Steel clashed against shadow-flesh.
Kaelen barely managed to duck under a sweeping claw, the beast's talons slicing the air inches from his head. His heart pounded, every instinct screaming at him to run. But Elowen fought just a few strides away, her green-bladed sword a blur of light.
He couldn't leave her.
He wouldn't.
He drove the shard forward with both hands, ramming it into the nearest shadow creature's chest. The thing shrieked, its form unraveling into mist, dissipating into the night.
Another creature charged.
Kaelen pivoted awkwardly, barely managing to block the blow with the side of his staff. Pain exploded up his arm. He stumbled back, breathless.
"Focus!" Elowen's voice cut through the chaos. "Don't fight with fear — fight with purpose!"
Easy for her to say. She moved like water, every strike precise and lethal. Kaelen was just trying not to die.
Another beast leapt at him — a twisted wolf-shape made of smoke and hate.
Kaelen rolled to the side, feeling hot breath graze his neck. He swung wildly with the shard, catching the creature across its muzzle. It yelped and fell back, hissing.
Kaelen planted his feet, chest heaving.
He couldn't keep this up. His muscles burned, his lungs screamed for air.
"I'm not strong enough," he thought bitterly. "I'm no hero. Just a boy with a broken piece of metal—"
A memory stirred — Garron's dying words.
"Protect the Flame."
The shard at his belt pulsed, once, twice — a steady heartbeat.
Kaelen gritted his teeth, rage and grief boiling inside him.
He thought of Elder Hollow, of the innocents slaughtered without mercy, of his mother's warm smile — now gone forever.
No more running. No more fear.
Kaelen raised the shard high, feeling its weight shift in his hand — lighter, sharper. His voice rang out, clear and fierce across the clearing.
"I swear, by blood and by flame, by the fallen and the forgotten — I will stand against the darkness. I will not yield. I will not break!"
The air itself seemed to freeze. The shadows recoiled, hissing in fury.
A shockwave of blue light erupted from the shard, sweeping across the battlefield. The mist creatures shrieked as they disintegrated, torn apart by pure, ancient magic.
When the light faded, only silence remained.
Kaelen stood trembling in the aftermath, the shard now fully transformed in his hand — a short blade, curved and elegant, etched with glowing runes.
He stared at it in awe.
The relic had responded to his oath, reshaping itself into a true weapon — the beginning of his Warden's Blade.
Elowen approached, her expression unreadable.
"You have taken the first step," she said quietly. "The Oath is not just words, Kaelen. It is a bond — a promise sealed by your blood and your soul."
Kaelen tightened his grip on the new blade.
He could still feel the echoes of the power he'd unleashed — raw, untamed, terrifying.
"What... what were those things?" he asked, voice hoarse.
"Shades," Elowen said grimly. "Fragments of corrupted souls, drawn to the scent of awakening magic. The Ashen Court is not blind, Kaelen. They know something has stirred in the Veilwood."
Kaelen swallowed hard. "The Ashen Court... They're the ones who attacked my village?"
"Perhaps," Elowen said. "Or perhaps they merely set the pieces in motion. They are old and cunning, preferring to act from the shadows."
Kaelen looked down at his blade, the runes still pulsing faintly with blue light.
"I'm not ready to fight something like that," he admitted.
"No," Elowen agreed. "Not yet."
She sheathed her sword and stepped closer, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder.
"But you will be. If you survive the trials to come."
Kaelen met her golden gaze. There was no softness there — only truth.
He nodded slowly.
"Then teach me," he said. "Make me strong."
A small smile touched her lips — not kind, but approving.
"Very well," Elowen said. "But know this, Kaelen Drayke — once you walk this path, there is no turning back."
"I don't want to turn back," he said. "I want to burn the ones who did this to my people. Burn them until nothing remains."
The mist around them began to thin, the first rays of dawn piercing through the trees.
In the soft light, Kaelen saw the archway behind them had changed — the vines shriveled away, the stones gleaming clean and bright.
A path stretched beyond it, winding into the deeper forest.
Elowen turned toward it, her cloak billowing.
"Then come, Last Warden," she said.
"The real journey begins now."
Kaelen took one last look at the ruined battlefield, tightened his grip on his blade, and followed her into the unknown.