The world had disappeared.

All that remained was warmth—dense, liquid warmth that cradled them like a slow-moving current, pulling them deeper into the abyss of the goddess’s blood.

Espen’s breath was caught somewhere between her lungs and her throat, her mind racing, yet oddly suspended in the weightless descent. ‘He grabbed me.’ The thought echoed in her head, over and over. ‘He actually grabbed me.’

No hesitation. No smug remark. No selfish motive.

He just… did it.

Her crimson eyes locked onto Kaelis’s, the distorted crimson water casting strange, flickering shadows across his face. His grip on her wrist was still firm, grounding, as if he refused to let her slip away.

Something in her chest tightened.

‘Why?’

No one had ever done that before.

She had spent her life surrounded by people who either wanted to use her or kill her—never protect her. Not like this. Not without expectation.

And yet, here he was.

Kaelis, the human she had sworn to keep at a distance, the one who irritated her to no end, the one she refused to trust—he had reached for her.

‘Damn it.’

Espen’s fingers twitched slightly beneath his grip, instinct screaming at her to pull away, to reestablish the distance she had always relied on. But she hesitated. And that hesitation was terrifying.

Kaelis, on the other hand, had his own whirlwind of thoughts.

‘Why the hell am I still holding onto her?’

His fingers flexed around her wrist, his pulse steady despite the surreal weightlessness surrounding them. He could feel the warmth of her skin, delicate yet strong, and it unsettled him. Espen was always so sharp, so guarded, but right now—right now, she was just another person lost in all this chaos, just like him.

The realization struck him harder than he expected.

He hadn’t been this close to a woman in a long time.

His grip loosened slightly, and Espen noticed.

Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something—ask him why, demand an answer for something she couldn’t quite put into words. But before she could, the Well Spring pulsed violently, sending a ripple through the thick, blood-like liquid.

The moment shattered.

Espen’s body tensed, her control snapping back into place as if some invisible wall had slammed down between them. Her free hand clenched, dark Kenda flaring once again—only this time, it obeyed her will.

Kaelis barely had time to register the shift before a massive pulse of dark energy blasted him upward.

Ness and Hael crouched behind an old, twisted tree, peering out from behind its gnarled trunk with wide, gleeful eyes.

"Oh, they have to be bonding after this," Ness whispered, fist clenched with excitement.

Hael flailed her wings dramatically. "Ugh, I hate this! I should be the one falling into an abyss with Kaelis!"

"You’re just mad because Espen got the romantic slow-motion moment first," Ness teased, snickering.

Hael gasped. "I am not jealous! I just—"

A sudden surge of dark magic shot out of the Well Spring, blasting Kaelis out of the water like a ragdoll.

He crashed onto the dirt ground, twitching violently, steam rising off of him. His limbs jerked slightly, his expression frozen in a dazed, comedically traumatized state.

Ness and Hael screamed in sheer terror, clutching onto each other instinctively as Kaelis’s smoldering form smoked like burnt toast.

Espen emerged from the Well Spring, her gown immediately wrapping around her with a flick of shadow magic. She tossed her damp hair over her shoulder, her expression one of pure, regal disdain.

"Hmph," she scoffed, arms crossed. "Nasty human. Don’t ever talk to me again."

And with that, she strode away, disappearing into the trees to finish dressing.

Kaelis groaned weakly from where he lay, his voice hoarse. "What the hell just happened…?"

Hael, still clinging onto Ness, flapped her wings wildly. "Espen happened, my dear Kaelis. And I love her for it."

Ness fist-bumped Hael. "She’s brutal. I respect it. But he was soooo close!”

…

The night was alive with the sounds of rustling leaves and the distant hoots of night creatures. The group had gathered in a small clearing, surrounded by towering trees draped in vines, their leaves glowing faintly under the three moons of Kalhalla.

They were building huts—or at least, attempting to.

Kaelis, Ness, and Hael worked to construct two makeshift shelters using whatever materials they could scavenge: thick branches for the frames, woven leaves and moss for insulation, and vines to bind it all together.

Espen, naturally, wasn’t helping.

