The monastery doors groaned as Kael pushed them open.
Dust drifted through the air like falling ash. Rows of shattered pews lined the hall, their wood blackened by old fire. Symbols etched into the stone floor glowed faintly — silver and crimson interwoven in patterns that hurt to look at for too long.
At the far end of the hall, before a cracked altar, Liora stood.
Her back was to him. Silver light traced the outline of her form, bleeding from the mark beneath her cloak and spreading across the runes. The shrine was awake — not fully, but enough that the air itself trembled.
"You're late," she said calmly, without turning.
"I wondered if you'd hesitate."
Kael stepped forward, sword low but ready. "You're accelerating the awakening."
She turned then. Her silver eyes met his — steady, assessing.
"And you're walking straight toward it. We're not so different."
The curse inside Kael surged, responding violently to her presence. His shadow stretched unnaturally long across the floor.
"Strike now."
"Break her chain."
Kael resisted the pull. "You killed guards. Twisted them."
"They tried to seal the shrine," Liora replied. "They would have died screaming either way."
Her gaze hardened. "At least this way, their deaths meant something."
Kael's jaw tightened. "That's how it starts. Justifying."
A faint smile touched her lips. "And you? How many have you already fed to Oblivion?"
The question hit deeper than he expected.
The runes flared brighter.
The shrine reacted.
Stone cracked. A low hum filled the hall, vibrating through bone and blood. From the altar, chains of light and shadow began to rise — coiling, searching.
Liora took a step closer. "This shrine binds choice. It tests will. Only one chain can claim it."
Kael raised his sword. "Then step away."
She didn't.
Instead, she lifted her hand — and the air bent.
Silver chains erupted from the floor, lashing toward him with surgical precision. Kael twisted aside, the black blade slicing through one — but another wrapped around his arm, burning cold.
Pain flared. Not physical — existential.
His curse roared.
Crimson chains answered, ripping from his shadow and colliding with hers in a violent clash that shattered stone. The impact threw both of them back.
Kael rolled to his feet, breathing hard.
Liora steadied herself, eyes burning brighter.
"So you can fight it," she said. "Good."
"Fight what?" Kael growled.
"The future," she replied. "The one where we become monsters wearing crowns."
The shrine screamed.
From the altar, something stirred — not fully forming, but enough to make the air warp. A presence ancient and judging pressed down on them both.
The curses fell silent.
For the first time since Kael had been bound, the voice inside him stopped speaking.
Liora froze.
"You feel that," she whispered.
Kael nodded slowly. "It's watching."
The chains recoiled, snapping back into shadow and light.
The shrine rejected them.
A shockwave blasted outward, throwing both Kael and Liora across the hall. Stone shattered. The altar cracked down the middle, its glow dimming rapidly.
When the dust settled, the shrine was quiet again — dormant.
Liora pushed herself up first, blood at the corner of her mouth. She laughed softly, breathless.
"It judged us… and found us incomplete."
Kael stood slowly, sword still in hand. "So what now?"
She met his gaze — no mockery now, only certainty.
"Now we stop acting alone," she said.
"Because whatever that shrine protects… neither of us is meant to face it yet."
The curse inside Kael stirred — uncertain.
For the first time, he agreed with it.
Outside, thunder rolled across the mountains.
Two chains had collided — and neither had broken.
Yet.