her skin, draining the color from her veins. She struggled, screamed, but each movement only fed the chains more power.
The King circled her, slow, deliberate. "Every moment you hesitate… every breath you waste denying your true nature… he slips further away."
Akira's gaze shot to Ryker's image again—his body now still, his chest rising slower with each second. His light was almost gone.
"Stop…" she whispered, tears streaking her dirt-stained face. "Please, stop…"
The King leaned close, his voice low, almost tender. "You could save him, Akira. All you need to do is accept what you are. Let me in."
She shook her head weakly. "No… I can't… I'll lose myself…"
"You're already losing him."
Her eyes widened in horror. Ryker's last breath rattled in his chest. His hand twitched, reaching out—toward her—but the image was already fading into black.
"Ryker!" she screamed, straining against the chains until her wrists bled. "RYKER!"
But there was no answer. Only silence.
Something in her broke.
The light around her collapsed, and for the first time, she felt the pull—the seductive, terrible relief of surrender. The darkness didn't fight her; it welcomed her. It felt like warmth, like quiet after endless noise.
The King extended his hand. "Do you see now? There is no saving without sacrifice. Choose."
Her body trembled. Her heart screamed no, but her grief screamed louder.
She reached out.
The moment her fingers brushed his, the chains shattered—not into light, but into shadows, rushing into her veins. Her breath hitched as the darkness flooded her, searing through every nerve.
Her scream echoed across the void, twisting into a roar. Her hair turned white at the tips, her eyes burning gold and black all at once.
The Shadow King smiled. "Yes… that's it. That's what you were always meant to be."
But when she finally opened her eyes, her tears glimmered like stars.
"I'll take your power," she said, voice shaking, "but not your chains."
She turned—too late.
Ryker's image had gone still, his light extinguished completely.
Akira's heart stopped. For one eternal heartbeat, there was nothing—no breath, no thought—just the void swallowing everything.
Then she screamed—raw, broken, filled with fury and sorrow that tore through the world.
Lightning split the void apart, shattering the King's laughter, tearing open the boundary between realms.
And when the world fell back into silence, Akira was standing alone—her eyes no longer just her own, her magic corrupted, her soul fractured.
But the Shadow King's voice lingered in her mind, soft and satisfied.
"You've chosen well, my queen."