"Alright, we need more branches," Kaelis said, tossing a bundle onto the ground. He wiped his brow, glancing at Ness. "You’re small, go fetch some."

Ness scoffed. "Oh, I’m small? That’s rich coming from someone who just got punted out of a sacred pool by a half-naked witch."

Kaelis shot him a glare with a flustered face. "I-I WAS SAVING HER."

“Oh courageous, aren’t you?”

“Tch!”

Hael snickered. "If I were in that situation, I’d have—"

Kaelis made a disgusted face, “DO NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE.”

Meanwhile, Espen sat against a tree, arms crossed, watching them with an unreadable expression. Kaelis caught her gaze once or twice, but neither of them said anything.

They didn’t know what to say.

Eventually, after much comedic bickering, the huts were finished. Kaelis took a step back, admiring their work.

‘Not bad. But Espen, she hasn’t said a word to me this entire time. What can I even say to her? What could she say to me after what happened? What if I do look like some creep? Was it wrong to save her? I don’t care how much I don’t trust her, I probably wouldn’t have forgiven myself if I just watched her blow herself into bits.’

Espen, without a word, immediately went inside her hut and lay down.

She stared at the ceiling of her small shelter, her thoughts drifting back to that moment in the Well Spring.

‘What kind of human does that? Tries to save someone who clearly doesn’t have any feelings towards them? It’s odd, he’s just…amusing.’

She had been prepared for betrayal, for selfishness, for another reason to hate him. Instead, he had… done the opposite.

She rolled onto her side, scowling at herself. ‘I don’t care. It doesn’t matter.’

But as she closed her eyes, she whispered so softly that even she barely heard it.

"…Thank you."

Kaelis lay in his own hut, staring at the ceiling, fingers laced behind his head.

He hadn’t been that close to a woman in a long time. Not since—

He exhaled sharply, shaking the thought away.

‘She didn’t even thank me.’ He scoffed inwardly. ‘I should’ve let her fall into her own damn magic. Would’ve saved me the trouble.’

But that wasn’t true. And he knew it.

‘I don’t even trust her. So why… does she remind me of myself?’

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He closed his eyes. Sleep took him quickly.

Outside, Ness and Hael had curled up together, brushing against each other like two creatures who had long since abandoned the idea of personal space.

The night was calm.

But then—

Kaelis opened his eyes.

The world around him had changed.

He was standing before a massive, dark throne.

A shadowy figure sat upon it, watching.

“The hell…?”

‘It’s him…! That bastard who put this power in me!’

“Who are you?!” Kaelis yelled out.

A heavy silence blanketed the void.

Kaelis stood at the edge of a vast, endless darkness, his breath uneven, his pulse hammering beneath his skin. The air was thick—charged with an energy that pressed against his lungs, making every inhale feel like he was breathing in fire.

Then, from the throne of shadows, it emerged.

A towering figure stepped forward, its presence suffocating, absolute. A crown of crimson light hovered above its head, pulsating like a heartbeat, casting eerie red glows across the abyss.

Its body was carved from darkness itself—a shifting, living mass of shadows—etched with glowing red runes that pulsed in rhythmic waves, ancient symbols of power twisting and curling across its form like veins of molten energy.

And in its hand, a blade unlike anything Kaelis had ever seen.

It was an extension of the figure itself—a weapon of pure, intricate darkness, glowing with the same haunting red energy that pulsed through its body. The blade’s surface was adorned with unreadable runes, shifting and reforming as if whispering secrets only the dead could understand.

Kaelis wasn’t scared.

He should have been; Any sane person would have collapsed under the sheer, crushing weight of this presence. But something inside him—something primal, familair, or something wrong—kept him still.

His fingers twitched. His breath shuddered. His mind raced.

“Answer me! Please…what the fuck is wrong with me?! It’s your fault!”

Flashes of memories—his body moving on its own, his mind swallowed whole, his enemies screaming in terror as he tore through them like they were nothing.

Kaelis clenched his fists.

‘This is the power that takes over me. It’s right in front of me. The power that makes me lose control.’

The shadowy figure took a step forward, and the ground itself shook beneath its weight.

