The air above Silverveil Citadel hung thick with ash and the metallic tang of spent chaos. Eldrin stood amidst the ruins, his left arm encased in jagged **0rigin Circuitry**, its cobalt veins clawing toward his throat like frost on glass.
The **seventh shard** pulsed within his chesta molten star caged by flesh, its light dimmed to a sickly gray. Around him, the sky wept oily rain, each droplet hissing as it struck the sigils etched into his skin.
Liora knelt nearby, her emerald cloak singed and torn. Blood trickled from her nose, mingling with the rainwater pooling at her feet. Her crystalline dagger lay shattered, its shards reflecting the fractured glow of the rift above.
I't's not over,"she rasped, her voice stripped of its usual mockery. Th e shard's corruption runs deeper than we thought."
Eldrin's gaze drifted to Tira's body, crumpled at the edge of the crumbling plaza. The **third shard** still protruded from her chest, its surface webbed with black veins.
Her human eye stared blankly at the heavens, while the othera- void of Ophira's makingseemed to swallow the light.*Another soul lost to the chaos."
A tremor shook the earth. Above them, the rift convulsed, its jagged edges fraying like torn parchment. From its depths echoed Ophira's laughterno longer a whisper, but a **command**.
***You cannot outrun what you are, brother.***
The ground split, vomiting tendrils of shadow that coiled around Eldrin's ankles. He staggered, his **grain** flaring in warning. The shard's power surgeda tidal pull toward annihilationbut he clenched his fist, forcing the fire to dim. *Control. Always control.*
---
The citadels ruins breathed corruption. Blackened vines snaked through the rubble, their thorns dripping ichor as they fed on the remnants of Ophira's puppets. Nim crouched beside Jace, her spider-mechs legs sparking as she welded a fractured hydraulic joint. The rift's still expanding,"she muttered, her goggles reflecting the hellish glow.
If we dont seal it soon, the whole damn continent's toast."
Jace flipped a throwing knife, his resurrected face gaunt beneath a layer of soot. Seal it with *what*? Prayers? Your trinkets?"
Liora's hand shot out, gripping Eldrin's wrist. Her touch burneda residual echo of the **blood pact** they'd forged in the Sunken Spire. The seventh shard,"she hissed. It's the key. But we need to *purge* Ophira's influence first."
Eldrin recoiled. The shard in his chest throbbed, its resonance syncing with the rift's heartbeat. *Thud. Thud. Thud.* You want me to stab myself? Again?"
No."Liora's eyes narrowed, her gaze flicking to Tira's corpse. You need to*give it to her*."
A cold laugh sliced through the air. Isolde descended from a shattered archway, her Holy Lance cracked and oozing ichor. The dead make poor vessels, scholar."
She's not dead,"Liora snapped. Not yet. The shard's keeping her tethered*b arely*."
Eldrin's pulse quickened. He knelt beside Tira, his fingers brushing the corrupted shard.
A vision erupted:
***Ophiras shadow coiled around Tira's soul, its whispers slick as oil. You could have ruled with me, brother. We were meant to be whole.***
He jerked back, his **grain** searing. It's a trap. Ophira's using her as bait."
Then spring it,"Liora said coldly. Or watch this world burn."
The ritual began at dusk.
Liora carved a circle of Titan runes into the plaza's cracked stone, her dagger trailing crystalline light. Tira lay at its center, her chest exposed,the shards jagged edges glinting like broken teeth. Eldrin stood over her, the seventh shard's weight heavy in his palm.
This will hurt,"Liora warned, her voice devoid of empathy. For both of you."
Eldrin didnt flinch. He pressed the shard to Tira's chest, its surface hissing as it fused with the corrupted fragment. The ground trembled. Above them, the rift pulseda- living wound screaming in tandem with Tira's voiceless cry.
***Now!*** Liora barked.
Eldrin channeled the chaos-fire, cobalt flames engulfing his arm. The shard*screamed*, its light warping as Ophira's shadow writhed beneath Tira's skin.
***You fool!*** Ophira's voice tore through his mind. ***You think this changes anything? I am *eternal*!***
Tiras body arched off the ground, her dual voices merging into a guttural roar. The rift convulsed, tendrils of shadow lashing outbut Liora was ready. She slammed a vial of glowing liquid into the circle, the explosion of light searing Eldrins vision.
***Now, Eldrin! *Sever her*!***
He obeyed.
The shard erupted in a supernova of gold and black. Ophira's shadow*shrieked*, dissolving into smoke as the rift collapsed inward, stitching reality with threads of stolen light. Tira's body went limp, her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths.
---
When the dust settled, the sky was quiet.
The rift had closed, leaving only a scar of fused stone where it once yawned. Tira stirred, her human eye fluttering open. The shard in her chest still glowed, but its light was clean*pure*.
Is it over?"she whispered.
No."Liora crouched beside her, her fingers tracing the shard's edge. Ophira's consciousness is fragmented, not destroyed. It lingers in the shards*in us*."
Eldrin's **grain** pulseda- reminder of the power festering beneath his skin. He turned to the horizon, where the first rays of dawn painted the sky in hues of blood and gold. The citadel's ruins stretched before him, a testament to the cost of victory.
Isolde approached, her shadow stretching unnaturally long. The Frostborne's curse spreads,"she said quietly, her armor creaking as she lifted her lance." Your fight is not yet done, Chaos Child."
Nim snorted, kicking a shard of debris. Yeah, no kidding. Where's the next apocalypse? Ill pack snacks."
Eldrin didnt laugh. His gaze lingered on Tiraon the faint**source-shard纹路** now creeping up her neck. *A ticking clock.*
Liora rose, her voice cutting through the dawn's fragile peace. The eighth shard lies in the Heartforge. Ophira will seek it. And when she does"--
She didnt need to finish.
Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbledor perhaps it was laughter.
That night, Eldrin dreamed.
He stood in a field of fractured mirrors, each reflecting a shard of his soul: a weapon, a king, a *monster*. Before him floated the seventh shard, its surface cracked, Ophira's voice seeping through.
***You cannot outrun me, brother. We are *bound*.***
He woke to the weight of the dawnend the certainty that the true war had only just begun.