A Power That Should Not Exist
Zyra's body trembled as the last of Kieran's fire seeped into her veins. Her heartbeat thudded against her ribs, each pulse a clash between who she was and what she was becoming.
The abyss was still inside her. Twisting. Writhing. Clinging.
But now, Kieran's fire was there too. Burning. Claiming. Changing.
They were never meant to coexist.
Yet—they did.
Zyra inhaled sharply as a surge of raw power rippled through her. Her vision blurred. The world around her flickered—colors bleeding into shadow, heat colliding with cold.
Kieran's hands tightened around her wrists. His golden eyes locked onto hers, searching—waiting.
And then it happened.
Everything around them exploded.
---
The Rupture
The battlefield that had fallen into eerie silence suddenly shattered.
A pulse of pure, unchecked power—**fire and abyss fused into one—**ripped through the clearing, sending cracks through the earth, splintering stone, twisting air.
Riven cursed and threw up a barrier just in time to keep himself from being hurled back.
Other warriors weren't so lucky.
The surviving enemy forces screamed as the shockwave sent them flying. Even those who had fought alongside Kieran staggered, eyes wide with disbelief—and fear.
And at the center of it all stood Zyra and Kieran.
Still touching.
Still connected.
And no longer entirely human.
---
The Awakening
Kieran felt it first.
A deep, aching pull in his soul—like the universe itself was recoiling.
His fire had always been a force of destruction, of life and death held in fragile balance. But now—it was bound to something darker.
Something even fate had not accounted for.
Zyra's eyes burned as she stumbled forward, gasping. The abyss inside her was no longer just abyss. It had changed.
She had changed.
"I—" She clutched her chest as if trying to hold herself together. "What's happening to me?"
Kieran caught her before she could collapse.
"You survived," he whispered. "But something's… different."
Zyra looked up at him, fear and something else—**something primal—**shining in her irises.
Not just her irises.
Her pupils had become slits.
Like fire-forged obsidian, rimmed with the unnatural glow of abyssal power.
Her breath hitched. "Kieran—"
"Don't move."
Riven's voice snapped between them like a blade.
They turned to see him standing at a distance, his magic coiled, his stance wary.
Kieran's jaw clenched. "Riven, don't—"
"You don't understand," Riven cut in, his expression grim. "The moment you completed that ritual—you became something else."
His gaze locked onto Zyra.
"And I don't know if we can control it."
---
The First Test
Zyra's pulse thundered in her ears. Her hands clenched into fists, a strange, burning sensation crawling beneath her skin.
A whisper slithered through her mind, smooth and tempting. Power. Unchecked. Waiting.
She sucked in a breath.
"No."
She would not be ruled by it.
She had fought against the abyss before—and won. This would be no different.
But the ground beneath her cracked again, and a cold realization settled into her bones.
The fire and abyss within her weren't just clashing.
They were merging.
And she had no idea what that meant.
Not yet.
But she was about to find out.
Because from the far side of the battlefield, a new wave of enemies emerged—and they had been waiting for this.
A figure stepped forward, cloaked in obsidian armor, his voice dark with satisfaction.
"So the rumors are true," he mused, eyes gleaming. "The fated mate of the Shadow King has become something… new."
Kieran stiffened.
Zyra's stomach dropped.
The figure smirked.
"Let's see if you're still strong enough to survive."
And then they attacked.
---