Kaelis’s heart pounded violently. His breathing grew heavier. He could feel this. This wasn’t just a dream. The anxiety clawing in his chest, the cold sweat on his skin, the way his own heartbeat pounded in his ears—this was real.

The figure stepped closer.

Then closer.

Then—

Silence.

Kaelis swallowed hard, his throat dry.

He opened his mouth to speak—

And the figure vanished.

A flash of quick movement.

Before Kaelis could react, it was above him.

Then—gone again.

Then—

Behind him.

A whisper of air. A flicker of red light.

The blade came down.

Kaelis spun instinctively—but before he could even think, before his mind could scream at him to move—

His body reacted on its own.

His hand shot up, catching the shadow’s wrist mid-slash.

His fingers clenched, gripping the figure’s arm with inhuman strength.

Kaelis’s eyes burned red.

‘This berserk state is starting to take over….and this time…I’ll let it do whatever it wants to this bastard!’

A sharp, searing pain flared in his skull as something within him shifted.

A horn—red as blood—pierced through the corner of his head, pushing past his skin, pulsing with the same ominous glow as the figure before him.

His veins turned black, dark tendrils spreading across his skin like cracks in a fragile surface.

And then—

With a slow, grotesque tearing sound—

A blade burst from his fist.

A jagged, cursed weapon of shadow and blood, its surface gleaming with sinister, ancient runes.

The Blade of Uuen.

A name he had never learned.

A name he had always known.

The figure tilted its head slightly, those glowing red eyes locking onto Kaelis’s own.

Then, without warning—

It lunged.

Kaelis roared.

And the fight began.

Kaelis’ body moved before his mind could register it, launching forward like a beast uncaged, his blade gleaming with that unholy red glow, the energy from his fist crackling violently as he swung straight for the Shadowy King’s throat. The figure stood still, his presence suffocating, unshaken, as if gravity itself bent around him. Then, in the space of a single breath, he was gone.

Kaelis’ strike carved through empty air. Instinct screamed at him—MOVE.

He twisted just as a blade screamed past his ribs, missing by inches. The shockwave alone sent jagged cracks spiraling across the battlefield, the red-black sky above twisting unnaturally as if responding to the force of their movements. The ground beneath Kaelis’ feet trembled, molten fissures spreading like veins as raw, unstable power crackled around them. But he had no time to think.

The Shadowy King was already above him.

A downward slash came with god-like precision, the sheer pressure splitting the very air in two. Kaelis reacted on instinct, raising his arm to block, his blade intercepting at the last moment. The impact rattled his bones, sending a violent tremor through his entire body. The force drove his feet into the fractured ground, the weight of the blow bending his knees, forcing him down. The power behind that strike was immeasurable.

He shoved back with all his strength, pushing off the ground, twisting midair. A savage, rising slash—aiming straight for the King’s ribs.

The blade should have landed.

But the King was already gone.

Kaelis barely had time to register the shift before something cold and sharp slammed into his gut.

The next moment, his body was launched across the battlefield, crashing through jagged rock, debris exploding outward as his back skidded across the molten ground. He barely bit back a cry of pain, his vision flickering from the sheer force of impact. Before he could rise, a whisper of movement—the figure was already upon him.

Kaelis acted; He dropped low, dodging a horizontal slash by the width of a fingernail, rolling to the side as the King’s blade tore through the air where his head had been. The force of the missed strike sent an aftershock screaming through the battlefield, obliterating an entire section of terrain in its wake.

Kaelis sprang forward, going feral, unrelenting, fighting like an animal cornered.

“RAGGHHHH!” He screamed. His body twisted unnaturally, adapting, adjusting, his strikes coming from impossible angles as he lashed out with both his blade and his bare fists. The red destructive energy in his palm flared to life, wild and uncontrollable, every strike shaking the ground beneath them.

But the Shadowy King was still faster.

A single motion—parry, step, counter.

Kaelis’ blade was knocked aside effortlessly, the King twisting inside his guard with inhuman precision.

Then pain. The King’s free hand shot forward, grabbing Kaelis by the face. A pulse of red runes ignited in his palm, and the world exploded.

