Shadowsteel roared.
It didn't behave like magic.It didn't behave like an element.
It behaved like rage, given shape.
Kai staggered backward, eyes wide, breath shaking, the black aura around him spiraling into a violent cyclone.
"Kai—" Lina stepped forward.
"DON'T!" he shouted.
His voice cracked — not angry.Terrified.
The Shadowsteel flared out violently, slashing the air and carving a line through the stone floor. Sparks flew.
Lina froze.
"Kai…"Her voice trembled."You're hurting. Please — let me—"
"No!"He backed away faster, chest rising and falling too quickly."Stay back, Lina. Stay AWAY from me."
Reyon threw up an illusion barrier to shield Seren.
"ACTUALLY YES, LET'S ALL STAY BACK — THIS IS PEAK LEVEL 'KAI MIGHT ACCIDENTALLY OBLITERATE EVERYONE' ENERGY!"
Kai clutched his chest.His mark — usually faint — now burned bright black, cracks of shadow spreading across his collarbone and shoulder.
Seren gasped, eyes wide with Soul Echo vision.
"I can see it — the seal in his heart — it's… cracking."
Kai shut his eyes, pained.
"The mimic— the seal— that thing wasn't lying. The more my emotions react… the more the seal breaks."
Lina shook her head desperately.
"What seal, Kai? What vow did you break?! Tell me!"
He pressed a shaking hand to the wall to steady himself.
"I can't.Lina… if I tell you—if I even think about it too clearly—the seal pulses. It reacts."
Shadowsteel shot out again, barely missing her.
She didn't flinch.
Because her fear was nothing compared to the fear in his eyes.
"Kai," she whispered, "look at me."
He forced his gaze up — and instantly regretted it.
His Shadowsteel surged toward her like an instinct.
Kai roared and physically slammed himself into the opposite wall to force the magic away.
"STOP LOOKING AT ME!" he yelled."It responds to you — I can't control it around you!"
Lina's heart broke.
Reyon muttered, "This is bad — this is REALLY bad — his resonance is destabilizing too fast!"
Seren pressed her hands over her ears.
"The prophecy— it's coming again—"
Her voice layered, echoing:
"When shadow breaks,the heart reshapes.The second tear fallswhere love hides."
Lina felt her breath catch.
"Kai…"Her voice cracked."The prophecy is about us."
He didn't answer.He couldn't.
Shadowsteel spiraled around him like deadly wind.His knees buckled as he fought to hold it in.
Lina took one step toward him.
Kai's head snapped up.
"LINA, DON'T—"
Too late.
The moment her foot touched the ground closer to him—the Shadowsteel reacted violently, blasting outward.
Reyon screamed, "DOWN—!!"
The shockwave slammed them all back, dust exploding from the walls.
Lina hit the ground, coughing, vision blurred —and Kai collapsed to his hands and knees, shaking, horrified.
"No… no no no— Lina, did I hurt you? LINA—"
She pushed herself up, dazed.
"I'm fine— don't—"
Kai's voice broke.
"I… almost killed you."
Her heart twisted at the raw agony in those words.
"Kai," she whispered as she stood, "you didn't. You're fighting it."
"Barely."
He pressed his forehead to the ground.
"I'm losing control.I can feel it.And the prophecy— the mimic—they're right."
He looked up at her with shattered eyes.
"I will be the one who betrays you."
Lina shook her head violently, tears forming.
"No. No, Kai — prophecy is NOT fate. You won't betray me."
"Yes, I will."He stood shakily, Shadowsteel spiraling around him."The seal binds me to protect someone… someone I failed. And now—"
His voice cracked.
"The seal thinks YOU are the threat."
Silence swallowed the corridor.
Lina's breath trembled.
"Why? Why would it think that?"
Kai squeezed his eyes shut, pained.
"Because my heart chose you."
Lina froze.
Kai continued, voice breaking:
"Shadowsteel reacts to emotion — to the one person who matters most. To the one person who can break me. To the one person I can't lose."
His hands shook.
"And that person is you."
Lina felt everything inside her collapse.
Her heart.Her flame.Her breath.
"Kai…"
"But the seal," he forced out,"doesn't understand love.It only understands the vow I broke.The danger I created.It sees you… as a threat to my oath."
Lina reached forward slowly.
"Kai… what oath? Who did you swear to protect?"
Kai swallowed hard.
"I can't tell you.Not yet.If I say the name… the seal will break completely."
Shadowsteel flared dangerously at the word name.
Seren gasped.
"The prophecy's second betrayal is… the seal turning Kai against her."
Reyon whispered:
"So Kai's betrayal… isn't a choice.It's a curse."
Kai backed away again, shaking violently, eyes wild with fear.
"Lina, get away from me. PLEASE. I am BEGGING you."
She stepped toward him anyway.
"No."
He flinched.
"No, Lina— I'm losing control—"
"I don't care," she whispered fiercely."You're hurting. And I'm not leaving you alone with this."
He pressed both hands over his face.
"Why can't you just run from me? Why can't you hate me? Why can't you—"
"Because I trust you," she said softly."Even now."
His hands dropped.
His breath hitched.
His Shadowsteel calmed—for one second—
Then surged twice as violently.
Seren screamed,"Lina, MOVE—!!"
A massive Shadowsteel tendril shot straight toward her—
Kai threw himself in front of it.
He took the full hit.
The impact slammed him into the wall with a sickening crack.
"KAI—!!" Lina screamed, rushing to him.
He slid to the floor, coughing blood, Shadowsteel fading around him as his body went limp.
Lina dropped to her knees, shaking him.
"Kai—please—stay awake— KAI—!"
His eyes fluttered open weakly.
"Lina…"his voice barely a whisper,"…I told you… stay away…"
He reached up and touched her cheek with a trembling hand.
"I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't," she whispered, holding his hand against her face.
But Kai's eyes darkened again—
And he whispered something that froze her blood:
"The seal is choosing."
Lina leaned closer.
"Choosing WHAT?"
Kai's breath trembled.
"It's choosing…who to kill."
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.