Page 58 of Beyond the Treaty
Azrael’s fingers brushed against mine, anchoring me. “He’s close.”
My heart pounded. I moved without thinking, my steps quickening as the whispers clawed at my mind. The corridor opened into a vast chamber, its ceiling lost to the shadows above. And at its centre,
Chains.
Heavy, obsidian chains bound a figure to a raised stone dais. Magic pulsed through them, dark and ancient, coiling around him like a parasite.
Kaelen.
His silver hair was unkempt, strands falling over his face. His head was bowed. His chest rose and fell in shallow breaths, as though he were caught in the throes of something between sleep and agony.
I stepped forward, but when my foot crossed the threshold, the runes in the tome flared violently. A deafening crack split the air, and the chains shuddered.
Kaelen’s head lifted, his eyes snapping open.
They were black as the void.
And he was no longer the Kaelen I once knew.
A guttural growl ripped from Kaelen’s throat, reverberating
through the chamber like a beast awoken from its slumber. His obsidian chains strained, the magic sealing them flickering wildly, as though his mere presence was enough to unravel their ancient bindings.
“Elara...” His voice was hoarse, distorted, layered with something darker, something inhuman.
Azrael moved in front of me, blade drawn. “That is not him anymore.”
Kaelen’s head tilted slightly, his blackened eyes locking onto mine. A flicker of something familiar flashedbehind the void, pain, recognition. Then, just as quickly, it vanished, replaced by something cold and hungry.
The shadows around him surged, spreading like ink, tendrils slithering toward us.
Darius drew his weapon. “Well, that’s horrifying.”
I swallowed hard, gripping the tome tighter. “We can still save him.”
Azrael didn’t look convinced. “You’d risk everything for a chance that he’s still in there?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
The runes on the tome flared, reacting to my resolve. The chains binding Kaelen pulsed in response, as though the magic itself was questioning its hold. Kaelen shuddered, his body jerking against the bindings. A snarl twisted his lips, but behind it, I saw a battle waging within him.
“Elara,” he rasped again, his voice momentarily breaking through the corruption. “Help me...”
I stepped forward, ignoring Azrael’s sharp warning. Raising the tome, I let my blood drip onto its surface once more. The magic reacted instantly, surging toward Kaelen like a tidal wave. The shadows screamed, recoiling as ancient words spilt from my lips, unbidden but powerful.
Kaelen’s body arched against the magic, his chains rattling violently. Darkness poured from his mouth in a deafening wail as the corruption inside him fought back. The chamber trembled, the very walls resisting my intervention.
“Elara!” Azrael called, but I couldn’t stop now.
I reached out, my fingers brushing against Kaelen’s wrist. The moment we touched, the shadows recoiled entirely, and for the first time, his gaze met mine, clear, untainted. A moment of clarity. A moment of hope.
Then, the entire fortress screamed, and the darkness surged forward to claim us all.
Kaelen’s body convulsed violently, his lips peeling back into something between a grimace and a snarl. But instead of relief,instead of salvation, a slow, chilling laughter spilt from his mouth. The sound echoed through the chamber, dripping with something twisted, something cruel.
“Elara,” he whispered, his voice no longer pleading. It was mocking. “Did youreallythink you could save me?”
The hope I had clung to shattered. My breath hitched as Kaelen pulled against the chains, his form shifting, dark tendrils curling from his fingertips like living shadows. “It’s too late,” he hissed. “You were always too late.”