Kaelis’ vision went white-hot as a shockwave of ancient power detonated point-blank, ripping through his body like divine judgment. He was hurled backward, crashing through stone, earth, and burning sky, his screams drowned out by the sheer force of impact.

He hit the ground hard, coughing blood, body spasming. The pain was unbearable—his regeneration barely kept up. He struggled to his feet, swaying, his breaths rugged and uneven.

And then, rage, and he roared in sync with his anger. The sight of that figure, standing untouched, that bastard who forced this dark power into him, made something inside Kaelis snap. His blood boiled, his vision flickered black and red, and a violent, seething power surged through his veins.

He launched forward, faster than before.

The battlefield erupted beneath his feet, debris rocketing upward as he closed the distance in an instant. His attacks came in a brutal, relentless storm—slashes, punches, feints, counters, using his entire body as a weapon, fighting like a predator with nothing to lose.

This time, the King had to move.

Kaelis saw it.

The slightest shift in posture, the smallest adjustments in weight. He was forcing the bastard to react.

His blade sang through the air, red energy trailing behind it like a comet, carving through the space between them. The Shadowy King parried, stepping inside Kaelis’ guard again—

But Kaelis was ready.

He dropped suddenly, bracing himself on all fours, twisting his entire body mid-fall, bringing his blade upward in a devastating, unnatural slash from below.

The attack connected.

A clean hit.

A violent explosion of energy burst outward as the King was finally sent skidding backward, his form flickering for the first time, the runes across his body shuddering.

Kaelis pounced immediately.

There was no hesitation—he would not stop now. He lunged into a rapid, unrelenting series of strikes, becoming a rapid beast of blood and rage, a relentless onslaught of fury-fueled destruction. Every movement was an explosive chain of attacks, unpredictable, vicious, and utterly consuming.

He drove forward, forcing the King back.

Step after step. For the first time.

Kaelis snarled, gripping his fist tighter. He could win. He could finally—

—A flicker.

The King’s features shifted, a single moment of recognition. Then Kaelis’ world stopped, and his breath caught in his throat.

Even in his cursed, berserk state, something about that expression—that straight, calm stare—

A sharp, searing PAIN.

Kaelis’ body seized. His chest arched violently.

A blade erupted from his stomach.

He gasped.

For a moment, the world was silent.

His knees buckled. His breath hitched. His fingers twitched, shaking violently as his grip loosened on his own weapon. The pain was indescribable, something deeper than flesh, something raw, something final.

The Shadowy King stood behind him, his form still wreathed in darkness, his blade buried deep in Kaelis’ body.

Kaelis’ knees gave out.

Darkness began to crawl at the edges of his vision.

And then—

Kaelis’ body convulsed, wracked with pure, unfiltered power. His skin split apart, glowing fissures of red-hot veins pulsing beneath the surface. His breath came in ragged, inhuman growls, his vision a swirling haze of blood and white fire. The pain was unbearable, but beneath the agony, something deeper roared to life.

Then—he changed.

A brilliant, blinding white light exploded from his body, swallowing the battlefield whole. His veins burned crimson, crawling like living fractures across his skin, pulsating with unstable energy. His horns, now solidified and gleaming white, curled upward, twin beacons of eldritch radiance. And behind him, in the ever-shifting void, the Dark Star Crest began to fully take shape, twisting and expanding, pulsating with unnatural, cosmic energy that warred against itself.

Kaelis threw his head back and roared.

The battlefield shattered beneath him, debris spiraling upward as waves of raw force erupted from his core. His muscles coiled with newfound power, his stance widening as the sheer pressure of his transformation sent shockwaves through the ruined landscape. His mind was slipping, dragged deeper into something far worse than rage—something primal, something unknowable.

Yet for the first time—he could speak.

His voice came out distorted, a guttural snarl laced with something deeper, something almost ancient. His glowing eyes locked onto the Shadowy King, burning with a mixture of fury, despair, and something dangerously close to understanding.

“I never asked for this!” His voice was a thunderclap, reverberating through the abyss. “You think this is power? This is a curse! Every second, it tears at me! It’s eating me alive!”

The Shadowy King remained still. Watching. Listening.

Kaelis’ breathing came in ragged bursts, his clawed fingers curling into trembling fists. His body twitched, the raw energy inside him too volatile, too unstable, too wrong.

“What the hell is this turning me into?” His words dripped with something more than rage now—fear. “I can feel it. The way it pulls at me. The way it wants me to let go.” His throat tightened, his muscles coiling as if trying to suppress something unseen. “I don’t even know if I’m still me! I don’t wanna lose myself again!”

The Shadowy King simply… smiled.

A slow, knowing grin.

Then—he chuckled.

Kaelis’ burning red eyes widened in raw fury. His fists clenched, energy arcing violently off his skin, and he took a step forward.

“Why are you laughing?!” His voice boomed, shaking the very air between them. “I’m not fucking laughing!”

The Shadowy King didn’t answer. He just… kept chuckling.

Then something in Kaelis snapped.

With a blinding explosion, he lunged, moving faster than even his own mind could process, his blade screaming through the air. The Shadowy King tilted his head slightly, his smile widening as if expecting this.

Kaelis swung—

But his body froze.

Something ripped through him.

For a second, he didn’t even feel it.

Then—pain.

The burning, searing agony of something tearing through his stomach, erupting out of his back.

His eyes flickered, his mouth parted slightly, and his entire body seized.

He barely had time to register what had happened before the energy inside him collapsed.

The white glow vanished.

The horns crumbled to dust.

The Dark Star Crest behind him flickered out like a dying flame.

His body swayed, his fingers twitching as his knees buckled. His lungs shuddered, blood bubbling up in his throat, spilling from his lips as his breath came in weak, broken gasps.

The Shadowy King stood behind him, his blade buried deep within Kaelis’ torso.

Kaelis’ trembling hands grasped at the sword, his vision swimming, his body rejecting him entirely. His breath came out choked, shallow. His mind was reeling, fading.

Blood dripped from his mouth, from his eyes.

The Shadowy King’s smile slowly faltered.

“Tch.” A quiet sound of disappointment.

The blade slid free, a sickening wet sound echoing in the void.

Kaelis collapsed to his knees. His entire body convulsed, shaking violently, his fingers weakly clawing at the ground beneath him, his breath coming out in shaky, uneven gasps.

‘No…’

The Shadowy King took a step forward, looking down at him, expression unreadable.

“Can’t even hold that power for more than a few minutes.” His voice was cold, detached. “You have a terrible grasp on it, my vessel.”

“Fuck you…I’m not your vessel!”

Kaelis gritted his teeth, trying to move, trying to lift himself from the pool of his own blood.

But his body wouldn’t respond.

The Shadowy King exhaled softly, almost disappointed.

“Until you can grasp it, then we can talk.”

He turned, already stepping away into the void.

“Begone.”

Kaelis’ heart lurched.

His bloodied fingers dug into the fractured ground, his body shaking violently as he tried to force himself up. His throat burned, his mind screamed—

He couldn’t let it end like this.

Not like this.

“Wait—!”

The void swallowed him whole.

Kaelis’s breath tightened.

…

“AGH!”

Kaelis jolted awake with a sharp, ragged gasp, his body drenched in sweat. His chest heaved, his heart hammering against his ribs like a war drum. His vision was still swimming when he realized—

His fingers were clenched tightly around something warm.

No—someone.

His gaze snapped downward, and he found himself gripping Espen’s arm.

She was kneeling beside him, her red eyes watching him with an unreadable expression. Her black hair, which was usually loosely tied back, had been gathered into a long, braided ponytail that rested over her shoulder.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. They only stared at each other, the weight of the silence pressing between them.

‘What…is she doing here? Stalking me now?’

Then Kaelis sucked in a sharp breath, his grip loosening as he muttered, "Tch… watching me sleep now?"

Espen scoffed, but there was no real bite in it. "Don’t flatter yourself, human."

Kaelis frowned, his gaze flickering to her face—and then he saw it.

One of her eyes was surrounded by dark, inky veins that stretched out from the corner like creeping cracks in porcelain. The sclera had turned pitch black, swallowing the usual whites of her eye.

Kaelis almost asked. Almost.

But something told him she’d just scoff and deflect.

Espen, not outright hostile, flicked her wrist dismissively. "I heard you screaming like some pathetic fool, so I ran over. Can’t have you dying on me, since if you die, I die too."

Kaelis wiped the sweat from his forehead, exhaling slowly. "Yeah. Well. I’m fine." He wasn’t. But he wasn’t about to explain that.

Espen tilted her head slightly, studying him. "This... thing," she gestured to the dark veins around her eye, "started forming while you were losing your mind in your sleep."

Kaelis frowned, watching as the mark pulsed faintly before slowly beginning to fade.

That wasn’t normal.

Espen crossed her arms. "I had a dream."

Kaelis blinked. "...Of?"

Her gaze turned sharp, serious. "I saw you."

His breath stilled.

"You were fighting some shadowy demonic bastard on a throne," she continued. "And you weren’t just fighting—you lost control. You went even crazier than before. It was… different. Worse. Worse since we fought the White Brigade.”

Kaelis felt something cold settle in his stomach.

He swallowed, his voice low. “…Ihad that dream too."

Espen’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"It felt real," Kaelis muttered, running a hand through his damp hair. "Like I was actually there."

Espen’s fingers brushed over the fading mark on her eye. "And this thing… it’s dissolving now, but it wasn’t just some random curse. It only showed up while you were screaming in your sleep."

They both sat in silence, the implications hanging between them like a suffocating fog.

Kaelis exhaled sharply. "So… what? Our dreams are connected now?"

Espen stood abruptly, turning away. "Don’t think this means I care about you, human."

Kaelis smirked. "Yeah, sure."

Espen huffed, crossing her arms. "One thing you should know. I hate owing people anything. You helped me at the Well Spring, so I came to make sure you weren’t dead. That’s all."

Kaelis leaned back against his bedding, watching her. "Uh-huh."

Before Espen could retort, a distant scream rang through the trees.

Followed by laughter.

Kaelis and Espen instantly tensed. They exchanged a quick glance before bolting toward the sound.

The scene they stumbled upon was—

Well.

It was something.

Ness and Hael were standing in front of a very nervous-looking young man, who was currently tied to a tree with thick vines.

He had a bear’s head strapped to his face like a mask, obscuring most of his features, and he wore a set of loose, white robes that looked like they belonged to some kind of disciplined warrior. A long wooden staff was strapped to his back, though it was currently useless in his predicament.

The guy was visibly shaking as Ness and Hael took turns messing with him.

"Hey, hey, do you think if I poke him, he’ll squeak?" Ness grinned, flicking the stranger’s forehead with his tiny cat paw.

The young man flinched, his entire body going rigid. "P-please don’t!"

Hael smirked, flaring her wings dramatically. "Maybe he’s a spy! Should we interrogate him? I’ve always wanted to try those dark, brooding methods Espen talks about."

The boy paled. "N-no! I swear, I’m just—!"

Kaelis questioned, “Who even is this? Why does he have that on face?”

Espen stepped forward, her arms crossed. "Who is this idiot?"

The boy immediately perked up at the sound of her voice. "Espen!"

Espen blinked, taken aback. "What?"

"I—I was looking for you!" the boy sputtered nervously. "I—I need to talk to you! It’s important!"

Kaelis raised an eyebrow, glancing at Espen. "Friend of yours?"

Espen scoffed. "I don’t have friends."

Hael gasped dramatically. "Wow. Rude."

Ness chuckled. "Yeah, Espen, that actually hurts."

“You two are my family, not my friends.”

Ness and Hael eyes glowed, hugging against each other, saying, “AWWWW!”

“Nevermind. I take it back.”

The boy quickly shook his head. "I-it’s not like that! I’ve been following you ever since you dragged that kid right there from that volcano!”

Kaelis’s expression darkened slightly. "Volcano?" Then he looked at Espen, asking, “I was in a volcano?! You found me in one!”

The boy hesitated, his hands clenching into fists.

"I need your help!”